Balance of Life

In the Dagestani village of Tsovkra, almost every resident is involved in rope walking. They ride a rope on a bicycle, even though it is only eight millimetres wide.

Previously only boys were taught this ancient art, but now girls are being included as well. ‘There are no children now, very few. Not enough boys’, said Ramazan Gadzhiev, director of the Tsovkryn rope-walking school.

There isn’t a single holiday in the republic without rope-walkers. On the Day of Unity of the Peoples of Dagestan watch our documentary Balance of Life about those who practice the unique art.

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‘They are beating her, torturing her, harassing her,’ says Ravi, from India about how his wife is being treated after she was kidnapped by her own relatives.

Ravi and Uma married without telling their parents. But when Uma’s relatives discovered the truth, they found the couple, kidnapped the girl and beat Ravi. Why did they do it? Because the lovers are of different castes.

Most Indian families arrange marriages for their children within their religion and caste. Only about 5% of marriages are inter-caste. It’s not prohibited by law to marry a person outside your caste, but it can lead to horrible consequences for lovers.

Angry relatives start harassing inter-caste couples, and sometimes it goes as far as murder. But there’re people who help inter-caste couples to fight injustice. They call themselves Love Commandos. The volunteer organization gives shelter, feeds and literally saves couples from their relatives.

Learn more about the difficult path of love for Indians in our clip and the film ‘Love Commandos’.

#humanstories

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Breaking Bread

Some 828 million people go to bed hungry every night. These are people in Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, and many African countries. ‘Of course I’m afraid [of hunger]. I think about it all the time. In the middle of the night I wake up with these thoughts,’ says Saba Kane, a villager in Mali.

Russian food and fertilisers could help with the famine, but harsh Western sanctions have reduced their supply.

How do people in poor countries survive and what can help them? Find the answers in our new film Breaking Bread.

#premiere

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❗️[WARNING] A 22-year-old guy who is stuck in his car calls 911 for help, and is eventually shot to death by police. What went wrong?

Body-cam footage showing the death of Christian Glass in Colorado appeared on the net. After the man got stuck in his car, he called the police for help. Upon arrival, the officers tried to resolve the situation peacefully. They talked to him: ‘Get out of the car. We’re here to help’, but the man refused to cooperate and remained inside of his vehicle. He seemed to be very scared and panicked. It’s known that Christian had 2 knives with him.

About an hour into the incident, the officers broke a window in the car, causing the young man to pick up a knife. One of the officers tasered Christian while another shot him through the windscreen. It’s unclear from the video what caused the officer to act this way but the police release states: ‘The suspect eventually tried to stab an officer and was shot.’

Later examination revealed that the young man was not drunk, but traces of marijuana and amphetamine were found in his blood. Christian’s mother said her son suffered from depression, and was diagnosed with ADHD. The man’s parents, are calling for prosecutors to bring criminal charges against the deputy.

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Here's classified footage of Eli Cohen, a secret agent who worked for Israeli intelligence in Syria in the 1960s.

Cohen was passing classified information about the position of Syrian troops on the Golan Heights - until his cover was blown: 'It wasn't the Syrians who traced Cohen... They called on our [Soviet] expertise, our hardware and our experts, who just went in, homed in and managed to point an exact location,' says Sergey Medvedko, a historian.

Eli Cohen was filmed more than half a century ago, but who managed to film him? Check out the video to find out. And watch Spyfall to find out other secrets.

#history

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’We’re the only people who laugh at death.’ Salvador Sanchez, from Tultepec, Mexico, earns his living making fireworks. The production of pyrotechnics makes up 80% of the city’s economy. But danger and death go hand-in-hand with the craft.

Salvador’s father was killed at work when 'something accidentally went off'. In 2016 there was another tragic incident. Forty-two people were killed and dozens injured - a powerful chain-reaction explosion ripped through Tultepec’s busy fireworks market.

