Mohammad never thought that war in Syria would make him a refugee. After a long journey, he arrived in Amsterdam, which for him and thousands of others was more than just a safe haven – it was a place of freedom, acceptance and eventually, prosperity.

Dealing with the massive influx of newcomers hasn’t been the same for all EU member states. In some places pushbacks, violence and clashes, while in others, warm welcome was offered. Holland’s approach has proven success in integrating migrants and refugees into Dutch society.

In honor of World Refugee Day, Going Dutch attempts to uncover the recipe behind the success of the Dutch experience in integrating newcomers by speaking to refugees and volunteers who are helping with.

Going Dutch / 2017
#Netherlands

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

If you ever dreamt of becoming a Twilight character, maybe you should think twice. There is no fun in being forever young and beautiful - it can literally kill you.

It may sound like an exaggeration, but for children with Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), a rare genetic disorder that makes them extremely sensitive to sunlight, sun is a deadly enemy. Even the slightest exposure to sun rays can cause severe pain, skin cancer and even death.

Although there is no cure for XP, families do their best to ensure their children can enjoy outdoor activities safely. In New York, for example, Camp Sundown offers a unique summer camp experience where fun kicks off just after nightfall arrives. Here, children with XP can sing, swim, and play without undue fear over their condition. It's the summer solstice today! Let’s join these kids to see how they experience the joy of summer and learn with their families how to live in No Fun in the Sun.

No Fun in the Sun / 2018
#USA

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

Africa’s last Eden had to collaborate with ‘pirates’ to safeguard its thriving marine life.

After Europe's supertrawlers depleted their own waters and began fishing illegally off the West African coast, Gabon suffered a net loss of $610 million of its GDP each year. In response, the government partnered with the militant conservation group Sea Shepherd to patrol their waters and put an end to overfishing.

Among the group’s nine ships, Bob Barker, inspects suspicious vessels and works to prevent the illegal catch of species, such as tuna, mackerel and herring. The environmentalists are concerned about the damage done to marine species that are inadvertently caught up in the trawlers’ nets, including sharks and sea turtles, which are often dumped overboard as trash.

Join the crew on its mission to save the world's oceans in ‘Sea Life Savers’.

Sea Life Savers / 2017
#Africa

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

At the tender age of 9, Thakur was married off, only to be widowed a year later. For the next 70 years of her 95-year life, she was confined in an ashram.

After a husband’s death, widows in India become untouchable, invisible and ignored. Inhumane treatment full of pejoratives and torture drives them to wander the streets begging for food. They become strangers to their families and are forced to follow shocking costumes, such as wearing white saris, shaving heads, and being unable to remarry.

“I want to change the attitude and behavior of Indian people towards widows. Why should they suffer?” asks Pathak Bindeshwar, who has made immense efforts to changing the lives of these widows and make them colorful again.

On International Widow's Day, The Invisible Women highlights the bitter realities of injustice and poverty experienced by the isolated widows in India.

The Invisible Women / 2015
#India

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

This bizarre event is defying death taboo in a humorous way.

Hungary’s National Grave-Digging Race pits sturdy, experienced men against each other in an attempt to be crowned the fastest gravedigger with the perfect grave. As shovels fly, the men compete to finish the mound of ground in record time. It's a very unusual competition, but one that is gaining popularity in other European countries.

See how these men get down and dirty in Grave Games.

Grave Games / 2020
#Hungary

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

A profession that’s been around for a long time is on the brink of extinction… And no, ChatGPT has nothing to do with it.

Bolivian salt gatherers, or ‘saleros’, have been working for generations in the world’s largest salt desert – Salar de Uyuni. Few are willing to take a job harvesting salt, as it’s harsh, physically demanding, and hazardous to your health.

Salt flats workers Niko and his brother Eric are among the last of their kind. Niko is a sculptor who carves salt blocks into beautiful unique sculptures, while Eric has built a hotel entirely from locally extracted salt.

Men of Salt will take you on a journey to the ‘Biggest Mirror of God’ to explore the hard life of Bolivia’s last salt farmers.

Men of Salt / 2022
#Bolivia

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

In Japan, it is estimated that three men die alone every hour. This disturbing phenomenon has been growing so rapidly that it has earned a name, ‘Kodokushi,’ or lonely death.

The crisis has become prevalent enough that companies have emerged specializing in cleaning and sorting out the belongings after an unnoticed death, something family members used to do. Experts blame Japan's rapidly aging population and changes in traditional family customs.

To delve deeper, Dying Alone interviews elderly citizens and a kodokushi cleaning business owner. The insights reveal the heartbreaking reality of the situation and the complex factors that contribute to it.

Dying Alone / 2019
#Japan

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

Why are the Tultepec people convinced they ‘have gunpowder in their blood’ and proudly consider themselves as the only nation to laugh at death?

Every year, the people of this Mexican town gather to celebrate the patron saint of fireworks makers, St. John of God, in a spectacular fireworks festival, which culminates in a ‘parade of bulls’- a massive structure that takes 2.5 months to make, and which is consumed in fire in five minutes!

“It’s like racing a Ferrari at 360 kph. There's no room for error,” says Antelmo, whose family has been in the dangerous business for over 200 years. Tultepec is known as the ‘capital of fireworks’, as 80% of the local economy is based on the production of fireworks.

Experience Tultepec’s dancing with fireworks at the burning of the bulls in the documentary, ‘Mexican Boom Town’.

Mexican Boom Town / 2018
#Mexico

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

Did you know that child labour underlies the foundation of the glitter in your makeup?

One of India’s poorest states holds 60% of the world’s mica deposits. Hundreds of thousands of people in Jharkhand mine mica as their only source of income. Vinay's body is covered with scars from coming in contact with razor-sharp mica. “If we don't work, we don't eat,” he says sorrowfully.

