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Strip Malls

   2017    Culture
Perhaps there is no architectural feature more distinctly Angeleno than a strip mall. The city is full of them with their busy facades and bright neon signage. Their wonderfully eclectic, multi-purpose tenants give shape and home to the multitudes of ethnic communities that make up LA’s diverse population.
Trois Mec and Petit Trois can be found side-by-side in a Hollywood strip mall, nestled between a dry cleaners and a Yum Yum donut. Ludo’s restaurants and the dishes he creates for them embody the cultural mash-up and high/low flair that is the strip mall philosophy.
Series: The Mind of a Chef

Freedom of Choice

   2017    Medicine
Everyone always wants to be able to choose - but who really makes these choices? And do we really want to have more choices? Michael Stevens finds out as he explores decision-making.
Series: Mind Field Season 1

Taurus Mountains to Istanbul

   2017    Culture
In the Taurus Mountains Simon stays with descendants of the original Turks, nomads known as Yoruks, whose lifestyle is under threat from the modern world and an increasingly religious government. They're not the only minority at odds with the authorities in Turkey; Simon sees first-hand the devastating effects of fighting in the country's Kurdish region. In an area where the government has detained foreign journalists, Simon gathers unique footage in the aftermath of a crackdown on Kurdish militants - the wholesale destruction of the historic centre of one of Turkey's oldest cities.
Away from the conflict in the south, Simon heads towards the Black Sea coast. He meets a wildlife conservationist protecting Turkey's population of brown bears, and villagers who still communicate over long distances using an ancient bird language. In the country's capital he meets a victim of President Erdogan's authoritarian purge of people accused of complicity in the failed coup against him.
Finally Simon's journey comes full circle when he returns to Istanbul - home to the new craze of 'Ottomania', a celebration of the vast empire that preceded modern Turkey. Simon visits the set of one of the world's most popular TV dramas - even getting a speaking role - based in the court of an Ottoman sultan
Series: Turkey with Simon Reeve

When Banana Ruled

   2017    History
The saga of a handful of conquerors who built an empire in Central America and invented the methods of one of the very first multinationals. In 19th century Central America, a few entrepreneurial cowboys built an empire that enslaved populations and corrupted governments for over 100 years. The United Fruit Company thrived on unregulated capitalism; this film tells its story and that of its pioneers who feared neither God nor Man, and managed to get away with murder. Until the 1970s, that multinational set up a monopoly by combining violence, repression, corruption, environmental destruction and a formidable marketing machine. It turned an unknown fruit into an instrument of fortune and domination, and created a business model still largely used by today’s tech giants.
Using a rich trove of archival footage and documents, including letters to and from lobbyists, telegrams, vintage ads and movie clips, and gorgeous, hand-tinted stills, 'When Banana Ruled' is a story of intrigue that touches on economics, international politics, the history of business and reveals how an array of forces conquered the world through a simple fruit.

Tony Robbins I Am Not Your Guru

   2016    Culture
Embedding over the course of his seminar 'Date with Destiny', Joe Berlinger turns an unflinching eye on Tony Robbins powerful and uncompromising approach to achieving success, ensuring the attendees leave with new perspective on the forces, thoughts and feelings that motivate their behavior and help them better take control of their lives. The films pulls back the curtain on Tony Robbins, a man that traverses the globe and consults over 200,000 people annually, including world leaders, pundits and celebrities. An emotional tour de force that unveils the inner-workings of this mega event, the zealous participants and the man himself.

The Story of China Ancestors

   2016    History
Michael Wood embarks on a great historical adventure, exploring the stories, people and landscapes that have helped create China's distinctive character and genius over four thousand years. Is the history of the world's newest superpower, from its ancient past to the present day.
Starting in Wuxi, Michael joins the Qin family reunion, when 300 relatives gather to worship their ancestors on Tomb Sweeping Day. 'Like the nation, the family has been through so much,' one says. 'Now everyone wants to know - what are our roots?'
Looking for the origins of the Chinese state, he visits the excavations at Erlitou and sees an exquisite turquoise dragon sceptre from 2000 BC. China's first writing is found on 'oracle bones' dug up from the Shang royal tombs at Anyang in the 1920s. At the Beijing Planetarium, Michael travels back in time as astronomers plot the planetary conjunction that the ancients believed foretold the overthrow of the Shang Dynasty. Next, the Age of Philosophers and Confucius, whose book Analects has had greater influence worldwide than even the Bible, according to some. In Xi'an, we hear how the First Emperor united China and created the authoritarian Qin state that gave us the word China. Finally, Michael returns to the temple fair in Henan for a dramatic night ceremony to give thanks to the ancestors. China, Michael concludes, is rising again, not just because of its economic strength, but because of the incredible solidarity of the Han Chinese view of their own civilisation, their sense of family and, of course, the presence of the ancestors.
Series: The Story of China
Secrets of the Dead

Secrets of the Dead

2017  History
Secrets of the Universe

Secrets of the Universe

2022  Technology
The Story of Maths

The Story of Maths

2008  Science
Minimalism

Minimalism

2015  Culture
The Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht

2007  History
Reel Rock

Reel Rock

2014  Culture