Nevertheless, locals don’t give up the craft and enjoy the business. Watch the clip to know why. For more, watch the film Mexican Boom Town, about the pyrotechnics capital and its people devoted to tradition on Mexico's Independence Day.

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Moldova’s Survival Games

Moldova is one of the poorest European countries. Prices in shops are constantly rising, and gas prices have risen sharply. People are afraid of freezing in winter. They say they simply have no money to pay for heating.

There is unemployment in the country. About a third of the working-age population migrated to neighboring countries. A significant proportion have gone to work in Russia. Moldova is shaken by political and corruption scandals. Pro-Western politicians are in power. More and more often they speak about possible association with Romania. With the country in which ‘the existence of the Moldavians as a nation is not recognized’, according with the historian Alexander Korinenko.

All this didn’t prevent Moldova from receiving the status of the candidate for EU membership in 2022. Does the European Union need the Republic of Moldova? Watch our premiere Moldova’s Survival Games.

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Here’re 2 ordinary Japanese families. Amazed?

Both men married the same model of Vocaloid hologram, Miku Hatsune. Kondo Akihiko, 38 (on the right), says Miku saved his life, when he suffered from deep depression. Now he has several versions of her at home — in the form of a hologram and several dolls of various sizes. He lives with his virtual wife in an official marriage 4 years. Another man, known over the Internet as ‘Roy’, married Miku in March of this year. As well as Akihiko, he identifies as fictosexual – a person who is attracted only by fictional characters.

This kind of love units are common in Japan. Instead of real women, Japanese men often prefer fictional characters or silicone dolls. Some 2,000 love dolls are sold in Japan every year and as demand for them is growing, Japan’s demographic crunch is deepening. Experts are frightened by falling birth rates and the plunging number of marriages. They predict that in 30 years, Japanese population may cut by a third.

By the way, we filmed Akihiko's marriage in 2018 and made an entire film about their life. We’ll post the film today. Stay tuned!

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Bakaramoko Diallo’s family barely have enough money for food. They live in a poor quarter of Mali’s capital, Bamako. ‘Food prices have gone way up. Our wives constantly complain. There are difficult times ahead, and we need to be prepared,’ says the man.

And this is the situation in many African countries. Russia used to be the world’s biggest supplier of grain and fertilizers, but due to Western sanctions, exports have fallen. This has led to higher prices and food shortages.

How can the problem be solved? Watch our video and the new film Breaking Bread to find out.

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As we promised, post a film about Kondo Akihiko, a Japanese who officially married a fictional character.

Akihiko, 38, fell in love with Miku, a computer-generated hologram and an idol in Japan in 2008. Almost ten years later, a device for communicating with virtual characters appeared on the market. Akihiko bought it for $2,700 and got married on Miku. ‘Thanks to science, we can now finds a virtual soul mate.’

At home the man has several versions of Miku — in the form of a hologram and several dolls of various sizes. He eats with Miku, dresses her, talks to her. And he isn’t the one – there’re nearly 4,000 men in Japan, married on their favourite characters from anime or computer games.

See the story of Akihiko and his virtual wife in the film I Married a Hologram.

#Japan

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Our film America’s Water Crisis is about residents of Michigan, USA who fall ill because of poor quality of water.

In 2014, the authorities switched to a supplier of cheap water that took it from the local river. But soon, people began to complain about the colour, taste and smell of the tap water. Their complaints were ignored. When the city did admit that the water was unsafe, thousands of people had already been exposed to lead poisoning, carcinogens and dangerous infections.

The authorities say they took the necessary measures and claim the local water is now safe to drink, but the residents disagree. Victims are angry that no one has ever been prosecuted for causing the water crisis and the health problems they’ve suffered.

By the way, on September 18 the world marks World Water Monitoring Day. The date was adopted by Water Environment Federation in July 2006 to raise public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources. So, watch our documentary to know more about the problem and the case in Michigan.

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