Documentary AreaSimply the best Documentaries

Without words, Ron Fricke shows us the world, with an emphasis not on 'where,' but on 'what's there.' It begins with morning, natural landscapes and people at prayer: volcanoes, water falls, veldts, and forests; several hundred Balinese Hindu men perform kecak, the monkey chant. Indigenous peoples apply body paint; whole villages dance. The film moves to destruction of nature via logging, blasting, and strip mining. Images of poverty, rapid urban life, and factories give way to war, concentration camps, and mass graves. Ancient ruins come into view, and then a sacred river where pilgrims bathe and funeral pyres burn. Prayer and nature return. A monk rings a huge bell; stars wheel across the sky. (Click CC for places description)

Click CC for subtitles. Torn between the Roman Empire that raised him and the Germanic people into which he was born, a Roman officer finds himself trapped between loyalty, identity and rebellion. As Rome tightens its grip over the tribes beyond the Rhine, resentment grows and old bonds are tested. At the center of the conflict stands Arminius, a man shaped by Roman discipline but increasingly confronted with the suffering of his own people, while Thusnelda and Folkwin become symbols of defiance against an empire that demands obedience at any cost. Based on real historical events and figures, the series reinforces its sense of authenticity by using Latin and Germanic dialogue, helping recreate the cultural and historical setting of the period as faithfully as possible.
In the first three episodes, tensions erupt when the Cherusci are pushed beyond endurance by Governor Varus’s demands. Thusnelda and Folkwin strike a provocative blow against Roman authority by stealing the legion’s sacred eagle standard, triggering a brutal response. The crisis brings Arminius back face to face with his father Segimer and with the childhood friends he left behind. Ordered by Varus to hunt down Folkwin and return with his head, Arminius is forced into an impossible choice as Roman reprisals threaten Folkwin’s family, his village and the fragile loyalties that bind them all together.

Click CC for subtitles. In the final three episodes of Season 1, Ari fully embraces his identity as Arminius and begins the dangerous task of turning divided Germanic tribes into a force capable of challenging Rome. While Varus believes he has placed a loyal Roman-trained leader at the head of the Cherusci, Arminius secretly works against him. Thusnelda and Folkwin seek support from the Bructeri, and Arminius realizes that defeating three Roman legions will require something almost impossible: convincing rival tribes to put aside their feuds and fight as one people. A political marriage between Arminius and Thusnelda strengthens their cause, while Folkwin, thought dead, is actually alive and enslaved in the Roman camp.
Everything then moves toward the confrontation that will change history. Drawing on his intimate knowledge of Roman military tactics, Arminius persuades Varus to lead his legions through the forests and swamps of Germania, where their disciplined formations become a deadly weakness. As mistrust, betrayal and sacrifice threaten the fragile tribal alliance, Thusnelda takes an extreme step to preserve unity and Arminius prepares his ambush. The season culminates in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, where three Roman legions are drawn into a trap that will become one of the most devastating defeats in the history of the Roman Empire.

VICE makes history on a trip to North Korea to play hoops and meet with supreme leader Kim Jong-un. With NBA great Dennis Rodman and a trio of Harlem Globetrotters in tow, we traveled to the capital of Pyongyang for a tour of the city, a basketball clinic, an exhibition game, and a first-ever meeting between the leader and an American delegation.

Could the source of the world’s deadliest viruses hold the secret to a healthier and longer life? Bats have a sinister reputation as potential sources for some of the deadliest disease outbreaks: Ebola, MERS, SARS, and most recently, the virus behind the COVID-19 global pandemic. Yet scientists are discovering new evidence that bats are biological marvels and may hold a key to longevity. They’re resistant to the diseases they carry and have freakishly long lifespans for their tiny size.
So, what’s their secret? And what else can we learn from their peculiar biology? From caves in Thailand and Texas to labs around the globe, the films meets the scientists who are decoding the superpowers of the bat.

Global warming, and how to combat it, has provoked intense debate, changed the way we see the planet and created headlines around the world. But when and how did scientists first discover global warming, why has it led to such furious debate? In this three-part series geologist Dr Iain Stewart presents a definitive guide to the history of climate change.
Battle Begins uncovers some of the great unsung heroes of climate change science, and introduces us to a secret organisation of American government scientists, known as Jason, who wrote the first official report on global warming as far back as 1979. By the late 1980s global warming had already become a serious political issue. It looked as if the world was uniting to take action. But it turned out to be a false dawn.