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Frozen South

   2022    Nature
Antarctica is the most hostile of all earth’s frozen worlds. Yet even here, amongst some of the most challenging conditions on the planet, life finds a way not just to survive, but thrive.
Our journey begins at the far edge of the continent, on its far-flung sub-Antarctic islands. Here we meet king penguins that, to feed at sea, must face the danger of ferocious leopard seals lurking in the shallows. On another island, we witness for the first time male Antipodean wandering albatross partnering up with each other as the females in their population are disappearing due to fishing activity.
Heading towards the continent of Antarctica, we traverse the roughest seas on earth - the Southern Ocean - where we find the rarely filmed Antarctic blue whale, the largest animal to have ever lived. At the edge of Antarctica, the sea is so cold that it freezes over, creating a vital ice platform for a mother Weddell seal to raise her precious pup. Still, she needs to protect him from aggressive males.
In spring, the coast of Antarctica is free of snow, drawing in thousands of breeding chinstrap penguins. Stones are at a premium to build their elevated nests and protect chicks from meltwater. But stealing is commonplace, and to make matters worse, with climate change we find chicks today shivering with hypothermia – a warming Antarctica means increased meltwater. Other residents are facing an uncertain future too, including wave-washing killer whales. We discover that their favourite prey, Weddell seals, are now harder to reach, so instead they are resorting to targeting much more feisty prey, including leopard seals, an apex predator in its own right. This dramatic encounter has never been filmed before.
Travelling into the interior of the continent - into the frozen heart of Antarctica - we find great surprises. This is one of the most volcanic regions on earth, and one of the driest. We reveal unexpected sand dunes, hidden in a rare ice-free valley. Then, on the exposed mountain tops, sticking out from the otherwise ice-covered interior, we find tiny snow petrels, which raise their chicks further south than any other bird, and defend their territory by projectile vomiting!
The greatest revelation lies deep in the interior, beneath the surface of an ice-covered lake, where we discover ancient alien-like structures - giant stromatolites - built by primitive lifeforms. If life can make it here, in the extremes of Antarctica, it raises the possibility that life can exist elsewhere, including in the frozen lakes of distant planets.
Series: Frozen Planet II

If These Walls Could Sing

   2022    Art
For more than 90 years, Abbey Road Studios has been at the heart of the music industry. In this personal film of memory and discovery, Mary McCartney guides us through nine decades to see and experience the creative magic that makes it the most famous and longest-running studio in the world. From classical to pop, film scores to hip-hop, ‘If These Walls Could Sing’ explores the breadth, diversity and ingenuity of Abbey Road Studios.
The doc marks the first time Abbey Road has opened its doors to a feature doc, and will be the centrepiece of the legendary studio’s 90th anniversary celebrations. Billed as the untold story of the studio, the film will feature an all-star cast of interviews, and intimate access to the premises.

Sinead O'Connor: Nothing Compares

   2022    History
The story of one singer's phenomenal rise to worldwide fame, and how her iconoclastic personality resulted in her exile from the pop mainstream. Focusing on prophetic words and deeds across a five-year period (1987-1992), the film reflects on the legacy of this fearless trailblazer, through a contemporary lens.

The Psychedelic Drug Trial

   2021    Medicine
A ground-breaking new trial at Imperial College London sees, for the first time ever under controlled conditions, a psychedelic drug tested head-to-head against a standard antidepressant as a treatment for depression. The film follows a pioneering team of scientists and psychotherapists as they compare the effects of psilocybin (the active ingredient of magic mushrooms) with an antidepressant on a small group of participants with clinical depression.
This is scientific research at its most cutting edge. With over seven million people being prescribed antidepressants each year in England alone, this drug trial is an important milestone in understanding a completely different treatment for depression. How do psychedelic drugs measure up against the industry-standard antidepressants that have been popular since the 1990s? The empirical results of the trial are explored alongside the participants’ powerful lived experience.

Insect Apocalypse

   2021    Nature
An alarming decline in insect populations could devastate all life on earth. What's causing it, and can anything be done to stop it?
Insects are disappearing across the world. If we lost our pollinators, we would lose 80 to 90% of the plants on the planet. That is not an option. It's the ecosystems on this planet that keep humans alive. Scientists warn us that the insect apocalypse is entirely possible.

The Minimalists: Less Is Now

   2021    Culture
Longtime friends Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus share how our lives can be better with less. The film's title was inspired by the popular maxim 'Less is more,' popularized by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who used this aphorism to describe his design aesthetic; his tactic was one of arranging the necessary components of a building to create an impression of extreme simplicity. The Minimalists have reworked this phrase to create a sense of urgency for today's consumer culture: now is the time for less.
Series: Minimalists
Super/Natural

Super/Natural

2022  Nature
The Human Body

The Human Body

1998  Medicine
Becoming Martian

Becoming Martian

2021  Technology
Cooked

Cooked

2016  Culture
Clash of the Gods

Clash of the Gods

2009  History