This work is done illegally and is far from safe. The industry includes slave labor and often involves children as young as three to five years old. Despite bans and attempts to provide kids with education, up to 22,000 are exploited by mica mining companies.

Jharkhand‘s open secret is brought into the spotlight in the documentary ‘The Ugly Face of Beauty’.

The Ugly Face of Beauty / 2016
#India

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

Have you ever wondered who is in charge of the Internet? Who should be able to judge what can or cannot be said online?

We are living in a time when censorship and double standards are rampant, and freedom of speech is under threat. At the same time, the social media giants have taken over the internet, and their power is effectively greater than that of governments. In fact, they can even go as far as to banish standing heads of states, as was the case with former US president Donald Trump.

“One wrong move and their page is deleted. You don't exist anymore. Puff, gone!” explains Lionel, a legal and media analyst in reference to the growing trend of censorship.

The documentary ‘Cyber Сensors’ attempts to explain how platform wars are impacting our reality.

Cyber Сensors / 2021
#World

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

‘When I hand out hot meals, it makes me feel so warm inside, in my heart. I love it so much! I just can't describe how it feels’, says Sonya, a 14-year-old girl. Sonya's path to volunteering began when the Ukrainian army unleashed bombings upon her town. Constant shelling made it dangerous for residents to cook meals even in their own homes. Recognizing the dire circumstances, Sonya made a decision to join ‘Food for Life Charity’. Every day volunteers cook delicious meals and bread and travel to the most dangerous areas to give every resident an opportunity to have a meal.

Watch the documentary to see what brings Sonya and dozens of other kids joy and hope for a better future.

Young Hope of Donbass / 2023
#Donbass

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

A discovery of mysterious craters in the Yamal peninsula has left scientists baffled and social media abuzz with wild theories of aliens and stray missiles.

Witnessed by Nenets reindeer herders who felt the earth moving and heard loud explosions, these massive holes, up to 30 meters deep, look like they were left by powerful blasts. The indigenous people have lived off the surrounding tundra for generations and believe the craters could be a sign of man's wrongdoing.

Since they first appeared in 2013, Russian scientists have located 17 of these holes and believe they are formed due to trapped methane and carbon dioxide escaping to the surface.

Are the researchers and locals close to solving the riddle of Siberia's giant craters? Find out in ‘Black Holes of Yamal‘.

Black Holes of Yamal / 2021
#Russia

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

Can a simple ball help change one’s life forever, and for the better?

Rami Samaan, a Syrian army soldier, once had a big family and many friends. But, after a decade of war, all that was left was him and his mom.
When the war broke out, soldiers were unprepared to face the terrorists and the loss of comrades. Rami himself lost almost all of his friends and witnessed terrible things on the frontlines.

Overwhelmed by tragedies, Rami sought solace in an unlikely companion - a volleyball named Willy. Despite trust issues stemming from the loss of his friends, Rami developed a deep bond with Willy, who became his source of comfort and support.

Rami believes that everyone has a "Willy" of their own, something that they can turn to for strength in difficult times. In 'My Friend From War’, he tells us how this unlikely friendship helped him overcome the horrors of war.

My Friend From War / 2022
#Syria

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

‘To be honest, I knew nothing about Mongolia. And when I first arrived, we went to the Gobi Desert, and I literally fell in love with this country because the nature here is incredibly beautiful. It just won't let you go, it's breathtaking’, recalls Elena, who moved to Ulaanbaatar more than 10 years ago. Many Russians have similar to Elena’s stories, together they formed a huge community in Mongolia. How do these people live and is it hard to fuse the two cultures together inside one family?

Russian Roots, Mongolian Life / 2023
#Mongolia

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

Can the healing power of art prevent mental illness?

Lisa has long suffered from depression. Psychiatric treatment hadn't succeeded in dealing with her schizoaffective disorder. But then she found solace in painting. ‘When I don’t draw, I get worse,’ she says. Lisa is one of the so-called ‘outsider artists’ - individuals struggling with mental health issues - who have found a way to heal themselves through art.

‘PsychiARTry’ is a film that introduces this unique group. It provides insight into how art has empowered them to regain emotional balance and feel accepted.

PsychiARTry / 2021
#Russia

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

What does it feel like to spend your whole life in an open-air prison?

Generations of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza strip grew up under blockade with restrictions on movement and endless violence. Despite the dire humanitarian situation, they chose to protest and stand up for their right to live peacefully and return to what is now Israel.

On this day in 1950, Israel passed the Law of Return, which grants every Jew the right to migrate to and settle in Israel. Since then, illegal settlements have been expanding and Palestinians have been subjected to everyday violence in the occupied territories.

“We turn instruments of death into works of art” – Palestinian artist Majdi collects bullets used by Israeli soldiers and creates miniatures depicting Palestinians’ daily struggle. Many activists in the Palestinian resistance choose to express their anger and pain through drawing, dance, hip-hop, and sport.

Longing for Palestine: Art of Resistance / 2018
#Palestine

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!

The world’s ‘most polluted river’ is a major water source for Indonesians

The Citarum River has become a toxic swamp as a result of industrial wastewater, sewage, and domestic rubbish being dumped into it for decades. The river is home to hundreds of textile factories that spew out hazardous waste, turning the water various ominous shades.

Despite the toxic chemicals and heavy metals that end up in the river’s tributaries, canals, and reservoirs, the river remains the primary source of fish and drinking water for the 27 million people living within its basin. Alo has been fishing for trash in the Citarum for over 21 years, and all for pennies.

‘Deadly Waters’ unveils the textile industry’s dirty secrets along this Indonesian river.

Deadly Waters / 2019
#Indonesia

🌍 Join Documentary Planet for more!