Architektur der Unendlichkeit

How can structures, which take up defined, rigid portions of space, make us feel transcendence? How can chapels turn into places of introspection? How can walls grant boundless freedom? Driven by intense childhood impressions, director Christoph Schaub visits extraordinary churches, both ancient and futuristic, and discovers works of art that take him up to the skies and all the way down to the bottom of the ocean. With the help of architects Peter Zumthor, Peter Märkli, and Álvaro Siza Vieira, artists James Turrell and Cristina Iglesias, and drummer Sergé “Jojo” Mayer, he tries to make sense of the world and decipher our spiritual experiences using the seemingly abstract concepts of light, time, rhythm, sound, and shape. The superb cinematography turns this contemplative search into a multi-sensory experience.

Reimagining A Buffalo Landmark

The Richardson Olmsted Campus, a former psychiatric center and National Historic Landmark, is seeing new life as it undergoes restoration and adaptation to a modern use.

Der Stoff, aus dem Träume sind

Napoleons deutscher 007 – Karl Ludwig Schulmeister

Charles Louis Schulmeister (1770-1853) was a smuggler and a revolutionary, but also a chief of police and Napoleon Bonaparte's favorite spy. A look back on his adventurous life with the purpose of unraveling the many mysteries of his unique path.

Saving Venice

Rising sea levels and sinking land threaten to destroy Venice. Leading scientists and engineers battling the forces of nature to try to save this historic city for future generations. Discover the innovative projects and feats of engineering currently underway, including a hi-tech flood barrier, eco-projects to conserve the lagoon, and new efforts to investigate erosion beneath the city.

Uma casa, uma vida

Les Trésors de la Bibliothèque nationale de France

The National Library of France is the guardian of priceless treasures that tell our history, our illustrious thinkers, writers, scholars and artists. Telling the story of the exceptional treasures of the National Library of France is like opening a great history book rich in many twists and turns. Without the love of the kings of France for books and precious objects, this institution would never have seen the light of day. The story begins in the 14th century under the reign of a passionate writer, Charles V, who set up a library in his apartments in the Louvre. But it was not until the 17th century, and the reign of Louis XIV, a lover of the arts and letters, that the royal library took over its historic quarters in the rue Vivienne in Paris, which it still occupies.

How The Bismarck Sank HMS Hood

The 'mighty' Hood was the pride of the British Navy for more than 20 years, revered around the world as the largest and most powerful warship afloat. But when it was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck off the coast of Greenland on 24 May 1941, its end was shockingly swift.

Mururoa 1973

In 1973 Alister Barry joined the crew of a protest boat (The Fri) to Mururoa Atoll, where the French Government were testing nuclear weapons. Barry records the assembly of the crew, the long journey from Northland, and their reception in the test zone; when The Fri was boarded and impounded by French military he had to hide his camera in a barrel of oranges.

1968: A Year of War, Turmoil and Beyond

The Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, the May events in France, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, the Prague Spring, the Chicago riots, the Mexico Summer Olympics, the presidential election of Richard Nixon, the Apollo 8 space mission, the hippies and the Yippies, Bullitt and the living dead. Once upon a time the year 1968.

DUE SEGNI

A film commissioned by architects Vitangelo Ardito and Nicoletta Faccitondo (Polytechnic University of Bari) as a companion piece to the book 'Umberto Riva. Perciò è sempre una sorpresa - 19 conversazioni'.

Plan para Buenos Aires

In 1929, Le Corbusier travels to Buenos Aires to give a series of lectures on Modern Architecture. During his visit, he proposed an urban plan for the city. Since his trip and for more than twenty years, he would obsessively develop his proposal, trying by all possible means to make the plan for Buenos Aires a reality.

Das Grab der Schamanin - Ein Geheimnis aus der Steinzeit

One of the most significant cases in European archaeology is the grave of the shaman woman of Bad Dürrenberg, a key finding of the last hunter-gatherer groups. From a time when there were no written records, this site was first researched by the Nazis, who saw a physically strong male warrior from an ‘original Aryan race’ in the buried person. It was, in fact, the most powerful woman of her time. The latest research shows that she was dark-skinned, had physical deformities, and was a spiritual leader. The documentary – using high-end CGI and motion capture – compares the researchers of the Nazi era, who misrepresented and instrumentalised their findings, to today’s researchers, who meticulously compile findings and evidence, and use cross- disciplinary methods to examine and evaluate them. It also substantiates the theory of the powerful roles women played in prehistoric times. The story of this woman, buried with a baby in her arms, still fascinates us 9,000 years after her death.

Schlachtfeld Geschlecht

Both a visit to a very peculiar exhibition at the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden, Germany, as well as an unprejudiced look at the artistic depiction of violence throughout history and the ways in which that depiction has been gendered.

The French Revolution

On July 14, 1789, a mob of angry Parisians stormed the Bastille and seized the King's military stores. A decade of idealism, war, murder, and carnage followed, bringing about the end of feudalism and the rise of equality and a new world order. The French Revolution is a definitive feature-length documentary that encapsulates this heady (and often headless) period in Western civilization. With dramatic reenactments, illustrations, and paintings from the era, plus revealing accounts from journals and expert commentary from historians, The French Revolution vividly unfurls in a maelstrom of violence, discontent, and fundamental change. King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Maximilien Robespierre, and Napoleon Bonaparte lead a cast of thousands in this essential program from THE HISTORY CHANNEL®. Narrated by Edward Herrmann (The Aviator, Gilmore Girls), The French Revolution explores the legacy that--now more than ever--stands as both a warning and a guidepost to a new millennium

The Whisper of Ziggurat: Untold Secrets of Elamite Civilization

5000 years ago the ancient Elamites established a glorious civilization that lasted about three millennia. They created marvelous works in architecture and craftsmanship. These works of art depict the lifestyle, thoughts, and beliefs of the Elamites.

Cold War Submarine Adventures: Cuban Missile Crisis - Secret Subs

Explore the events of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and hear from some of the actual participants in this riveting program. After an American naval blockade intercepted Soviet submarines on a secret mission to set up a military base in Cuba, the two nations engaged in a tense standoff that led the world to the brink of nuclear war. Submariners from both sides talk about the conflict, and viewers get a look inside their subs and the U.S. war room.

Skip Liberty: Shooting in Vietnam

Skip Liberty enlisted in the Army in 1968. During his tour in Vietnam he shot 3,100 feet of Super 8 film, over 3 hours worth. Upon returning to the states the film was placed in storage, Skip had never seen the footage he shot. Until now.

André Malraux : l'épreuve du pouvoir

Writer, journalist, explorer, filmmaker, communist militant, freedom fighter. Truths and lies. A plot twist. Politician. General De Gaulle's shadow. Overwhelmed by the weight of power. The numerous exploits of André Malraux (1901-1976).

Rainbow Warrior

The Rainbow Warrior was a Greenpeace ship that was bombed by operatives of the French government, in New Zealand in 1985, while heading to a protest against nuclear testing, tragically taking the life of photographer Fernando Pereira. Edward McGurn’s enlightening and exciting documentary uncovers a tangled tale of nuclear weapons, geopolitical coverups, and attempts to take action against impending environmental collapse. Was Pereira’s death an accident or part of a larger political plot?