Click CC for subtitles. In the winter of 2021, K2 remained the last great prize of high-altitude mountaineering: the only 8,000-meter peak never climbed in winter. Icelandic climber John Snorri Sigurjónsson and the legendary Pakistani father-and-son team Ali and Sajid Sadpara arrive determined to claim that historic first, facing temperatures far below zero, hurricane-force winds, exhaustion and a mountain already infamous for killing even the strongest climbers. But the expedition soon becomes more than a battle against nature. Commercial teams, influencer climbers, professional film crews and a fiercely ambitious all-Nepalese team converge on the same slopes, turning the ascent into a tense contest of strategy, reputation and national pride. As the climb unfolds, the documentary exposes the changing culture of modern mountaineering: the pressure of social media, the commercialization of the world’s highest peaks, the unequal recognition historically given to Western climbers, and the determination of Nepali and Pakistani mountaineers to claim achievements in their own names. The race for the summit culminates in triumph for one team and tragedy for others, leaving five climbers dead and forcing survivors to confront questions of ambition, responsibility and what a “first” is really worth. Built from extraordinary footage shot during the expedition and testimony from those who were there, the film transforms one of mountaineering’s last untouched records into a gripping story about ego, class, nationalism, family and the deadly cost of pushing beyond human limits.
Fifty years ago there were close to half-a-million lions in Africa. Today there are around 20,000. To make matters worse, lions, unlike elephants, which are far more numerous, have virtually no protection under government mandate or through international accords. This is the jumping-off point for a disturbing, well-researched and beautifully made cri de coeur from husband and wife team Dereck and Beverly Joubert, award-winning filmmakers from Botswana who have been Explorers-in-Residence at National Geographic for more than four years. Pointing to poaching as a primary threat while noting the lion's pride of place on the list for eco-tourists-an industry that brings in 200 billion dollars per year worldwide-the Jouberts build a solid case for both the moral duty we have to protect lions (as well as other threatened "big cats," tigers among them) and the economic sense such protection would make. And when one takes into account the fact that big cats are at the very top of the food chain-and that their elimination would wreak havoc on all species below them, causing a complete ecosystem collapse-the need takes on a supreme urgency.
In the fifth episode of the series, as Steven's trial begins, his attorneys argue that law enforcement officials framed him and were negligent in not pursuing other leads in the case.
Fly across iridescent tropical reefs, brush through a cloud of a million jellyfish, visit an alien world where the closer you look, the more you see, where the tiniest creatures support the greatest predators... We think of reefs as exotic, distant places with little or no connection to our everyday world. Yet every reef is a living city beneath the sea with a parallel existence to ours, distant yet undeniably connected. Reefs are hotspots of biodiversity as vital to life on earth as the rain-forests. They have been shaping our shorelines, literally forming islands and mountains, for millions of years. The fossil record shows that given time they have recovered from all of earth's major extinction events. Even reefs pulverised by atomic blasts at Bikini Atoll have regenerated. Yet within our lifetime reefs have come to face their greatest threat...
Winner of the Best Documentary Short Award, the film tells the story of four unassuming heroes who ensure no student is deprived of the joy of music. It is also a reminder of how music can be the best medicine, stress reliever and even an escape from poverty. Since 1959, Los Angeles has been one of the few United States cities to offer and fix musical instruments for its public school students at no cost. Those instruments, numbering around 80,000, are maintained at a Los Angeles downtown warehouse by a handful of craftspeople. The film profiles four of them, each specializing in an orchestra section, as well as students whose lives have been enriched by the repair shop's work. The film concludes with a performance by district alumni.
The Last Shaman
James is an all American boy whose promising life is brought to a halt by acute depression. Turning his back on the most progressive western treatments and medicines, James discovers ayahuasca in search of healing in the Peruvian jungle. Over the course of 10 months venturing from Shaman to Shaman, James finds friendship, answers and a kind of redemption hidden deep in the Peruvian amazon. (Click CC for subtitles)
As the climb unfolds, the documentary exposes the changing culture of modern mountaineering: the pressure of social media, the commercialization of the world’s highest peaks, the unequal recognition historically given to Western climbers, and the determination of Nepali and Pakistani mountaineers to claim achievements in their own names. The race for the summit culminates in triumph for one team and tragedy for others, leaving five climbers dead and forcing survivors to confront questions of ambition, responsibility and what a “first” is really worth. Built from extraordinary footage shot during the expedition and testimony from those who were there, the film transforms one of mountaineering’s last untouched records into a gripping story about ego, class, nationalism, family and the deadly cost of pushing beyond human limits.