This month, a Holocaust survivor reflects on what she witnessed and endured at the Auschwitz concentration camp, and an HIV survivor in China speaks out against her government's corruption.
Docuseries | November 3, 10, 17, 24
This five-part docuseries brings important issues in modern-day Europe to your screen every Thursday. Episode one, Migration - The New Europeans, looks at the factors that are reshaping the migration movements in the continent, from security politics and xenophobia, to the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine. Episode two, Natural Europe, reflects on the green practices across Europe to protect the environment as well as the work that still needs to be done, such as reducing the use plastics and conserving natural resources.
Episode three, Energy for Europe, tackles the question of energy security and how to transition from traditional to sustainable forms of energy amid the war in Ukraine. Episode four, Digital Europe, explores the possibility of Europe establishing its own digital sovereignty in the face of competition from companies in the United States and China. Episode five (airing December 1), Transport – Europe on the Move, examines the challenges facing green mobility in Europe and prompts questions about how soon the European countries will reach unanimity on a shift to sustainable transport.
Wildlife | November 8
This wildlife documentary focuses on the conservation efforts of the two mountain gorilla populations found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of central and eastern Africa and in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Despite conservation successes over the years and a growth in population, the prospects of the gorillas expanding beyond these small pockets of habitat remain bleak. What does the future hold for these upland species and what will the future human-wildlife coexistence look like?
Premiere | November 9
A year in the making, this documentary lifts the lid on how the Third Reich used music in concentration camps as a political tool in the service of the Nazi regime. The film spotlights the lives of Holocaust survivor and then 19-year-old cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and star conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, who performed for Hitler and was prominent during the Nazi era. As well as interviews with relatives of Lasker-Wallfisch and Furtwängler, there are insights from historians, authors and musicians into the history of music in the Nazi era. The film (1x84') also features first-time colorized scenes of Hitler backstage at the Bayreuth Festival Theater, as well as a black-and-white footage and a BBC audio recording of Lasker-Wallfisch shortly after the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Premieres on YouTube November 9 and on TV November 19.
Factual | November 30
Ximei, a young farmer in China, reveals her experience of AIDS and opens conversations about everything from isolation in one of the country's so-called "AIDS villages" to the government's attempt to cover up its responsibility for HIV cases. Ximei talks about how she and hundreds of other AIDS patients in the Chinese province of Henan, have been denied affordable medication and social welfare payments. This award-winning film, produced by Chinese artist and activist Ai Wei Wei, feels like it's been a long time coming. Most shockingly, it exposes how a campaign by the Chinese government has triggered a home-grown AIDS epidemic that has left some 300,000 donors and recipients infected with HIV. Watch on November 30.