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AFRICA'S DEADLIEST
EP. 01. Masters of stealth or speed, using enhanced senses and lethal strategies to hunt, Africa’s killers include the incredibly fast cheetah and lions, which while slower, have raw power and ingenious teamwork on their side. The rivers, meanwhile, hold fearsome crocodiles.
FINE COCOA FROM ESMERALDA
Cacao Nacional from Ecuador is also known as "Theobroma Cacao" or "food of the gods". The pods grow in the remotest regions of the country, including in small villages along the Rio Santiago and the Rio Napo. Theobroma's distinctive flavor is valued by chocolatiers around the world. The high demand helps cocoa farmers like Lilian and Cleofe develop a new, long-term and more reliable means of subsistence. Cocoa plantations also immensely benefit the environment: cocoa trees grow in mixed species plantations and thereby protect the rainforest. They represent an alternative to palm tree plantations that are highly destructive to the local environment.
JOURNEYS IN INDIA
BANGALORE AND OOTY. Bangalore is a city with many names: the Garden City, the Pub City, the Fashion Capital the list goes on. Follow Bill as he journeys through this city of contrasts and touches on its many faces. We visit Cubbon Park and Lal Bagh Gardens, shop in the markets and explore the nightlife of the modern city. We also explore architecture, from ancient Bull Temple, the legendary source of the Vishva Bharti River to the largest legislative building in India. Bill’s final stop is the “Queen of the Hill Stations” Ooty, where he tours the plantations, rides the historic narrow-gauge railroad and visits the Stone House, which was built by the British in the days of colonial rule.
JOURNEYS IN INDIA
GIR: THE LAST REFUGE OF THE LION. The desert of Gujarat is hardly the place one expects to encounter a lion, but in the scrub forest of the region Bill does exactly that. Join him as he tracks the lion and many less dangerous creatures from spotted deer to owls and parrots. Around the campfire at night meet the local dance group who is preserving the traditional dances of the area people. A unique experience in a unique region.
VERSAILLES FURNITURE
Via six masterpieces, the film reveals the beauty of the spirit of Versailles of the 17th and 18th centuries. A unique homage to the people that crafted it, the furniture reveals the personal tastes of its commissioners, and portrays something that has ceased to exist! These unique items of furniture that once belonged to Louis 14th, Louis 15th, Marie-Antoinette and Louis 16th have fascinating stories to tell: the tortoise-shell chest-of-drawers with inlays of brass; an astronomical clock - a veritable miracle of science; the most emblematic example of French furniture art in the world - the King’s Desk; and the exquisite items made for Marie-Antoinette - the queen’s jewellery case and the wheat-sheaf furniture.
HIDDEN TRACES
The First World War: soldiers from at least 20 countries were plunged in the hell of trenches and caught under a deluge of bombs. A century later, archaeologists help bring to light the daily life of the soldiers fighting on the French Eastern Front and reveal unexpected aspects of life on the front.
MIND IN MOTION
Our exploration will lead us into the depths of the brain and to the very sources of consciousness, for a fascinating glimpse into the process of thought. How can we decide whether a person in a coma is likely to return to consciousness? How can a person see with the tongue? Why do amputees experience phantom sensations in missing limbs? What do we have in common with the fruit fly? What are the effects of meditation on the brain? Scientific answers to these questions and others are now within our reach, thanks to stunning new research in the neurosciences. It focuses on the brain, our mental mechanisms, the connection between body and mind. Why we need to represent ourselves and others consciously in order to survive? In our quest for answers, we have met some remarkable scientists - high-ranking pioneers who are innovative yet modest. They share their discoveries and questions with us while stressing that it is vitally importance for our society to try and understand why we have conscious brains. The story of their search, across North America and Europe, will be vividly told through evocative visuals and original imagery from new brain exploration technology.
CAMBODIA'S LAST BAMBOO TRAIN
This report climbs aboard the bamboo train, learns about its passengers and portrays life as it currently is in Cambodia. Without this bamboo train, people would not be able to go do their daily tasks such as going to work or to the doctor.Deep in the Cambodian Battambang region, a small bamboo train called "Norry" makes its way through rice fields and jungle passages. It is considered to be one of the most important lifelines into the poor region. But it looks like Norry's time is running out, because of the changes in Cambodia over the last years.More and more fields are being cleaned of land mines, new roads are being built, and many Cambodians are now able to afford a motorbike. The people fear that in a few years' time the bamboo train will stop operating.
