Does This Town Need Beavers?

Orange Revolution(en)

Filmmaker Steve York explores the controversial 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, during which candidate Viktor Yushchenko suffered a near-fatal poisoning and his unpopular opponent, Viktor Yanukovych, was declared the winner. In the aftermath, more than a million people -- including the ailing Yushchenko -- took to the streets of Kiev, protesting the results that contradicted exit polls showing Yushchenko with an impressive lead.

The Minsmere Year(en)

Narrated by David Attenborough, this film showcases the bird diversity of the Minsmere Nature Reserve.

China's Secret Monkey Kingdom(en)

Happy Skies: The Making of The Night Witches(en)

The story of the making of "The Night Witches: the amazing true story of how Russian woman pilots helped win World War II" at UNW Theatre.

In the Grip of Gazprom(de)

The war in the Ukraine has changed the way many European countries view Russian politics. Suddenly it became clear how dependent countries had become on Russian gas imports for decades and what Vladimir Putin was up to. However, no country needs more gas than Germany. It was only after Russia's invasion of the Ukraine that the German government realized that Russia had long used gas as a weapon to impose its will on states. The instrument created for this purpose is the natural gas production company GAZPROM. So how did Germany become so dependent on Russian gas? The documentary shows how, over several decades and several changes of government, a broad alliance of politicians and business representatives did everything possible to secure Germany's energy supply with cheap Russian gas, while the Kremlin's foreign policy became increasingly aggressive and the warnings of experts went unheeded.

Zelensky(fr)

Ten years ago, Volodymyr Zelensky was just one of the many faces on Ukrainian television screens. He became a star thanks to the 2015 satirical series Servant of the People, in which he played a history teacher who becomes president. Four years later, what began as fiction became a reality. This French documentary follows the transformation of a popular TV comedian into a statesman on the front lines of the Russian invasion. Archival footage, family photos, television appearances, and interviews with Zelensky and those closest to him create a multi-layered portrait of a man who always longed for a large audience. At the same time, the film places his personal development in the broader context of post-Soviet Ukraine, which is also searching for its own identity.

Ukraine: Enemy in the Woods(en)

A revealing and moving portrait of lives compromised by war, filmed exclusively by Ukrainian soldiers with extraordinary access to a tightly-controlled frontline.

Die Polarbahn(de)

Die Rückkehr der Biber: Wilde Baumeister(de)

Russia, China, Iran: The Axis of Revenge(fr)

Russia, China and Iran: three former empires are determined to take their revenge and reassert their power after centuries of humiliation. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, they have never been so aligned on the international stage. Their common goal: to put an end to Western hegemony, restore their zone of influence and propose a new model of society. To achieve this, they are waging a hybrid war against the democracies: military, technological, economic, informational and ideological. Are they on the verge of joining forces to create a new world order?

Alexeï Guerman, cinéaste bien interdit(fr)

This film was broadcast on La Sept in October 1990 as a part of Hélène Mochiri's Cinéma de poche program devoted to Soviet cinema. The documentary was produced in-house at La Sept and based on an exclusive interview with Alexei Guerman in May of that year. It has not been seen since.

Puff: Wonders of the Reef(en)

A baby pufferfish travels through a wondrous microworld full of fantastical creatures as he searches for a home on the Great Barrier Reef.

Russland und die Schweiz – Eine Beziehung in Zeiten des Krieges(de)

Switzerland has long been a special partner for Russia: A non-member of the EU and NATO, a welcome investor in Russia and the world’s most important trading centre for Russian raw materials. Now things are different in both countries.

Richmond Park National Nature Reserve(en)

Richmond Park – National Nature Reserve, presented by Sir David Attenborough, is an award-winning film by conservation charity the Friends of Richmond Park. Filmed by experienced wildlife film makers (including a leading cameraman from Blue Planet II). The film won first prize in the 2018 Charity Film Awards in the 'Documentary/Long Form' category. Sir David explains in the film: “Richmond Park is not just a local park it's London's own National Nature Reserve with thousands of species of flora and fauna; but with 5.5 million visitors each year, the Park is under immense pressure. However, as visitors we can all help to protect it through simple actions so that it will remain a wonderful place for the enjoyment of future generations”.

Santa's Wild Home(en)

Green lights dance across a star-filled sky, and snowflakes sparkle on the trees. It is little wonder Lapland is famous as a realm of elves and flying reindeer, the magical home of Santa Claus. This northernmost region of mainland Europe, however, is a real place, with real animals such as reindeer, Great Gray owls, wolverines, eagles, wolves, musk oxen and Brown bears who live out their lives in the tundra and forest.

Sockeye Salmon. Red Fish(ru)

Sockeye, a species of wild salmon, is born in Kamchatkan waters and spends its entire life in the Pacific Ocean. Only once does it return to fresh waters — to give offspring, start the circle of life, and die. It is an inexhaustible resource that feeds billions of people on the planet, restored every year. But soon, we may find ourselves facing the unimaginable: humans will exhaust the inexhaustible.

A Glorious Way to Die(en)

This was made for National Geographic and shows how Russians made their own rafts out of scrounged parts and then ran unbelievable whitewater. Starring the famous Bublik!

Beaver Report(pl)

Landscapes of drained marshes and reclaimed meadows, from where scientists from the Experimental Station of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Popielno relocate beavers to forest wetlands, secluded lakes, and rivers essential for the beavers' survival. With the film camera, we participate in this operation of capturing and transporting the animals, observing their first steps in the new environment, which they begin to organize for their needs. They fell trees they have gnawed, build dams, and create water expanses.

Silent Sun of Russia(ru)

Alyona, Alika and Katya dream of love and friendship, but most of all of leaving Putin’s Russia. When the war against Ukraine breaks out, it becomes harder for the three young women to leave the vast country in the East, but also even more unbearable to stay. So one has left for Georgia, another for Spain, while the third stays behind in Russia. Their generation does not believe that political engagement changes anything. Instead, they show their resistance by living a modern and more Western life, where gender, sexuality, pop music and identity issues are vital. Set at night in cars, apartments and backyards, Sybilla Tuxen’s dark and artistically uncompromising debut film tells the story of a rebellious yet resigned section of Russian youth on the fringes of established society.

A Little Gray Wolf Will Come(hr)

On the eve of Russia's war against Ukraine, a Russian journalist from a pro-Kremlin TV channel brings her rebellious and Westernized teenage daughter on a journey through Putin’s Russia to make her more "Russian".