Raft to Freedom

As a transsexual, Yury Ovodov or "Julia" believes that he is actually a woman, and his decision to act the part has alienated his family and stunted his career prospects. However, he claims that he wouldn't be able to live with himself as a male. RTd follows a person trapped between two identities as he seeks acceptance, both from his community and from himself.

They joined the army driven by a desire to serve their country and its people. However, the wars they were sent to made them re-evaluate everything they believed in. Now, US veterans are trying to come to terms with their past and learn how to live among civilians again.  It turns out, they’ve no one to rely on but each other.

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.

Pastor and pilgrim Gennady Mokhnenko visits Kenya to see his foster son as well as to help local communities to get clean water, access to medicine and education. He travels to the most remote and inaccessible parts of the country to talk to local people and volunteers who help them.

Child prostitution in Kenya has reached a shocking level. Extreme poverty and sex tourism lead to the sexual exploitation of children on a massive scale. RT Doc investigates what is being done about the problem and who profits from it.

Meet a man who has taken in dozens of children that have been failed by their parents and the system. With tough love he is teaching them how to get over their pasts and succeed in life.

The rat race versus the simple life. RTDoc explores consumerism and its eye-opening alternatives.

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.

Kosovo, with NATO’s help, won independence from Serbia in 1999. In 2014 Serbia opened its borders with the young republic allowing tens of thousands of migrants to leave Kosovo for Europe. Disenchanted Kosovars hoped to escape poverty and unemployment  by seeking better lives abroad for themselves and their children. The massed departure has come to be known as “the Exodus”.

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.

In the poverty-stricken former Soviet country of Tajikistan, the men have sought job opportunities abroad and the women are left in charge of agrarian communities where cattle provide almost everything and luxuries are few.

Every August the Pine Ridge annual powwow is held to celebrate the culture and traditions of the Lakota people, but it looks like a feast in a time of plague, as most of them have lost all hope of getting through the dire straits. 

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. 

Amsterdam could compete with New York for the title of modern Babylon. More than 200 ethnic groups live here. The whole of post-war Netherlands has been working hard to build the image of Europe’s most tolerant country – but what has been the result?

Escaping harsh reality or relaxing after a hard working day? A guilty pleasure or the only reason to wake up in the morning? Computer games are made for fun, but sometimes they cause one's real life turning into a slaughterous level which inevitably results in Game Over. 

Juno was a picture of success; he had been married for 29 years and had a PhD in biophysics, but never felt completely at ease. He took the bold decision to realign his gender. This new documentary, by RT America correspondent and director Alexey Brazhnikov, delves into transgender life in the US and explores how people face their problems, past, present and future.

In Russian prison colonies inmates often receive an education, sometimes specializing in a completely new profession. For a few, their talents manifest i n ways they would never have realized in the days before they wore prison clothing. 

These women are not ashamed of their appearance – on the contrary, they live happy lives and are proud of what they have achieved. They are called little ladies, but the life they lead is full of big accomplishments and great events. We meet two little ladies to hear their stories.