Sahara: Desert Winter / 2014
#Tunisia

Sometimes it snows even in the Sahara, the world’s largest desert! Winters are cold and humid in the Sahara Desert, but there’s a hot event that attracts leading camel racers from Algeria, Libya, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Witness Tunisia’s annual desert festival and meet desert nomads.

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Walking after War / 2023
#Donbass #Russia

‘The money for my first prosthetics was also raised by the fund. Some of it was paid by my parents, some of it by the fund. But for my sports prosthetics, we sold the house we lived in. And my dad bought me a sports prosthesis’, recalls Anatoly Shevchenko, who lost his leg 15 years ago. Though it was expensive, the artificial leg allowed him to return to normal life and inspired other people with the same problem.

Now Anatoly is a prosthetics engineer at the Kursk Prosthetic Clinic. Anatoly works for free and raises funds to help Donbass fighters recover. Watch the documentary to see how these brave people fight their battles on the frontline and in everyday life.

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Bolivian DNA: Chasing the President / 2018
#Bolivia

Bolivia is a land of spectacular beauty, indigenous people, coca leaves and former ‘Brother-President’ Evo Morales. Having first emerged as the leader of the coca growers (cocaleros), Evo Morales won a landslide victory in the 2005 presidential election. He became the first indigenous leader and one of the continent’s most popular leftist rulers. In the first episode of the Bolivian series, host Pavel Selin talks to Evo Morales and discovers small towns and traditions of the indigenous Aymara and Quechua people.

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Cold Rush / 2016
#Arctic

In the frozen Russian Arctic, oil exploration is going on round the clock. The Prirazlomnaya platform is a self-contained floating town. The platform is Russia’s first to exploit the untapped oil riches below the Arctic Ocean. Everyday life on board is gruelling and hectic as the 200 people onboard pump thousands of tons of oil a day into huge tankers.

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Volunteers for Victory / 2023
#Russia #Ukraine

Every day, hundreds of Russian men are volunteering for the Special Military Operation in Ukraine. Why are they willing to fight? Volunteers from Siberia and the Far East and Krasnodar explain why they decided to join Russia's armed forces, even though they weren't drafted. Can a 60-year-old man or someone with no military background volunteer? This documentary tells the stories of four men who voluntarily chose to take up arms.

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Black Lives: Agents of Change / 2018
#USA

Growing up Black in America often means living in dangerous neighbourhoods with underfunded schools and little hope for the future, but the community is fighting back.

In Philadelphia, Steven Stewart takes another go at graduating high school thanks to YESPhilly, a second chance school for dropouts. He also learns how to responsibly handle guns with Black Guns Matter activist Maj Toure. In New York, Black Lives Matter activists give Bronx teenagers the media and legal skills they need to fight for their rights.

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Baikal Blues / 2016
#Russia

Lake Baikal is one of the world’s greatest natural treasures. The ancient lake holds 20 percent of the world’s fresh water and has high endemic species diversity. However, scientists have been raising alarms over pollution, invading non-native algae and shrinking fish stocks.

Our documentary crew joins an expedition across Baikal to see if the lake is under ecological threat and what is being done to protect it.

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On Women’s Shoulders / 2013
#Tajikistan

It's hard to find a man in a tiny village of Pinyon in mountainous Tajikistan. All able-bodied men have left to work abroad to earn five times as much as at home. According to some estimates, up to a million Tajiks leave the country searching for work abroad every year. In the meantime, mothers, wives and sisters are left behind with households to take care of.

Bibi Khamroeva is 57, and she spends six months in the mountains herding cows with other women.They wish their men didn't have to work abroad and could help at home. Tajikistan is the poorest country in Central Asia. It heavily relies on the remittance inflow, with cash transfers making up nearly half of its GDP.

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Western Sahara: Determined / 2017
#WesternSahara

Western Sahara is one of the most heavily mined territories in the world following decades of conflict between indigenous Sahrawi people and Morocco. Despite a 1991 ceasefire, most Sahrawis still linger in refugee camps in Algeria because it is too dangerous to live there. But some brave women have taken it upon themselves to clear their ancestral lands of landmines so their people can return.