GROSSLOCKNER KING OF THE HIGH ALPS
The report accompanies Austrian farmers in the highest mountain of the country - the Glossglockner - from July until Christmas, throughout the changing seasons. It is mid-June and summer is finding its way into the valleys of East Tyrol, even though the Hohe Tauern Mountains are still covered with snow. In the distance, the Grossglockner gleams bright white above the Tyrol mountain village of Kals. This summer, mountain climbers from all over the world will scale the Grossglockner. Toni Riepler, a mountain guide from Kals and his wife Gitti have a lot of work to do. They run the "Glorerhütte", one of the oldest mountain huts in the area. For 3 months, from mid-June to mid-September, the family lives high up in the Alps. In the winter, they stay down in the valley.
THE MONKEY WHISPERER AND HIS DREAM
360° GEO - Report accompanies David van Gennep a committed animal rights activist and his team of volunteers during on a distinctly moving mission. There is great excitement in the back of the monkey transporter - after a 20-minute drive, 8 chimpanzees impatient to get out of the van, suddenly go silent. For here, there is suddenly no cold concrete floor, and no cage awaiting them, but a vast, natural expanse of trees, grass and blue skies. After years of imprisonment, maltreatment and isolation, they will now have to learn to liaise with conspecifics, build up families and live outdoors. "Monkey whisperer" David van Gennep wipes the tears from his eyes. His lifelong dream to found a paradise for maltreated monkeys in Alicante in Spain, is finally coming true.
THE NEW CUBA
Cuba, decades after the revolution. There is a new spirit emerging in Havana. Reforms are encouraging new business ideas and a large number of licenses have been issued for independent enterprise. The sale of real estate and cars has been legalized. In the socialist enclave of Cuba, there is now a spirit of letting visions and lifestyles become reality, of shaping a new Cuba. “ArteCorte” is such a dream come true. The master hair stylist Papito has built up the best beauty salon in the city. Customers love “ArteCorte” and are all very different from one another: young and old, proper and offbeat, poor and slightly less poor.
AUTISTS, A PLACE AMONG THE OTHERS?
Autism remains a mystery. People with autism will live with this disorder all their life and our societies are all facing the same question: how to take care of them? France lags behind on this subject. Comparing the experiences of other countries, Italy, Sweden, Germany, and Quebec, we will clarify the French situation and demonstrate that practices exist and allow to improve significantly the autist’s life. Every time it comes to real societal choices that reveal our various ways to approach difference. But there are in any case, no simple answers to this complex problem.
BHUTAN IN THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
Nestled in the heart of the Himalayas, the small kingdom of Bhutan has decided to do away with the dictatorship of Gross Domestic Product and economic growth at all costs. A new wealth indicator has now become the country’s gold standard: Gross National Happiness. Launched by the country’s fourth King, the “new paradigm” is based on four pillars: protection of the environment; conservation and promotion of Bhutanese culture; good governance; and responsible and sustainable economic development.
THE BEST SHEEPDOGS FROM WALES
The film follows Nigel and his dogs throughout the summer. Nigel Watkins is a farmer and vice-world champion sheepdog handler. Together with his partner, Janet, he runs his little farm Llanddeusant in the Brecon Beacons National Park in the south of Wales. Farming takes up a fair amount of his time, but his hobbies take up much more of it: he trains Border Collies, a breed of sheepdog.
THE NEW NOMADIC PEOPLE OF KYRGYZSTAN
360° GEO - Report accompanies the Kyrgyzstani nomad family and their 600 animals as they trek through gorges and rapid mountain springs. 40-year-old Kyrgyzstani Bachit makes his living by pasture farming. He is an astute shepherd and realized long ago that major changes were taking place in his homeland, the Tien Chan Mountains, on the Chinese border: the high mountain peaks - some of them at an altitude of 7,000 metres - are thawing rapidly. This is an effect of global warming, with as yet unknown global consequences. Bachit has adapted to the new situation: fince several years now, he has been leading his huge flock anually from the village to a 3,000-meter altitude summer pasture - a risky adventure.
