Schedule

A Brazilian prison has come up with an original way to prepare female prisoners re-entering society after incarceration – by holding an inmate beauty pageant. Many of the contestants are serving lengthy sentences after being tempted into a world of drug dealing and prostitution. Looking like models in front of their cheering parents and kids helps them rebuild their self-worth and gives them a determination not to repeat past mistakes.

During the Donbass war, not all people got a chance at evacuation. Some refused to leave their homes and stayed there during the shelling, living in cellars and cooking on an open fire. The film crew talks to people who were separated from their families by the front line and witnesses their heart-breaking reunions.

Since the start of space exploration, debris has built up around Earth’s orbit. This space junk could destroy the satellites on which the world economy depends. NASA expert Don Kessler, Roscosmos specialists and an ISS cosmonaut tell RTD about the dangers this poses while space agencies and companies research solutions to space pollution.

Anti-Russian sentiment in the West is still rising, making Russians’ lives there harder and harder. They are being harassed and insulted. The Russian language and even licence plates can trigger an assault. Anyone can become a target, from a diplomat to a young child picked on at school for being Russian. But there are still voices in the European community who are convinced: that escalating conflicts is not a solution.

From the first days of the conflict in February, Mariupol residents had to hide in basements with no food, water or medicine. Ukrainian troops had no plan to evacuate citizens but instead used them as human shields, which resulted in civilian casualties yet to be counted. This film is about ordinary people, who survived the Battle of Mariupol.

Sara is Afghanistan’s first and only woman taxi driver. Some people admire her, others condemn and a few even threaten but she doesn't care about what people think. This strong-willed woman is used to having no one to rely on but herself.

20 years ago, the US Army and its allies invaded Iraq to end Saddam Hussein’s regime and rid the country of weapons of mass destruction. While the search found no such weapons, the conflict continued until 2011, leading to a civil war and political instability in Iraq. The documentary explores the many problems that stem from the US intervention and shares stories of ordinary Iraqis who witnessed their oil-rich country sink deeper into crisis.

South Koreans are known as some of the hardest-working and thus stressed-out citizens in the world. A fiercely-competitive society and long work hours inevitably result in high incidences of stress and suicide, as well as cases of death by overwork. Stressed locals find relief in some peculiar ways. Some take part in their own funerals to appreciate life; others spend a few days meditating in a temple or take a break in solitary confinement in mock gaols.

Journalist Pavel Selin begins his journey to Bolivia high in the Andes, guided by his university friend, Ramiro Rivero. Pavel gets to follow President Evo Morales and ask him about the role of coca in Bolivian culture, his passion for sport and plans after retirement.

When giant holes began appearing in the Arctic tundra, Nenets reindeer herders said evil spirits were to blame. Meanwhile, scientists have been investigating other possible causes, with climate change and gases trapped in the permafrost among the chief suspects. Now they’re closer than ever to explaining this geological mystery.

Donbass: The Grey Zone shows how people live amid the war in the frontline villages in the Donbass. Despite the Minsk Agreement, Ukrainian troops have been getting closer to villages in the ‘buffer zone’ as part of the ‘creeping offensive’. Locals share their accounts of war and explain why they don’t leave their homes despite the horrors.

Percy Sackey is a Ghanaian primary school teacher who uses dance to build relationships with his pupils and get them to learn better. RTD goes to school with Ghana’s dancing teacher and sees how this dance god uses one of his country’s cultural traditions to get them to enjoy school and learn lessons they’ll never forget.

The Saint Petersburg Valkyries; Russia’s oldest and strongest women’s American-football team, over the course of a season, RTD follows them and their coach in pursuit of victory in the Finnish League, Europe’s toughest championship. Tag along with RTD for practice sessions, overnight coach trips and high-stakes games. Meet the players, big or small, who find their place through the team. Then decide: does this bruising sport destroy femininity, or help young women bloom?

Pianist Vladislav Teterin’s foundation, 'World of Art', is a very special charity for disabled children. It gives young singers and musicians a chance to shine on stage and to show the whole world that their physical disabilities are no barrier to them developing their talents.