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Café Sheroes / 2016
#India

Café Sheroes’ Hangout is a safe haven for women who survived acid attacks, which are all too common in India. Husbands, relatives and suitors are usually the ones who carry out the attacks. They cite spurned romantic advances and domestic disputes as motives.

Even though attackers risk a life sentence, the damage done to victims is irreparable. Victims deal with trauma, social stigma and rejection. While many prefer to hide their face and keep away from others, the women at Sheroes’ Hangout prove there is life after an attack. They manage the cafe, serve clients, take pictures, and make themselves visible.

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Bolivian DNA: Character / 2018
#Bolivia

The second episode of the Bolivian DNA explores the unique mix of cultures of Bolivia. Host Pavel Selin joins a students carnival, meets indigenous cholitas and learns where global dance hit ‘Lambada’ actually came from.

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US Invaders: Iraq 20 years on / 2023
#Iraq

US troops and their allies invaded Iraq on this day 20 years ago, claiming that Baghdad had weapons of mass destruction. The US toppled Saddam, but found no weapons of mass destruction. The war dragged on until 2011, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. It also displaced millions of Iraqis and devastated Iraq’s economy. The documentary explores the legacy of the US invasion of Iraq, as ordinary citizens recall how events unfolded in their homeland following the intervention.

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Black Lives: Illusion / 2019
#USA

This episode shows the life of Black teenage parents in the US and why their children are more likely to fall into the same patterns. “They can’t even drive yet, vote, go to a club, but they want them to be parents. It doesn’t make sense,” says church worker Dina Blackwell. Sporadically involved dads and overworked moms talk about the difficulties of being teen parents.

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The architectural ensemble in Kizhi is a truly unique monument of Russian wooden architecture during the construction of which not a single nail was used!

Video by: arctic-children.com/en/

🔔 Follow us - @russiabeyond

Operation Ukraine: Terror on Demand / 2023
#Russia

In August 2022, Russian journalist Daria Dugina was killed in a car bomb attack organised by the Ukrainian authorities. Two months later, an explosion hit the Crimean Bridge that links the Crimean peninsula to Russia’s mainland. Ukraine’s Security Service has apparently adopted the methods used by Ukrainian nationalists in the 20th century. The documentary sheds light on the ties between Ukrainian nationalist leaders and American intelligence agencies and draws parallels between the past and the present.

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Murky Waters of Flint / 2016
#USA

For 50 years, the authorities in Flint, Michigan had bought water from a trusted source. However, in 2014, the city switched to a cheaper supplier. Before long, residents were experiencing serious health issues. Some women even had miscarriages. Local activists did their best to draw the attention of the federal government. As of 2023, the Flint water crisis isn’t over yet. March 22 marked World Water Day that celebrates the essential role of fresh water in our lives. Watch the documentary to learn about how the water crisis was triggered.

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Pandaland / 2017
#China

The Giant Panda is the rarest bear on the planet and only lives in China. Sometimes referred to as a “living fossil”, giant pandas have walked the Earth for millions of years, but they’ve recently come to the brink of extinction because of human activity and natural factors. The Chinese government stepped in to save the adorable panda. It created panda conservation and breeding centres, where the cute bears are cared for and encouraged to breed.

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Mysterious Sands of Russia / 2012
#Russia

Shoyna was a prosperous fishing village in the Russian Arctic before sand began swallowing entire houses. Shoyna’s population has plummeted from 3,000 residents to a hardcore 300 who have stayed against all odds. Although jobs are scarce, there’s a meteorological station that studies weather and provides precise forecasts.

It’s still not clear what caused the incursion of sand, but some blame overfishing for disrupting the area’s ecosystem. Yet, the biggest question is why people continue to live in such an unwelcoming environment?

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Bolivian DNA: Russian traces / 2018
#Bolivia

Bolivia is best known as home to the largest indigenous population in South America. Few know that it also harbours a unique community of Russian religious dissenters, known as Old Believers. In this episode, host Pavel and his friend Ramiro meet the diaspora living in the village of Toborochi. The Old Believers keep the religious practices of the Eastern Orthodox Church prior to Patriarch Nikon’s 17th-century reforms. The episode provides an inside look at the closed community and their traditions.

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