BBC Documentaries Collection

BBC Our World President and the Pulpit (2012)



Our World - President and the Pulpit
Broadcast: BBC News Channel
Sunday 15 April 2012
03:30 - 04:00


The government in the Philippines wants to provide free contraception to help cut the birth rate and reduce poverty. The proposal puts it on a collision course with the ultra-conservative Catholic Church. Kate McGeown reports from Manila.


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BBC Wikileaks The Secret Life Of A Superpower (2012)



Richard Bilton uncovers a struggle at the heart of US diplomacy between the ideals of freedom and spreading democracy, and the ruthless demands of American security and narrow self-interest. He examines what the Wikileaks cables reveal about America's conflicted dealings with Egypt's deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak, and shows how US diplomats in Cairo missed warning signs that revolution in Egypt was coming. And he details the moral tension in US diplomacy brought about by America's controversial War on Terror. Using the cables, Richard uncovers the moral compromises made by America's diplomats over the repatriation of Guantanamo Bay prisoners, and he shows the secret US efforts to block investigations into alleged CIA rendition and abuse.


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BBC Great Ormond Street Too Important to Fail (2012)


Great Ormond Street: Too Important to Fail?
BBC London's political editor Tim Donovan investigates claims by senior consultants of problems at the hospital through exclusive interviews, freedom of information requests and a surprising paper trail, and questions how far the institution will go to protect its reputation..


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BBC Titanic Southampton Remembers (2012)


In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic,
actor Bernard Hill, who played Captain Smith in the 1997 film, discovers
how the tragedy impacted on the port of Southampton, with approximately
550 crew members from the area among the dead.


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BBC Panorama Billionaires Behaving Badly (2012)



BBC1 20.30-21.00 16th April 2012

Panorama - Billionaires Behaving Badly

John Sweeney talks to Ivan Glasenberg, the billionaire boss of commodity company Glencore, which was listed on the London stock exchange last year, and now stands accused of reckless greed in Congo and Colombia



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BBC Destination Titan (2011)



It’s a voyage of exploration like no other – to Titan, Saturn’s largest moon and thought to resemble our own early Earth. For a small team of British scientists this would be the culmination of a lifetime’s endeavour – the flight alone, some 2 billion miles, would take a full seven years. This is the story of the space probe they built, the sacrifices they made and their hopes for the landing. Would their ambitions survive the descent into the unknown on Titan’s surface?


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BBC Ghosts In The Machine (2009)



Documentary charting the history of the supernatural on British television, and how ghosts have been portrayed on the small screen. From Hamlet to Most Haunted, the apparitions have abandoned their traditional haunts of drama and comedy and crossed over into factual and reality TV. Ghosts in the Machine celebrates classic ghost stories like The Stone Tape, and Whistle and I’ll Come to You. It revisits controversial shows like Derren Brown’s Seance and 1992’s Ghostwatch, which convinced thousands of viewers that Michael Parkinson was possessed by a poltergeist. The film examines the recent explosion of interest in the paranormal. How did ghosts get their own genre, and how did television become the medium of the medium?


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BBC Storyville American Idol Reagan (2011)



To mark the centenary of the birth of one of the most iconic figures in recent American politics, a documentary which examines the enigmatic career of screen star and two-term US president Ronald Reagan.

He has been heralded as one of the architects of the modern world and since his death many Americans have been working to cement his legacy, but some critics argue that the aftershocks of Reaganomics continue to crumble economies the world over and that the hubris of Reagan's foreign policy continues to propel America into a cycle of overseas ventures. To such critics Reagan is an ominous figure who did more harm than good.

But who was Ronald Reagan, and how did he come to shape world politics in the way he did? Featuring in-depth interviews with those who worked with him and knew him best, this film provides a definitive and penetrating look at Reaganism, whose grip on the public mind has been rekindled by recent events in Republican politics.



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BBC Auschwitz The Nazis and the Final Solution (2005)



It is the site of the largest mass murder in the history of the world - Auschwitz. Yet few know the true and surprising history of this most infamous place, nor how it fitted into the Nazis' overall plan for the mass extermination of the Jews - what they called the 'Final Solution'. For Auschwitz, via its destructive dynamism, became both a microcosm of the Nazi State and the logical consequence of Hitler's warped worldview. Combining rare archive footage, CGI illustrations of the camp never before seen on television and dramatic reconstructions of the key decision-making moments, the story of Auschwitz and the horrific ideology behind it unfolds.6

Episodes :

Surprising Beginnings

This episode sets the stage for the series and examines the radical increase in violence against all opponents of the Nazi state. In particular, it explores the German army's invasion of the Soviet Union during the summer of 1941 and connects this campaign to the first gassing experiments in Auschwitz, Poland, which were aimed at Russian prisoners of war, not Jews.

Orders and Initiatives

Laurence Rees continues his documentary history, marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, with an account of how the Nazis developed their "Final Solution". By 1942, Rudolf Hess had established the camp as a place to murder thousands of people, but the horrific regime demanded yet more be killed.