MIND IN MOTION
Our exploration will lead us into the depths of the brain and to the very sources of consciousness, for a fascinating glimpse into the process of thought. How can we decide whether a person in a coma is likely to return to consciousness? How can a person see with the tongue? Why do amputees experience phantom sensations in missing limbs? What do we have in common with the fruit fly? What are the effects of meditation on the brain? Scientific answers to these questions and others are now within our reach, thanks to stunning new research in the neurosciences. It focuses on the brain, our mental mechanisms, the connection between body and mind. Why we need to represent ourselves and others consciously in order to survive? In our quest for answers, we have met some remarkable scientists - high-ranking pioneers who are innovative yet modest. They share their discoveries and questions with us while stressing that it is vitally importance for our society to try and understand why we have conscious brains. The story of their search, across North America and Europe, will be vividly told through evocative visuals and original imagery from new brain exploration technology.
CORNWALL'S NARCISSUS ISLAND
360°GEO - Report spends the days in the run up to Easter on a flower farm. We also dive with playful grey seals in the Atlantic Ocean and reveal more than just the secrets of flower-growing.At the tip of the world - Landsend in Cornwall - are the Isles of Scilly. About 2,000 people live on these islands located at the entrance to the English Channel. Some of the locals are fishermen but their main activity is flower farming.The nearby Gulf Stream provides the islands with a year-round mild climate and as a result, millions of flowers are grown along the Atlantic Coast. Churchtown Farm specializes in Narcissi, and so it the pressure is on in the run up to Easter.
WORLD AFTER FUKUSHIMA
The derisory dosimeters, located at crossroads and hanging around children’s necks, are a constant reminder of the invisible monster and of the deadly particles people attempt to retain by placing bottles of water on windowsills. 2 years on, in the region of Fukushima, people’s lives - or at least their “existences” - carry on, as they integrate radioactive pollution into their daily lives. Beyond the earthquake and the tsunami, the nuclear catastrophe has revealed the shortcomings of a system and its criminal arrogance. And everyone remembers with dread the series of errors and procrastinations that sealed their fate, as politicians preferred to “downplay the situation instead of reducing risks”.
NATURE'S FORCE
EP. 03. A snapshot of Seasons, how they work together and keep the globe in balance. Droughts are explored in terms of how we can predict them, proof our lives from them and collect data because of them. Hurricanes are explained, their power revealed and the measures that are used to help us survive their impact. Thunderstorms have a few stages of development that roll out in a particular order.
NATURE'S FORCE
EP. 04. How are Rainbows formed and what’s their science? We look at the largest Hail ever recorded and explain why it comes in so many shapes and sizes. Global Warming is a big issue and topic, and we give a nutshell insight to its meaning and impact on many levels. Forecasting is key and crucial to living with nature and its weather, as it involves precision technologies and expertise. Typhoon Halyan is an example of one of the most devastating storms in recent history and its story illustrates the power and destruction that Typhoons can cause.
CRANBERRY SEASON AT CAPE COD
360° GEO - Report visited the Manns family farm and witnessed first hand the great efforts put into little berries.With its endless coastline and multi-coloured forests, the Cape Cod peninsula on the US east coast: a favourite holiday destination, especially during Indian summers. The peninsula is also a playground for the beautiful and the rich, who own summer residences there.But for the locals, cranberries are the main sector of activity. These small red berries are gaining favour all over the world, although their cultivation remains difficult.
SPEED KILLS
EP. 02. On the surface, the black lagoon looks peaceful. But dip beneath and a murky world of twisted mangrove roots and seagrass beds is revealed. A dark realm of freakish killers waiting to unleash bursts of speed. The otherworldy Mantis Shrimp has spears for arms. Eels make lightning fast strikes with their alien jaws. And a Bullshark’s stolen meal leads to a feeding frenzy of Blacktip sharks. There’s a lot more happening here than the calm veneer suggests.
ON THE CITIES’ ROOFTOPS
TOKYO. How is life on the city’s roofs? This series scales new heights, exploring apartment buildings, towers and monuments to discover a world full of unsuspected treasures : our rooftops. By day and night, the population changes on these heights. There are people who work here, people who live here, and others who come here to relax. The world’s rooftops are a continual hive of activity…
THE DONKEY ISLAND
With 6,000 donkeys for 24,000 inhabitants, the Island of Lamu off the coast of Kenya certainly holds the world record. This situation is due to its narrow streets, along which vehicles cannot pass. There are only 2 cars on the island, and one of those belongs to the refuge that takes care of the donkeys. Donkeys are part of the landscape, and are used for travelling as well as beasts of burden. There is also a well-known donkey race that takes place in the region once a year! Shee Famao, a young teenager, has already won the race twice and hopes to win it again. 360° - GEO paid him a visit on his native island.
