Jail babies

An estimated 290,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide in 20 years. Small farms used to be the country’s economic backbone but now, owners struggle to make even a meagre profit and drown in debt. For some, the pressure is too much. Many blame GMO cotton for the failing farms, having cornered the market and replaced organic crops; they have failed to live up to expectations.

Alyona felt unfulfilled with her respectable city job, so she dropped everything to live in a rural village community which had been established for abandoned children. How does the village purport to save children's souls? Can it save hers?

Don’t mess with Texas. RT travels to the Republic of Texas and meets Texans who are proud of their heritage, embrace self-reliance and are ready to live by what they preach, even if it strays from the norms of mainstream American society.

RT takes an exclusive look at North Korea, the world’s most closed-off country. Life here is isolated from the outside world and every aspect of existence is regulated by order of the "Great Leader", from the art you’re allowed to see, the books you can read, even to your hairstyle.

The old saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” has a very literal meaning for the residents of one small town on the outskirts of Cairo in Egypt.  Zabbaleen is home to a large community of rubbish collectors who gather and sort all of the capital’s waste. The process provides work for whole families as well as toys for the children and fodder for livestock.

Together’ is not a charity fund, an organisation or a programme. It’s a remarkable community of people who usually don’t even know each other. They have different occupations, education and hobbies, but there’s one thing they share in common. As they say themselves, ‘We care’. 

What do small village news look like? Slow-paced? Funny? Unsensational? Perhaps, but for the viewers of the state TV company “Metronom”, with a TV tower in Raisa Soboleva’s back garden, these broadcasts are important because life in their village gets better with each aired programme.

Karina, who calls herself a living Barbie doll, enjoys a glamorous, carefree lifestyle. She believes she is envied and looked up to by most young women. And her whole life is coloured pink.

Saint Basil the Great rehabilitation centre gives juvenile offenders a chance to start a new life. A life without drug abuse, stealing or violence. But are the young people on the program ready to accept this help?

Two decades since collapse of the Soviet Union many former republics are still in many ways parts of Russia. Uzbekistan and Tajikistan's economic situations are so troubled that their residents are forced to flock to Russia to earn some money. 

They are not afraid to follow their dreams and live to the max. Instead of putting up with the fact their life is inevitably coming to an end, they seem to convince the laws of biology to freeze the time for them. 

Cossack troops return to France 200 years after the Napoleonic wars were over. They'll show traditional riding tricks, wield swords while on horseback and perform other spectacular stunts, but no bloodshed or wounded people this time, just fun and games. 

Time is running out for a tightly-knit community of less than 1,000 people on Tangier Island, Virginia, where crab fisherman and oystermen have made a living for generations amidst idyllic beaches and unique wildlife.

Award-winning director Aleksey Andronov makes movies about love, disappointment and philosophy. But he does it inside prison as he’s sentenced to 10 years. His actors, cameramen and crew are all fellow inmates. Hear his story only on RTDoc.

Olga Sorokina is mother to 8 children. She’s also the head of an international business. Learn her life rules that help her manage motherhood as well as business, whilst moving her family to a foreign country. 

Single dads are both breadwinners and nurturers: they raise their children without their wives. Learn the reasons behind single fatherhood in Russia on RTDoc.

An homage to “women of a certain age”! Their beauty is much more than skin deep, enhanced by wisdom, life experience and achievements. A beauty pageant for women over 50 inspires RTD writer and director, Alyona Simikina, to document her own mother’s life.

For some people, the so-called ‘Tower of David’ is just an unfinished skyscraper. For others, it’s an asylum for robbers and murderers. About 800 families call this place home. RTD presents a film about people that live in this tower.

Where can Russians learn how to sell a hundred rubles for two hundred, or start a business from nothing? Join RT as we go on a tour of Moscow's Higher School of Economics.

They’re only children, but they already have medals for bravery. They saved someone else's lives while risking their own. A burning house, a frozen river, or a bullet. There is no threat big enough for the young and the brave when others are in danger.