The Akanksha Infertility Clinic in Gujarat, India, offers surrogacy services to childless couples desperate for their own baby.  While making money from surrogacy remains controversial, doctors such as Nayna Patel stay convinced of the benefits for all concerned.

Four wheelchair dancers from Moscow are in Sochi for a disabled artists festival. Old hands Irina and Dimitry try to advise the young, headstrong couple Evgeny and Nursina. They battle each other, and Sochi’s traffic when out shopping. Evgeny and Nursina get to swim in the sea for the first time. In the end, their flawless performance wins applause and accolades.

While Irina rests, the other three intrepid wheelchair dancers take time to visit the mountains of Krasnaya Polyana outside Sochi. Even before they leave, Nursina gets lost. It doesn’t run entirely smoothly as the trio has problems with steep inclines at the resort. Nevertheless, Nursina, Evgeny, and Dimitry get a high from riding the cable car and chair lifts into the picturesque mountains.

Albinos in Tanzania are frequently beaten and murdered simply because they are not like other people. People fear them. They are outcasts, treated with contempt.Their skin is a different colour. This is not a film about the African-American civil rights movement in the mid-20th century. These twenty six minutes tell the story of those with the misfortune to be born an albino in Africa today.

While the people of Donbass were struggling for their independence against Ukrainian neo Nazis, the poets and musicians stood shoulder to shoulder with them. They all had different life journeys that brought them here, but they are all united by a determination to support the right cause the way they can — through verse. Watch the film to meet the people who are now, in real-time, creating great Donbass poetry.

There's not much life on the 80th parallel north, close to the northernmost point in the world. It's a vast icy desert with the occasional polar bear or walrus seen in the distance. Russian researchers are making their way there aboard the Akademik Tryoshnikov to wedge into an ice floe and simply, 'go with it'. Drifting polar stations were first set up in the 1930s, but became too risky when rising temperatures started causing the ice caps to melt. RTD joins the experimental Transarktika-2019 expedition on a month-long voyage to revive the drifting polar missions.

Journalist Pavel Selin begins his journey to Bolivia high in the Andes, guided by his university friend, Ramiro Rivero. Pavel gets to follow President Evo Morales and ask him about the role of coca in Bolivian culture, his passion for sport and plans after retirement.

'I’m in Belarus to meet the last living survivors of the Holocaust. From a population of 900,000 Jews in 1939 just two years later, nine-out-of-ten would lie here in the ditches and unmarked killing trenches of Eastern Europe,' says reporter Paula Slier. She visited the Belarus city of Brest, hoping to trace back her family who’d been killed during the Holocaust. Along the way, she learns gruesome facts about the Minsk ghetto and the horrors the people had to endure.

For almost a year Donetsk citizens have been surviving without water and heating. Ukrainian armed forces deliberately target water towers cutting off water supply for Donbass residents. ‘Yes, power can just drop out. And we live in an area where there’s no water… well, it’s very rare. So, it’s a bad situation, you can say’, says Masha, a young artist. Because of constant Ukrainian shelling the only possible way for Masha and her neighbors to get water is to ask volunteers. Who are these people who risk their lives and help others under fire?

The Orphan Bear Rescue Centre in Russia saves abandoned bear cubs and later releases them back into the wild. However, for bears to have a chance to resume their life in the forest, they must not become accustomed to people. With that in mind, the bear rescuers have worked out a special method of looking after their fluffy fosterlings. 

During the Donbass war, not all people got a chance at evacuation. Some refused to leave their homes and stayed there during the shelling, living in cellars and cooking on an open fire. The film crew talks to people who were separated from their families by the front line and witnesses their heart-breaking reunions.

Anti-Russian sentiment in the West is still rising, making Russians’ lives there harder and harder. They are being harassed and insulted. The Russian language and even licence plates can trigger an assault. Anyone can become a target, from a diplomat to a young child picked on at school for being Russian. But there are still voices in the European community who are convinced: that escalating conflicts is not a solution.

From the first days of the conflict in February, Mariupol residents had to hide in basements with no food, water or medicine. Ukrainian troops had no plan to evacuate citizens but instead used them as human shields, which resulted in civilian casualties yet to be counted. This film is about ordinary people, who survived the Battle of Mariupol.

