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History Documentary hosted by Patrick Delage, published by Arte in 2020 - French narration

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For the first time archaeologists from around the world come together in search of funerary sculpted portraits of Palmyra disseminated around the world to recount the story of the ancient city in a way that has never been done before: through the faces of the city's inhabitants. 2000 years ago Palmyra was a flourishing city in the desert and an important trading centre between Europe, the Middle East and Asia. This prosperous past can be seen in the many funerary portraits of Palmyrene citizens made at this time. Today these fascinating works of art are scattered across the globe in public and private collections. Danish archaeologist Rubina Raja wants to catalogue these portraits and hopes to give a better insight into this unique artistic tradition. The exploration of the inner secrets of these sculptures retraces the origin of the city's commercial success, its unique language and specific writing, its environment that mixes Eastern and Western influences gradually revealing the city's multiculturalism and the fascination aroused by the city throughout the centuries, which gave rise to so many myths, so many legends, and an exceptional artistic expansion. Palmyra is one of the rare examples of the global integration in the history of mankind. A Film by Meyar AL-Roumi ; Un Film a la Patte and ARTE France Co-Production with CNRS Images

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Arts Documentary hosted by Katie Adler, published by NHK in 2015 - English narration

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Karakami is a decorative Japanese paper used to ornament interior sliding doors during the Edo period. Woodblock-printed motifs, such as cherry blossoms and dragons, are said to have inspired several prominent European artists in the 19th century. This program examines the history of karakami through the work of a family in Kyoto that has preserved this traditional art form for nearly 400 years.

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Sociopolitical Documentary hosted by Karen Bryson, published by Channel 5 in 2021 - English narration

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Explores how slavery has underpinned world history.

[edit]Ch1. Open Wounds

Famous people with direct links to the slave trade go on journeys around the globe to document their connections to it and examine how it shaped the modern world. In the first episode, actors David Harewood and Hugh Quarshie explore opposite sides of the Atlantic slave trade, which saw an estimated 12 million Africans transported across the ocean and sold into a life of slavery.

[edit]Ch2. A Global Trade

Shannon LaNier visits Monticello in Virginia and makes a discovery about the nature of his ancestor Sally Hemings' relationship with Thomas Jefferson, and how he tried to hide the fact he owned slaves while living in France. Trisha Goddard investigates how slaves have been traded across the Indian Ocean for millennia the incredible journey of an 18th-century classical musician who was enslaved twice before finding freedom is also featured.

[edit]Ch3. Fighting for Freedom

Actor Ray Fearon reads the sadistic diaries of planter Thomas Thistlewood, who violently abused enslaved Africans who worked under him. Sam Pieh, the great, great grandson of the man who led the revolt on board the slave ship the Amistad, travels to Yale University to meet Professor David Blight, who tells him more about the circumstances of the revolt.

[edit]Ch4. The Reckoning

In 2020, the murder of George Floyd shook the world and, within weeks, the statue of Britain's most famous slave trader was toppled by Black Lives Matter protestors in Bristol. Historian Prof David Olusoga returns to the city to see the statue of Edward Colston on display for the first time.

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History Documentary hosted by Robert Weiss, published by PBS in 2015 - English narration

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The triumphs and failures of the men and women who created the world's first atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. This the story of the men and women who worked on a research and development project that produced the first nuclear weapons during the Second World War with First-hand accounts from the men and women who worked on the Manhattan Project and developed the atomic bomb at Los Alamos during the Second World War.

[edit]1 to 572 Los Alamos

1000 Days of Fear is the inside-the-barbed-wire story of the brilliant men and women who worked on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. The fascinating personalities behind the creation of the world’s first atomic bomb were as extraordinary, and often as explosive, as the science they were working in. Through first-hand accounts, never-before-seen interviews, and Los Alamos lore, this documentary looks inside these atomic insiders’ hearts and minds, their triumphs and failures, their bravery in the face of paralysing fear and, ultimately, their war-winning and world-changing accomplishments.

[edit]573 to 979 the Trinity Test

The concept of splitting the atom and its possible implications was known to scientists across the world before the outbreak of the Second World War. President Franklin Roosevelt had been alerted to the energy generated by a nuclear chain reaction as early as August 1939, in a letter signed by Albert Einstein, which warned of the destructive possibilities of a bomb which harnessed such technology. Although Einstein did not participate in the project, not least due to his pacifist inclinations, he was terrified of the possibility of Nazi Germany developing such a weapon. Roosevelt took the warnings seriously, setting up an advisory committee to report further, but it was not until the United States’s entry into the conflict in December 1941 that decisive action was taken.This episode tells the story of the first testing of the nuclear fission bomb, code-named Trinity, in the New Mexico desert.

[edit]980 to 1000 the Emergency

By the time the first device was tested on July 16, 1945, President Harry Truman was in the White House. The efforts of those who worked in Los Alamos could not be said to have won the war - by the time the first bomb levelled Hiroshima on August 6, Germany had already surrendered and Japan was near to collapse - but they certainly shortened the conflict and saved thousands of American lives.

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Nature Documentary hosted by Vlasta Varna, published by CBC, Discovery Channel in 2013 - English narration

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A crew of mariners, scientists and filmmakers are followed as they cast off on the Sedna IV, an oceanographic schooner, to sail around the world exploring the beauty of nature, how ecosystems work and conservation challenges facing the planet.

[edit]The Sharks of Cocos Island

Highlighting efforts to save the sharks of Cocos from overfishing

[edit]The Song of the Humpback

Scientists attempt to decipher the secrets behind the songs of humpback whales.

