The Zen Mind

In the last fifty years the culture of Zen has spread far beyond Japan. Zen centers and zen retreats have sprung up throughout America and Europe. When Dogen, the founder of Soto Zen, brought Zen to Japan from China 800 years ago, it quickly took root and became an integral part of Japanese life. Yet what do we know about zen practice in Japan today? The Zen Mind is a fascinating journey across Japan to explore zen in its natural habitat.

Sunday Beauty Queen

Beneath Hong Kong's glittering facade, Filipina domestic helpers work in relative anonymity and for near-slave wages. In a beauty pageant like no other, five helpers give themselves makeovers for a day and gleefully reclaim their dignity.

未竟之路

After the failed Umbrella Revolution in 2014, lives go back to normal, but the scenes of the great protest are like yesterday for Billy and Popsy, students in the University of Hong Kong who took part in the movement. One of them now becomes a student leader, while the other chooses a low-profile life as a private tutor. Amid the rapid social changes, when the Communist Beijing government is extending their influence to Hong Kong to take away the freedom and democracy, how would the youths see their future? Do they still see hopes, when both peaceful protests and radical actions seem to be futile?

憧れを超えた侍たち 世界一への記録

In December 2021, Hideki Kuriyama began devoting his days to one singular goal: hoisting the championship trophy at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. How did he mold his players into one of the best and strongest Samurai Japan teams in history? A close-up documentary that looks back on Samurai Japan's path to becoming world champions, along with valuable behind-the-scenes footage captured by the team's dedicated crew.

Riding Giants

Riding Giants is story about big wave surfers who have become heroes and legends in their sport. Directed by the skateboard guru Stacy Peralta.

Expression Session

Hal Jepsen's coverage of the 1971 Expression Session. This was a surfing showcase event without judges, scores, winners, or losers, featuring a select group of the world's best surfers.

The Shogun

With cunning and courage the japanese warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu managed to unify Japan after 150 years of civil war.

Step N' Soul

Distance Between Dreams

In Distance Between Dreams, the most historic year in big wave surfing comes to life through the eyes of iconic surfer Ian Walsh, as he sets mind and body in motion to redefine the upper limits of what's considered 'rideable.' With massive El Niño powered swells building across the Pacific, Ian, Shaun, D.K. and Luke Walsh band together in the way only brothers can on a quest to progress surfing to unimaginable heights. Big wave surfing's transition from jet ski assists to paddling in raises the stakes, putting Walsh's intense physical and mental training, the latest technology, swell modeling, and safety team, his brothers, to the ultimate test. Surfers John John Florence, Greg Long, Shane Dorian and more link up with Walsh as he rides an emotional rollercoaster through this momentous winter.

Girt by Sea

Girt By Sea is a cinematic love letter to the coastline of Australia - a poetic celebration of our connection to the sea as documented through archival footage over the past 100 years.

Cherry Blossom Time in Japan

In this Traveltalk short, the symbolic role of cherry blossoms in Japanese culture is explored as well as the traditional Japanese religions of Shintoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism.

Kintaro Walks Japan

Kintaro Walks Japan is a documentary film produced and directed by Tyler MacNiven. It is an account of MacNiven's journey walking and backpacking the entire length of Japan from Kyūshū to Hokkaidō, more than 2000 miles in 145 days.

Io sono nata viaggiando

A journey back through Dacia Maraini's and her trips around the world with her close friends cinema director Pier Paolo Pasolini and opera singer Maria Callas. An in-depth story of this fascinating woman's life. Maraini's memories come alive through personal photographs taken on the road as well as her own Super 8 films shot almost thirty years ago.

The Freedom Riders

Australian surfing documentary directed by Bruce Dowse

Les Sorcières de l’Orient

The Japanese volleyball players called the “Oriental Witches” are now in their 70s. From the formation of the team at the factory until their victory at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, memories and legends rise to the surface and blend inextricably.

Trip to Asia - Die Suche nach dem Einklang

Journey with the musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic and their conductor Sir Simon Rattle on a breakneck concert tour of six metropolises across Asia: Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo. Their artistic triumph onstage belies a dynamic and dramatic life backstage. The orchestra is a closed society that observes its own laws and traditions, and in the words of one of its musicians is, “an island, a democratic microcosm – almost without precedent in the music world - whose social structure and cohesion is not only founded on a common love for music but also informed by competition, compulsion and the pressure to perform to a high pitch of excellence... .” Never before has the Berlin Philharmonic allowed such intimate and exclusive access into its private world.

RE-MOTE: The Lost Reels

In the process of remastering Albert Falzon's 1972 classic film, Morning of the Earth, 90 minutes of never-before-seen 16mm camera original outtakes were unexpectedly unearthed. Because of the wealth of this material, a 38-minute film was produced. Getting back to where it all began, this artistic showcase of the “Lost Reels” paints a more complete picture of the filmmaker's journey, and reveals culturally, environmentally and socially significant details of a forgotten past. The film covers Australia, Bali and Hawaii, and is accompanied by an all original soundtrack.

American Aloha: Hula Beyond Hawai'i

American Aloha: Hula Beyond Hawai’i shows the survival of the hula as a renaissance continues to grow beyond the islands. With the cost of living in Hawai'i estimated at 27 percent higher than the continental United States, large numbers of Hawaiians have left the islands to pursue professional and educational opportunities. Today, with more Native Hawaiians living on the mainland than in the state of Hawai'i, the hula has traveled with them. From the suburbs of Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area, the largest Hawaiian communities have settled in California, and the hula continues to connect communities to their heritage on distant shores.

Perfect moment - L'aventure continue

On land, sea and air: sport and extreme sensations. On the program, among others: Garret McNamara's fight with "Jaws", a formidable surfing spot, snowboarding with Xavier De Le Rue, three times world champion, windsurfing with Josh Angulo in Cape Verde, freefly with the parachutists of Team Babylon.

L'empire du sushi