FALKLAND ISLANDS PENGUINS ADVANCING FORWARD
360° GEO - Report captures the rough beauty of the Falkland Islands on camera, and plunges into the life of the penguin colonies at the far end of the world. The Falkland Islands is an archipelago in the South Atlantic, not far from the South American continent. In the 1980's, England and Argentina fought a cruel war for sovereignty. Altogether on both sides, about 1,000 people lost their lives before the Argentinians surrendered. Today, the roughly 700 islands of the British Overseas Territory are once again a natural paradise: thousands of penguins crowd the coast, while the almost 3,000 inhabitants lead a "British way of life" and try to do their best given their economic and territorial isolation, at 12,600 km from London.
JOURNEYS IN INDIA
RANTHAMBORE & KEOLADEO NATIONAL PARKS. Ranthambore National Park is part of Project Tiger, a unique wildlife conservation program set up to insure the preservation of the magnificent Tiger. In Ranthambore we encounter the tiger along with Sambar and Blue Bull, Wild Boar and Langur Monkey. We also explore the historic side of Ranthambore which is dotted with ruins of the fort that protected the region for hundreds of years. We end the episode with a tour of a very different national park. Board a rickshaw and join your guide as he explores Keoladeo National Park, known for its abundant bird life.
JOURNEYS IN INDIA
KERALA. Join us as we cruise the backwaters of Kerala, one of the most beautiful and serene areas of India. We explore the cities of Cochin and Kozhikode. Attend a local theatre performance and learn about traditional drama styles. The drama continues as we witness a local festival and then take in a display of the ancient art of Kalaripayattu. Bill helps raise the Chinese fishing nets at dusk and tour a 1000 year old boat yard, where luxury vessels are still handcrafted.
AFRICA'S DEADLIEST
EP. 02. Killer armies collaborate to take down larger prey. On land, a zebra’s kick can kill, but in the water it’s easy meat for a congregation of crocodiles. Wild dogs may not seem like fearsome predators, but a pack kills fast, brutally and often.
LOOKING FOR SULTAN
Despite efforts to protect tigers for the past 4 decades, tigers continue to be hunted down - poached, poisoned and squeezed into small pockets of protected forests.Tigers play a pivotal role in maintaining the health of the forest ecosystem and there is an urgent need to protect the tiger and its habitat.In India and across the world, Tigers have captured our imagination for centuries. We have feared them, respected them and even worshipped them. But during the colonial times tigers were hunted in thousands.At the turn of the century over a 100,000 tigers existed on the planet. Almost 40,000 of these were in India. But today only 3800 tigers survive across the world and 70% of these are in India.Today each and every tiger is important and that’s why we need to find Sultan.This film follows the story of Sultan, the up and coming dominant tiger of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve who vanished suddenly.Father and son wildlife filmmakers, Mike and Gautam, had been following and filming him since he was a cub and are now trying to put the pieces together to solve this mystery.More than 12 tigers have gone missing in Ranthambhore between 2012 and 2017. Young tigers who go missing are usually thought to have been poached or just lost forever. But the story is much more complicated.Tigers are born in parks and forests - a safe, secure place protected by their mother. But once these tigers mature they must find new homes but the question is where will they go? Trackers on ground have proved that tigers leave the protected territory of national parks to walk great distances in search for new territory. Tigers know no borders and young sub adult tigers must walk hundreds of kilometres to find a new home, prey and a new mate. Once they walk out of the protected area of the forest they are in direct contact with human habitation. People and tigers now share a complicated relationship - one of constant fear of the other.This is the story all across the country. Isolated populations of tigers in small fragmented forests surrounded by human beings and villages. The film looks at broader issues of conservation of tigers and their relationship with the people who share their habitat and the different efforts being made towards conservation in India through the story of Sultan.
UNDER THE LIGHTS: PELE
Pelé was a prodigy that played with "ginga". As a child he played insistently in the favelas as of Sao Paolo, he developed perfect balance, unique vision, and an unimaginable control of the ball that left everyone breathless. The King Pelé, as he was referred to by all Brazilians after winning the country's first World Cup in 1958, is the OLDEST LIVING LEGEND in all of sports. He is a global icon, and idol to so many, not only for the exceptional athlete was but for the human being he is. A true role model for so many around the world. Sabbatical's latest production is highlighted by remastered in game footage of Pelé's most legendary goals for Brazil throughout his indelible career.