Factories of Death

The Nazis' marshalling of Jews from across Europe - including the Channel Islands- gained momentum in 1942. Unable to cope with the huge influx, Auschwitz and Treblinka were modified with bigger gas chambers and crematoria. But inspirational stories of courage and compassion could still be found among this appalling catalogue of inhumanity, including that of German officer Albert Battel, who risked his life to save detainees

Corruption

By 1943, life was good for many of the SS. Eyewitness accounts recall how those in power at Auschwitz lined their pockets with wealth stolen from Jewish inmates while also engaging in illicit affairs

Frenzied Killing

SS Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann ordered the deportation of Hungary's Jews following occupation in 1944, precipitating the most intensive period of slaughter in Aushwitz's history. The Allies, meanwhile, faced dilemmas: should they divert valuable resources to bomb transport routes to the camp? And should they consider Eichmann's offer of one million Jewish lives in exchange for certain provisions - the "Blood for Goods" deal?

Liberation and Revenge

The reality of life in the concentration camps was revealed upon the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen in 1945. But what was the fate of the remaining prisoners and the SS garrisons? The final days of the war and its immediate aftermath is a story as shocking as it is surprising, with Jewish survivors facing appalling treatment in their home countries and large numbers of SS perpetrators remaining hidden.



Sample Screens

BBC Storyville Game Over Kasparov and the Machine (2004)



Garry Kasparov is arguably the greatest chess player who has ever lived. In 1997 he played a chess match against IBM's computer Deep Blue. Kasparov lost the match. This film shows the match and the events surrounding it from Kasparov's perspective. It delves into the psychological aspects of the game, paranoia surrounding it and suspicions that have arisen around IBM's true tactics. It consists of interviews with Kasparov, his manager, chess experts, and members of the IBM Deep Blue team, as well as original footage of the match itself.

I suppose the strength of a documentary lies in its ability to make you believe its central thesis. Despite the lack of a definitive whistleblower, Vikram Jayanti's conspiracy thriller about chess legend Garry Kasparov's match against IBM's Deep Blue supercomputer does suggest something very unusual going on behind closed doors at the software firm. If the computer did what it did unassisted, then this is a triumph for science, yet IBM weren't acting like victors. Why, having developed what could have been a working prototype for an artificial intelligence, did the firm refuse to share details of its operational systems, and - a real smoking gun, this - dismantle it immediately after the last match? If they had nothing to hide, they were going a funny way about it.

Jayanti and Kasparov both point the finger at the same scenario - human intervention on the machine's side of the game. Jayanti digs up a fascinating parallel to this - the tale of 'The Turk', a creepy-looking chess-playing robot that beat Napoleon and did indeed have a human covertly guiding it. Excerpts from a fascinating silent film about The Turk are peppered throughout this film.

Even if you're not convinced, the film still has plenty of supplemental pleasures, not least in a dissection of a chess match as charged and fascinating as 'When We Were Kings' (1997)'s explanation of the Rumble in the Jungle. It also functions as a Cliff Notes guide to Kasparov's remarkable career, and the human dimension is not swept aside either. Come the third match, the contempt between Kasparov and the IBM team is palpable, and interviews with the protagonists years on show that little has changed. Kasparov, in particular, seems haunted and troubled by his experiences. His peers refer to him as a 'Super Grand Master', yet this defeat really seems to have stuck at the back of his mind. Good use of archival footage, knowledge of wider social backgrounds and excellent access to the principal players round off a very good documentary indeed.


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BBC Panorama Out of Africa Ivory Wars (2012)



ut of Africa: Ivory Wars

Thursday 12 April
9.00pm - 10.00pm
BBC1

With wildlife crime now thought to be second only to drugs in terms of profit, Rageh Omaar goes on the trail of the ivory poachers, smugglers and organised crime syndicates to investigate the plight of Africa's elephants.

As demand for ivory rises in the Far East, this Panorama special - made jointly with the BBC's Natural History Unit - goes undercover in central Africa and China to ask whether the African elephant can survive in some parts of the continent. Last year saw the highest number of large seizures of illegal ivory for over two decades - despite a 23 year global ban on its international sale. One area of northern Kenya has lost a quarter of its elephants in the last three years - largely due to poaching.

Panorama visits an elephant orphanage to see the impact of the killing on the young and, with access to Interpol's largest ever ivory operation, confronts the dealers in Africa and in China - now the world's biggest buyer of illegal ivory.


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BBC The Story of the Turban (2012)


The Story of the Turban

Thursday 12 April
11.20pm - 12.00am
BBC1

Documentary tracing the history of the turban in the Sikh religion to the present day. From the religion's roots in Moghul India to the battlefields of Europe, to modern day issues of alleged persecution by security services in the wake of the religiously motivated terrorist attacks of the 21st century. The turban is a crucial symbol of the Sikh faith and one that many will even risk their lives for.


