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Hidden Worlds 3D Caves of the Dead

   2013    History    3D
In the days of the Mayas, cenotes – deep, natural pits on the Yucatan peninsula - provided the only means of obtaining drinking water. But in the mythology of this advanced civilisation, these waterholes and caves were also the entrance to Xibalba – the underworld. All deceased were obliged to pass through Xibalba and wait there until they were called into heaven. It was a place in which one made sacrifices to the gods – objects of daily life, as well as bloody, human sacrifices. To this day, the relics of these acts are still in place preserved underwater for more than a thousand years. The entrance to the underworld begins at a dirty waterhole in the middle of the Mexican jungle overgrown and barely recognisable. But immediately after entry, a hall of breath-taking dimensions and beauty is revealed. As if they were sculptures, stalactites and stalagmites lend the underwater cave an almost sacred ambience. By now, one has succumbed to the fascination emanated by the world’s largest underwater cave system. We accompany four professional research divers to Yucatan – a team of specialists, able to squeeze their bodies through crevices and holes, barely larger than their bodies and who master dives that would push even the most experienced divers to their limits. With them, we penetrate worlds only a few people have ever ventured into. We encounter the remains of human victims, prehistoric fireplaces and primeval animal skeletons and undertake a dive, which takes us from the primeval forest to the open sea. We then enter Xibalba – the place of myths and the dead. In the days of the Mayas - a voyage of no return. Today, this is one of the greatest challenges one can face as a diver – the hidden world of the underwater caves of Yucatan – all filmed in 3D.

Stories We Tell

   2012    Culture
Polley is both filmmaker and detective as she investigates the secrets kept by a family of storytellers. She playfully interviews and interrogates a cast of characters of varying reliability, eliciting refreshingly candid, yet mostly contradictory, answers to the same questions. As each relates their version of the family mythology, present-day recollections shift into nostalgia-tinged glimpses of their mother, who departed too soon, leaving a trail of unanswered questions. Polley unravels the paradoxes to reveal the essence of family: always complicated, warmly messy and fiercely loving.
Stories We Tell explores the elusive nature of truth and memory, but at its core is a deeply personal film about how our narratives shape and define us as individuals and families.

Total Eclipse

   2010    Science
Once they were dreaded and thought to be dragons eating the sun--but modern science has dispelled mythology and we now look forward to total Solar Eclipses as one of the most spectacular phenomena in the heavens. Explore the complex movements of Earth, Moon and Sun that produce these unusual events and hear details why we may be the only intelligent beings in the known Universe to witness eclipses like we see on Earth. Man-made eclipses also figure into the science in the form of instruments called "coronagraphs." They blot out the sun and reveal its corona, uncovering secrets which, while enlightening, also warn of a disaster that could make our advanced technology crash and burn. Finally, travel into deep space, where the tiny eclipses caused by planets circling distant stars is now beginning to reveal hundreds more stars where "exoplanets" exist... perhaps even those in habitable zones like the Earth.
Series: The Universe

Clash of the Gods: Zeus

   2009    History
Ancient Greece's most powerful god wages an epic struggle against his father for control of the universe. It's the ultimate Clash of the Gods as the Olympians challenge the Titans in mythology's greatest showdown. This is a pivotal battle that experts believe may have been ancient code for a real world event - one of the greatest natural disasters the Earth ever experienced.
Series: Clash of the Gods

Clash of the Gods Hercules

   2009    History
The tale of the strongest superhero in Greek mythology and his quest for redemption. To atone for committing a heinous crime, Hercules embarks on a series of impossible challenges known as the 12 Labors. Hercules endures as one of history's most influential demi-Gods, but recent archaeological discoveries suggest that mythology's strongest man may have been inspired by a real person.
Series: Clash of the Gods

Clash of the Gods: Hades

   2009    History
Go behind the veil of the ancient Greek belief in life after death to explore the myth of their most feared god - Hades - and those mortals who tried to cross his path. It is a chilling collection of tales about Hades and the underworld bearing his name, with eerie links to real world curses, ghosts and secret cults.
Series: Clash of the Gods
The Sky at Night

The Sky at Night

2024  Science
Generation Iron

Generation Iron

2018  History
Ancient Apocalypse

Ancient Apocalypse

2024  History
Chemistry

Chemistry

2010  Science
A Perfect Planet

A Perfect Planet

2021  Nature
Out of the Cradle

Out of the Cradle

2019  History