CHINA UNCOVERED
A CITY TRANSFORMED. From the skyscrapers of Shanghai to the mountainous peaks of "The Last Shangri-La", explore the breathtaking landscape of this incredible country and connect with the people that infuse China's everyday life with flavor, passion and prosperity. Through the eyes of a cultural academic, a laborer, an architect, an urban planner, and a photographer, the grand evolution of a little fishing village is illustrated and documented to reveal one of the fastest growing megacities in the world. And while the physical landscape gracefully moves towards the future, beliefs, behaviors, and practices are put into test. The changes brought by the Thirty Year Miracle are indeed immense, and it has left no stone, no life, unturned.
DAY WHEN, THE…
They are the men who are making History. In a time of crisis or war, any personal decision by any national leader can change everything. Like a 24h thriller, through archives and historical reconstitutions, live the day when great individual choices provoked great twists in the course of the conflict.
QUIRKY SCIENCE
The Internet was invented during the cold war and launched in 1969. Yet it wasn’t made for the public. In fact, it was developed for the army to communicate quickly and secretly so that no spies could intercept and no bombs could disrupt the sharing of information! It was nothing like we know today. The Internet involved computers exchanging text, on a black field with green letters, and e-mail was only invented 2 years later because the developers needed a reliable tool to communicate. So only in 1972 was this application; electronic mail, introduced. The Internet we know now was actually a second, separate invention, launched over a decade and a half after the Internet was first launched, and was called the ‘World Wide Web’. Nobody was paying attention to Tim Berners-Lee and his pet idea, even though he had a radical new way for scientists to share data by linking documents to one another over the Internet! His proposal came back with the words "vague but exciting" written across the cover, so Berners-Lee took his invention to the people: with a website, bringing us the Internet we know today. Yet the Internet is only just out of its baby shoes, and is now being used to drive radical change in music and films, politics and business, changing the very way we see and interact with one another! From the computer screen to mass protests in the street, So what will the future bring us, how will the Web 3.0 change us? A web that can understand human needs?
EUROPEAN ISLANDS EP
03: TENERIFE. The European islands are renowned primarily for their hotel resorts. However, we will show you a completely different face of theirs: forests, beaches, coves, mountains, valleys and rivers. Perhaps you will find places that will take your breath away. Why just lie on the beach when there is so much to see? Put on some good hiking shoes, pull your shoelaces tight, and get to know the entire island like the back of your hand.
GALLA WALLAH: THE SEARCH FOR THE BEST
The valleys of Nepal, around the Himalayan Mountains - the highest in the world - are the home of a special group of people callled the Ghurkhas. Because of the discipline and endurance they exhibit in their daily fight for survival, they are employed in the elite battalion of the British Army. For more than 200 years, the Ghurkhas have served the crown. Every year, more than 25,000 people apply for a position as a Ghurkhas, with only a few lucky ones chosen. For the chosen ones, it feels as though they have hit the jackpot. For the others, it is considered to be the worst defeat of their life.
GREAT WHITE CODE RED
The Great White shark is a highly complex predator with advanced sensory weaponry. Two shark specialists, Dr Craig O’Connell and Dr Geremy Cliff look beneath the skin of the Great White to reveal the true source of its extraordinary predatory abilities and discover the secrets of one the world’s most feared predators.
THE LAST ORANGUTANS OF SUMATRA
Today there are only 6000 Orang-Utans living in Sumatra. According to pessimistic evaluations the chances of this threatened species to survive seem rather limited. The main reason for their extinction is that their natural habitat is being destroyed for the more profitable cultivation of palm oil plantations. By today already 70 % of the Sumatran Island is already covered by palm oil trees. In addition most of the local population sees them more as an object of entertainment rather than a national heritage which is worth being protected. Since that common attitude in society is even changing it could still come too late for those anthropoid apes. Ian Singleton who moved here from England is dedicating his life to the care of these apes. Since 20 years, he is working to facilitate a refuge for the last ones of their kind so they could live again untroubled in Nature and maybe even decrease their population
THE NEW MAN OF AZERBAIJAN
Still today, there are no phones, no Internet and no newspapers in the remote areas of Azerbaijan. The newsman or "Ashig" has always played an important role in this Eastern culture over the centuries. Without them, the inhabitants would be radically cut off from the rest of the world and all its news. Certain distinguished representatives of their guild still travel the country's mountains to the remotest areas, to spread news, stories and the latest gossip. One of these representatives is Nemet, the old and honorable Aschug from Baku, who has been practicing this skill for a very long time. Like all Aschugs, he transmits his information through song!