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BBC Storyville The English Surgeon (2007)


Storyville - The English Surgeon

NFO:
Leading British surgeon Henry Marsh travels to the Ukraine each year to operate on patients for free, often coping in very basic conditions.


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BBC Storyville Tarnation (2005)



Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture of snapshots, Super-8, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more -- culled from 19 years of his life.

In the world of documentaries, Tarnation ranks among one of the best that I have seen. Sometimes with a low-budget outing it is hard to judge the quality of the final product, but Jonathan Caouette proves that he has a passion for the subject, a desire to tell his story and a know-how to bring his moments to life. With bold music (that nearly grips your heart at every turn) and an Andy Warhol style of imagery, Caouette pulls us deep within his life and shows us his life unfiltered. Using just his computer, he builds the story of his life using scenes taken from nineteen years in front (and behind) the camera. It reminded me of Capturing the Friedmans, except with more heart and soul. We are taken through a broad range of emotions which include fear, surprise, excitement, and distraught as we witness the decline of our narrator. Tarnation is a man's bold exp?ression to tell the story of his life, and for me, it worked wonders on my soul and mind.

What makes Caouette's documentary impressive is that you sometimes forget that he is the one creating the masterpiece. Since he is in front of the camera from a young age until thirty years later, it is easy for one to forget that he is creating these images for us. I think that is important for us to remember because he places every snapshot, every audio, and every snippet of video in the film to show a purpose. While we all can watch the film and derive our purpose or point about the film (which is what makes cinema amazing), I saw it as this very sad and vicious circle of life. Mother lives with parents, who are mentally unstable, she eventually is that way as well, which then slowly translates onto her son. It is a sad and destructive cycle that happens daily in America as well as around the world. It is a central focus to many of our films and media, the idea that if you grow up in an environment of chaos, you will eventually create that same chaos years later. It is a wild thought that can be visually seen in the film Tarnation.

Outside of the broad range of emotions that were surging through me while I watched this riveting piece of art, there were some elements that I just thought were bold, creative, and extremely stylish. I loved the use of words to tell the story. Normally, in these documentaries you are forced to listen to that calming voice telling you what is happening, what did happen, and what will happen next. In this film, Caouette uses the typed words to give us both that sensation of neutrality (and sometimes numbness) and to honestly focus our attention towards the images on screen. There are times when the voice-over technique can become overpowering, and you begin to focus yourself onto the words of the narrator, instead of the events unfolding on screen. With the typed words from Caouette, we focus on him, his mother, and the environment that is imploding around him.

Also, the music. One cannot talk about this film without mentioning the soundtrack to this film. You know those moments where you need to express yourself and the only way that works is by making a mixed CD? Well, this is Caouette's mixed CD. The music choice for the film seemed to come from his heart, from his passion spawned this music. Not only was I listening to some great songs for the first time, but this was just another avenue for me to understand Jonathan and the world in which he resides. The music really help set the mood and tone for the entire film. It helped build the tension and give us that raw human emotion that built the foundation to this movie. Jonathan's mother was the main character of this film, then I would say that the music was the co-star. This film would not have been as effective if it wasn't for the amazing sound choices.

Finally, I would like to say that Caouette has built a masterpiece here. He has taken a personal story and created more emotions and personality than most Hollywood big budget productions could have. It was real. This is something that Hollywood continues to strive for, but cannot quite reach it. Caouette has, and I wouldn't be surprised if he did it again. I think what I loved so much about this film is that it is another story about our world. I don't think we see enough real-life stories about our neighbors and friends, but instead are bombarded with superficial heroes that are paid more money than we will ever see and somehow always win the perfect girl at the end. Happiness is not always the ending to every story.

Overall, I was impressed. This was an outstanding film that deserves every bit of recognition that is handed to it. Caouette has created a masterpiece and is changing with this film the face of documentaries. I expect to see rip-offs of this popping up in the near future. He inspires those of us who want to create our own stories to do so, and is a pioneer of the struggling filmmaker. I suggest this film to all my friends and family, not just for the cinematic pleasure that is contained in it, but also because Caouette could be the modern day Warhol … at least that is what I saw when I witnessed the power of this film. Wow.


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BBC On the Streets (2010)



BBC - On the Streets (2010) PDTV-MVGroup
English | 01:29:00 | MKV | 832x468 | x264 - 1000Kbps | 25.000fps | AAC - 128Kbps | 949MB
Genre: Documentary

Filmmaker Penny Woolcock spent eight months in a parallel world, the world of the homeless, befriending people and finding out where they eat, sleep and socialise. While making her film, Woolcock realised that the very real problems of homeless people have very little to do with the lack of a roof over their heads or a bed to sleep in. Their problems come from their past lives - and are less easy to remedy. Despite the efforts of different charities to move people into homes, the streets are often where they feel safe and what they know best. In this moving documentary, Woolcock gives the seen-but-unheard residents of London's streets a voice.



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