The Sundarbans mangrove forest, in Bangladesh near the Indian border, is a tidal jungle where Ganges and Brahmaputra enter the Indian Ocean. Its has some 400 Bengal tigers - the largest population in the world, and the only to be hardly scared of men. The downside is tigers kill up the 50 Bangladeshis a year, even from neighbouring villages, so keeping them inside the reserve is key to long-term survival. A recent project tries to train local mongrels, not pets but fiercely self-reliant dogs, to spot and even scare off tigers from villages. An individual tiger can turn into a man-eater in order to survive - this process may occur due to an injury or old age (and so cannot hunt agile prey) or even accidentally tasting human flesh.
A man who overcame insurmountable odds to become one of the most loved and respected athletes of all time. From a starving teenager who fought to feed his family, to a Congressman working tirelessly to improve the lives of his people, Manny is a hard hitting feature length documentary film that explores the many triumphs and tribulations of Filipino boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao.
It tells the story of FIFA World Cup of 1950, highlighting (but also showing other nations) the path of the two teams who played the final match: Uruguay and Brazil. The high quality of the footage is amazing, the text is smart and humorous, the music has been very well chosen in order to represent both the emotions involved in each moment and the contrast between the calmness of Uruguayan preparation and the crowded days of Brazilian team." The whole story shows not only one side. While Uruguayan team acquired confidence after an initial mistrust, Brazil was by far the best team in the competition but was heavily influenced by the environment in Brazilian society, the influence of politics and the pressure of the fans. While Uruguay overcame heroically all the constraints and, led by Obdulio Varela, won a title that few people believed, Brazilians got shocked because they considered themselves champions even before the final match, and their players became stigmatized until nowadays, not being celebrated as the fantastic team they were.
On 5th July 1984, Diego Maradona arrived in Naples for a world-record fee and for seven years. The world's most celebrated football genius and the most dysfunctional city in Europe were a perfect match for each other. Maradona was blessed on the field but cursed off it; the charismatic Argentine, quickly led Naples to their first-ever title. It was the stuff of dreams. But there was a price... Diego could do as he pleased whilst performing miracles on the pitch, but when the magic faded he became almost a prisoner of the city. The film is constructed from over 500 hours of never-before-seen footage from Maradona's personal archive and is a high-end and definitive feature documentary made with the full support of Maradona. In a city where the devil would have needed bodyguards, Maradona became bigger than God himself. This is the wild and unforgettable story of God-given talent, glory, despair and betrayal, of corruption and ultimately redemption.
At the end of each Antarctic summer, the emperor penguins of the South Pole journey to their traditional breeding grounds in a fascinating mating ritual that is captured in this documentary by intrepid filmmaker Luc Jacquet. The journey across frozen tundra proves to be the simplest part of the ritual, as after the egg is hatched, the female must delicately transfer it to the male and make her way back to the distant sea to nourish herself and bring back food to her newborn chick.
In this final episode we complete our journey, travelling back from the March equinox to the end of June. Kate Humble is in the Arctic at a place where spring arrives with a bang, whilst Helen Czerski chases a tornado to show how the earth's angle of tilt creates the most extreme weather on earth.
A recent project tries to train local mongrels, not pets but fiercely self-reliant dogs, to spot and even scare off tigers from villages. An individual tiger can turn into a man-eater in order to survive - this process may occur due to an injury or old age (and so cannot hunt agile prey) or even accidentally tasting human flesh.