When giant holes began appearing in the Arctic tundra, Nenets reindeer herders said evil spirits were to blame. Meanwhile, scientists have been investigating other possible causes, with climate change and gases trapped in the permafrost among the chief suspects. Now they’re closer than ever to explaining this geological mystery.

Donbass: The Grey Zone shows how people live amid the war in the frontline villages in the Donbass. Despite the Minsk Agreement, Ukrainian troops have been getting closer to villages in the ‘buffer zone’ as part of the ‘creeping offensive’. Locals share their accounts of war and explain why they don’t leave their homes despite the horrors.

Percy Sackey is a Ghanaian primary school teacher who uses dance to build relationships with his pupils and get them to learn better. RTD goes to school with Ghana’s dancing teacher and sees how this dance god uses one of his country’s cultural traditions to get them to enjoy school and learn lessons they’ll never forget.

Four wheelchair dancers from Moscow are in Sochi for a disabled artists festival. Old hands Irina and Dimitry try to advise the young, headstrong couple Evgeny and Nursina. They battle each other, and Sochi’s traffic when out shopping. Evgeny and Nursina get to swim in the sea for the first time. In the end, their flawless performance wins applause and accolades.

While Irina rests, the other three intrepid wheelchair dancers take time to visit the mountains of Krasnaya Polyana outside Sochi. Even before they leave, Nursina gets lost. It doesn’t run entirely smoothly as the trio has problems with steep inclines at the resort. Nevertheless, Nursina, Evgeny, and Dimitry get a high from riding the cable car and chair lifts into the picturesque mountains.

The Akanksha Infertility Clinic in Gujarat, India, offers surrogacy services to childless couples desperate for their own baby.  While making money from surrogacy remains controversial, doctors such as Nayna Patel stay convinced of the benefits for all concerned.

20 years ago, the US Army and its allies invaded Iraq to end Saddam Hussein’s regime and rid the country of weapons of mass destruction. While the search found no such weapons, the conflict continued until 2011, leading to a civil war and political instability in Iraq. The documentary explores the many problems that stem from the US intervention and shares stories of ordinary Iraqis who witnessed their oil-rich country sink deeper into crisis.

Journalist Pavel Selin begins his journey to Bolivia high in the Andes, guided by his university friend, Ramiro Rivero. Pavel gets to follow President Evo Morales and ask him about the role of coca in Bolivian culture, his passion for sport and plans after retirement.

Albinos in Tanzania are frequently beaten and murdered simply because they are not like other people. People fear them. They are outcasts, treated with contempt.Their skin is a different colour. This is not a film about the African-American civil rights movement in the mid-20th century. These twenty six minutes tell the story of those with the misfortune to be born an albino in Africa today.

While the people of Donbass were struggling for their independence against Ukrainian neo Nazis, the poets and musicians stood shoulder to shoulder with them. They all had different life journeys that brought them here, but they are all united by a determination to support the right cause the way they can — through verse. Watch the film to meet the people who are now, in real-time, creating great Donbass poetry.

'I’m in Belarus to meet the last living survivors of the Holocaust. From a population of 900,000 Jews in 1939 just two years later, nine-out-of-ten would lie here in the ditches and unmarked killing trenches of Eastern Europe,' says reporter Paula Slier. She visited the Belarus city of Brest, hoping to trace back her family who’d been killed during the Holocaust. Along the way, she learns gruesome facts about the Minsk ghetto and the horrors the people had to endure.

For almost a year Donetsk citizens have been surviving without water and heating. Ukrainian armed forces deliberately target water towers cutting off water supply for Donbass residents. ‘Yes, power can just drop out. And we live in an area where there’s no water… well, it’s very rare. So, it’s a bad situation, you can say’, says Masha, a young artist. Because of constant Ukrainian shelling the only possible way for Masha and her neighbors to get water is to ask volunteers. Who are these people who risk their lives and help others under fire?

The Orphan Bear Rescue Centre in Russia saves abandoned bear cubs and later releases them back into the wild. However, for bears to have a chance to resume their life in the forest, they must not become accustomed to people. With that in mind, the bear rescuers have worked out a special method of looking after their fluffy fosterlings.