DW

Mariam comes from Fana, a town nearby the Malian capital. At 5, she was sexually abused by a family acquaintance, raped by her cousin at 13 and by her brother-in-law at 16. Today, she deals with her traumas through dance.

In Russia, criticizing the war in Ukraine or Vladimir Putin’s regime has become a crime. Thousands of ordinary citizens are being arrested, tried, and imprisoned. They are called “Politzek”: political prisoners. Filmed clandestinely over the course of more than a year, Politzek gives a platform to those who, despite the fear, continue to speak out against Putin’s repressive Russia. Through the intersecting stories of a teenager sentenced to five years in prison for criticizing the government on social media, a young artist jailed for placing anti-war stickers, a human rights activist, and two theater directors facing Kafkaesque trials, the film unveils the machinery of state repression in Russia. With rare footage, broken yet unyielding voices, this is a story of silenced resistance.

For many, the Russian city of Perm might seem like the end of the world, isolated in the foothills of the Ural mountains. But it is in this rapidly developing industrial city – which is establishing itself as one of Russia’s modern cultural centers – that the Greek conductor Teodor Currentzis has been quietly revolutionizing classical music with his ensemble musicAeterna. The film follows the recording sessions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, documenting the artists’ habits and painting a portrait of this exuberant conductor.

Dmytro Dokunov, a Ukrainian cinematographer, is deployed in a combat unit to face the Russian invasion with his mobile camera always recording.

The Mexican Maestro Alondra de la Parra has taken the world's concert halls by storm. Born in 1980 in New York, she decided early on she wanted to become a conductor. Her great dream has taken her on a long journey - and it is not over yet, by any means. Alondra de la Parra'a roots are in Mexico - but her orchestras and her audiences are to be found all over the world. Alondra de la Parra is one of those trailblazers who has made history by being appointed the first conductor and music director of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in 2017. She began playing the piano at age 7 and the cello at 13. After she studied in England and the United States - with mentors such Kurt Masur and Kenneth Kiesler, she founded the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA) at age 23 in 2004.

The fourth, final part of the Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in the shortened version, prepared by Cord Garben. Staged at the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, 2012.

The second part of the Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in the shortened version, prepared by Cord Garben. Staged at the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, 2012

It's the smallest and most mysterious army in the world: the Swiss Guard. The film follows these men of faith and combat, from their recruitment in Switzerland to their military training in the heart of the Vatican. Made up of 150 men, this elite corps lives in barracks in the center of Vatican City. All must be Swiss citizens and devout Catholics. They have all sworn to fight to the death to protect their faith and the Holy Father. They are heirs to a 500-year-old tradition in which the Pope's protection and security were ensured by Swiss mercenaries. Trained in the use of both halberds and semi-automatic rifles, the Swiss Guards form a unique army. But who are they really? What motivates these young men to join this military and religious body? A dive into a world normally closed to the cameras.

Documentary about the connection between diet and the brain.

The first part of the Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in the shortened version, prepared by Cord Garben.

The third part of the Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in the shortened version, prepared by Cord Garben. Staged at the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, 2012

June 1941, during World War II. Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler orders the mass abduction of particularly well-bred young children from Poland and the occupied territories of the Soviet Union in order to be educated in German culture, by both state schools and German families…

Philipp Melanchthon decisively shaped the history of the Reformation in Germany and renewed German education. In the shadow of his fatherly friend Martin Luther, he tirelessly tried to reconcile Reformation and humanism, Protestantism and Catholicism.

US student Otto Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years in a North Korean labor camp in 2016. Warmbier was released the following year, but he died of brain damage shortly after his return to the United States. Was he really the victim of torture?

"What would the world be like without Beethoven?" That’s the provocative question posed by this music documentary from Deutsche Welle. To answer it, the film explores how Ludwig van Beethoven's innovations continue to have an impact far beyond the boundaries of classical music, 250 years after his birth.

For more than a decade, wildfires of unprecedented force have been devouring our lives, homes and forests at a steady pace. Each year, 350 million hectares of forest go up in smoke, the equivalent of six times the size of France. In the US, the fire season now lasts up to two months longer than a generation ago, and the surface burnt annually has multiplied by three. This film sets out on a gripping journey of investigation from Europe to the US, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia to follow the work of a global team of dedicated firefighters, scientists and fire experts as they investigate why our forests are going up in flames, and act on an unexpected discovery: if we want to save our forests, homes, health and our climate, we need to radically change our attitude towards fire and the way we fight wildfires.

In 2014, German war photographer and Pulitzer Prize winner Anja Niedringhaus was killed in an attack in Afghanistan. Through interviews with colleagues and family members, and through Niedringhaus’ vibrant and powerful photographs, Sonya Winterberg’s documentary paints the portrait of a woman full of joie de vivre and curiosity – but also reveals the political backgrounds to her murder and the failure of the German and Afghan security services that made this tragedy possible in the first place.

A milestone in physics: In 2015, scientists proved the existence of gravitational waves. These waves travel billions of light-years through space, eventually reaching Earth and bringing us insights that were previously unattainable.

Ai Weiwei is a global star and an enigma. DW followed him for a year for this intimate portrait. The film shows Ai Weiwei at home, at work, and on the road for work, as he prepares his latest series of works focused on refugees and their fates.