The Hand of the Butterfly(2010)

A Road in India(en)

Life on the road in India, showing the traffic, people and animals.

Megacities(en)

Megacities is a documentary about the slums of five different metropolitan cities.

Undercovered(en)

Following the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City, one item of clothing has gained a scandalous global reputation: the headscarf. All over the world, a major debate is going on about whether Muslim women should be allowed to wear the headscarf in public.

Bus 174(pt)

Documentary depicts what happened in Rio de Janeiro on June 12th 2000, when bus 174 was taken by an armed young man, threatening to shoot all the passengers. Transmitted live on all Brazilian TV networks, this shocking and tragic-ending event became one of violence's most shocking portraits, and one of the scariest examples of police incompetence and abuse in recent years.

BORN ON 25TH OF JANUARY(ar)

From January 25 to May 27, 2011, the film tracks four months of the Egyptian revolution as seen through the director's eyes. January 25 is the beginning, but May 27 is not the end - because the revolution continues.

DIVINE MYSTICS: ANOTHER SIDE OF ISLAM(en)

A documentary on sufism

A Calling to Care(en)

A Calling to Care is the inspiring story of 55 year-old Grace Stanley, a Canadian nurse who left her home and prestigious career behind to answer a calling halfway around the world in Karachi, Pakistan. Teaching nursing to local women in a strict Muslim culture that forbids them to even to touch men is a formidable task. However, Grace challenges her own values and belief systems to find common ground with her students, helping them to excel and feel respect for themselves in a culture that doesn't respect them. Whether it is getting her hands painted with henna, swimming fully-clothed in the ocean, or marching bravely with them on International Women's Day, Grace bonds with her students in a very special way, and ultimately discovers how the West can learn a lot more from the Third World than she ever thought.

Silent Veil(en)

In Pakistan, veils hide one of the country's most terrible secrets. Driven by revenge, jealousy or sexual non-co-operation some men subject their wives to horrific attacks with acid that is freely available in the street. Completely disfigured, the victims are often ostracized by their families and become prisoners in their own home. This chilling documentary is a terrifying insight into the shattered lives of these women.

The Great Pyramids(en)

Who built the Pyramids? Were they designed only as royal tombs? How were they built to such precise measurements? The Great Pyramids of Giza remain the world's most perplexing enigma. For over 4,000 years they have withstood the sands of time, casting a spell that even science cannot break. Through stunning film, interviews with experts and vivid reenactments, you'll witness the actual step-by-step process Egyptian embalmers used in the preparation of mummies to ensure immortality. You'll discover the journey of the Pharaohs into the afterlife and probe the obsessions that led the greatest kings of this powerful ancient civilization to build monuments designed to last for eternity.

Afghan Star(en)

This documentary on the effect the talent competition "Afghan Star" has on the incredibly diverse inhabitants of Afghanistan affords a glimpse into a country rarely seen. Contestants risk their lives to appear on the television show that is a raging success with the public and also monitored closely by the government.

Islam de Cuba(es)

The Enemy Within(ar)

Six stories from Italian Islam. As in the rest of the country, in Bologna, intolerance and attempts at dialogue coexist, ghetto neighborhoods and second generations fighting, crime and everyday life.

Saudi Solutions(en)

How to combine modernity and fundamentalist Islam. "Saudi Solutions" is a unique and revealing documentary about the lifestyles and attitudes of ambitious career womenin conservative Saudi Arabia - the only country in the Arabworld where women are obliged to cover themselves inabayas and aren't allowed to drive cars. Because of the strong influence of fundamentalist Islam on society, filmingis severely restricted in Saudi Arabia. With unique access to the Kingdom, Backlight had the opportunity to film the daily routines of Saudi working women. This documentaryfeatures a top gyneacologist, a TV news anchor woman, a photographer, and a university professor. It also introducesthe wealthy Prince Al-Waleed, who passionately promotes the acceptance of women into the workforce. He kindly invitesBacklight to his luxury desert camp, but there are no women to be found - only thousands of men.

Crimes of Honour(en)

Throughout the Islamic world, each year hundreds of women are shot, stabbed, strangled or burned to death by male relatives because they are thought to have “dishonoured” their families. They may have lost their virginity, refused an arranged marriage or left an abusive husband. Even if a woman is raped or merely the victim of gossip, she must pay the price. Crimes of Honour documents the terrible reality of femicide – the belief that a girl’s body is the property of the family, and any suggestion of sexual impropriety must be cleansed with her blood. We meet women in hiding from their families, a brother who describes his reasons for killing the sister he loved, and a handful of women who have committed themselves to the protection of young women in danger of losing their lives.

Lost Civilizations: Greece and Rome(en)

Reader's Digest Invites you to journey back through 6,000 years and revisit some of the greatest cultures the world has ever known. Journey back to Athens, the world's first democracy, as Pericles helps usher it into a Golden Age of unparalleled achievement in philospohy, science and art. And, discover the very essence of what it meant to live as an ancient Roman, part of a military colossus that, even to the present day, is regarded as "The Ultimate Empire." Celebrate the gods at the Colosseum... spy on a Roman emperor's wife... dance with the cult of Dionysus... mingle with gladiators preparing for battle... join Socrates at the Symposium... see why Caesar was assassinated... and much more!

Planetary Catastrophe(en)

Prof. Robert Michelson takes you on a journey to a time when the Watchers roamed the Earth, corrupting it for their own pleasure and as an affront to its creator. So massive was this premeditated interference in God’s created order, that the Almighty used His creation to obliterate the monstrous works of corruption as well as the hands that created them. Learn why God would bring a great flood upon his world, and how such a flood of global impact might have been accomplished by God using only the forces of His own creation. See the physical evidence of the Great Flood and how it was recorded in eyewitness accounts. See the likely landing place of the Ark of Noah in the mountains of Urartu along the border between Turkey and Iran based not only on the ancient accounts of eyewitnesses, but on the physical evidence (actual artifacts) existing today. Finally, learn how ancient Egypt played a central role in the events just prior to, and immediately after the Great Flood.

Islam and the Future of Tolerance(en)

In the thick of a controversial war of ideas, two enlightening figures, Sam Harris, an atheist and a critic of religion, and Maajid Nawaz, an Islamist-turned-liberal activist, partake in an engaging dialogue on the state of Islam, its potential reform, the militant ideology of Islamism, and where all this lays in a secular world.

Patrones de Evidencia: El Éxodo(es)

P for Pelican(fa)

An old hermit lives in a slum and wants to teach the alphabet to the children who regularly go there to play. When a child proposes he use the word “Pelican” for the letter ‘P’, the hermit goes to the nearby park to see this animal he has never heard of.

Cairo 'City of Contrast'(en)

This Traveltalk series short takes a look at Cairo's landmarks, people, and culture.