[edit]Sloths

A biologist at a research center on Barro Colorado Island in the middle of the Panama Canal introduces the crew of the Sedna IV to the rare pygmy three-toed sloth and explains why this species is threatened.

[edit]The Cayman Islands

Highlighting efforts to save the Grand Cayman blue iguana from extinction.

[edit]The Last Jaguars

Jaguars are studied by scientists on a private reserve in Costa Rica. Also: examining how the conversion of forest into farmland is threatening their population.

[edit]The Manatees of Belize

Highlighting the work of researchers protecting manatees in Belize.

[edit]The Turtles of Costa Rica

A look at the threats posed to sea turtles that nest on the beaches of Costa Rica. Included: the battle between environmentalists and poachers.

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History, Nature Documentary narrated by Bill Oddie and published by BBC broadcasted as part of BBC Natural World series in 2007 - English narration

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Saturday 25 August 2007 7.10pm-9.10pm BBC Four

This new two-hour documentary is the centrepiece in a dazzling wildlife season on BBC Four.

Bill Oddie highlights the passionate, eccentric and pioneering individuals who have often risked life and limb to break new boundaries in wildlife films. He charts the extraordinary changes in technology that have driven the industry forward, and reveals how the last hundred years of wildlife films has as much to do with our social attitudes as it has to do with the animals themselves.

With stunning, exciting and sometimes shocking footage, the documentary explores the changing trends throughout the last century, from shooting animals for fun in the 1930s to campaigning to save them from extinction today. As Oddie says: "To me the ultimate aim, the hope, the prayer behind every wildlife film... it's to make us care about the natural world and say 'here's something we love - we don't want to lose it'."

Plus, film-makers explain the challenges that filming animals can pose, we find out more about the pioneers, discover who was first to film underwater - and who narrowly escaped death to get the shots they wanted.

[edit]Cinema

First part focuses on techniques and on the early works of film makers, up to about 1940, when television just became available, but was put on hold because of the war.

[edit]Television

Second part moves into television, and touches on changing attitudes towards what is shown in UK and USA, like sex and violence, the killshot.

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History Documentary hosted by cast themselves, published by BFI in 1995 - English narration

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The British Film Institute commissioned Krzysztof Kieslowski to make a documentary celebrating the centenary of cinema, and the latter passed the task onto his assistant at the time, Pawel Lozinski. "He didn't want to deprive young Polish film makers of the artistic and financial opportunity," says Lozinski. Kieslowski came up with the main concept, which was to give voice to the patrons themselves, the viewers, who perceive films as a part of their own lives. Lozinski brings back scenes from old Polish films and observes the animated faces of audiences as they are walking down memory lane. From the oldest viewers, who still remember shedding a tear at the pre-war drama Leper or having a giggle at comedies with Adolf Dymsza, the camera moves to younger audiences, for whom the most profound cinematic experiences were such films as Ashes and Diamonds, Life of Matthew, or Blind Chance. This sketch-like subjective history of the Polish film makes one realize how attached the viewers are to their home cinema. But it also shows that the audience either dumbs down or grows wiser together with cinema. Indeed, we can observe its changing role - from the pre-war kitsch, through mature and thoughtful cinema of 1956-1981, to the Polish commerce of the '90s aping American thrillers and aiming at the lowest common denominator. The final word - about a film of his dream - belongs to a child, Tomek, the director's little brother. "He's the one who made this film. We filmed that extra scene because we didn't have an ending. We didn't want to end it with a girl who dreamed of becoming Boguslaw Linda's lover. Cinema can't be that dumb."

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History Documentary hosted by Christopher Lee, published by TPTV in 1996 - English narration

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Christopher Lee presents an introduction to horror films. Doesn't include the 26 episode series.

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Arts Documentary hosted by Christopher Lee, published by Passport International Productions in 1996 - English narration

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A multi-volume documentary on the history of horror movies. Hosted by veteran horror star Christopher Lee, this video series brings together footage from many notable (and some less notable) films from the silent era up to the 90's. Also included are interviews with many of the leading horror actors and filmmakers, in which they share their stories, opinions, and techniques on how to make the world scream.

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History Documentary hosted by Dominic West and published by BBC in 2009 - English narration

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In September 2009, the Girl Guides celebrated their centenary. With a membership of over 600000, nearly half the female population of Britain has been involved with the Brownies and Girl Guides at some time during their lives. Throughout its history, the movement has given girls the opportunity to have fun and form life-long friendships. Narrated by Dominic West (The Wire), 100 Years of the Girl Guides delves into the movement's extraordinary archive and interviews a host of former Girl Guides from veterans to such household names as Kelly Holmes, Clare Short, Kate Silverton and Rhona Cameron.

In 1909, Robert Baden-Powell agreed to let girls have their equivalent of the Boy Scouts. It was a time when women couldn't vote, couldn't work once married, couldn't borrow money or seek contraception.

The Guides have always risen to the challenge in times of national crisis. During the First World War, they worked in munitions factories and in the Second World War, young women in the Guides International Service worked alongside British soldiers to help Jewish inmates liberated from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

The Guides' progressive vision has pioneered the change in attitudes over disability. Their inclusive approach has produced many successful sportswomen including Kelly Holmes and paralympians Barbara Howie and Tanni Grey-Thompson.

The Girl Guides would not be the Girl Guides without their camping adventures. Baden Powell believed the great outdoors was the best way for the youth of the day to stay healthy and sane. At the heart of the Girl Guides' ethos lies their commitment to helping others and being a good citizen.