Storyscapes – the London office in collaboration with Dovana Films – was last year established. Go to the website
Afghanistan – back to the future
Remarkable films have come to light shot in southern Afghanistan in the 1950s. The films were shot over a period of seven years in the 1950s by an American, Glenn Foster, and his assistant, Hajji Mehtabuddin. They catch Afghanistan at a remarkable period of change. Broadcast BBC World
From Horror to Healing
Torture is meant to make someone feel less human. It is meant to make someone feel like they have absolutely no control over their lives. Watch the campaign watch the trailer
Syrian children about their journey to Greece
The stories from Malak (7 years) and Mustafa (14 years) about their journey from Syria to Lesvos (Greece). watch Malak’s story watch Mustafa’s story
We All Need Families at the End of the Day
Maureen, a young girl in Kenya who was separated from her family and sent to live in a children’s home. She wants to reunite with her grandparents and asks herself “why do I live in a children’s home?” Children who live in institutions, often lack the individual care, affection, and attachment that a family environment …
Communist Yugoslavia breaks with the USSR
In June 1948, Yugoslavia’s leader Marshal Tito broke off relations with the USSR, in a dramatic move that reshaped post-war Europe. The effect was immediate. Soviet propaganda films were replaced with Hollywood blockbusters in cinemas and Russians became figures of fun in the media. Lifelong Yugoslav communist Dragica Srzentic delivered the letter to Moscow that …
BUGAN ‘I did not breathe the air for nothing’
Romania 1983. Leaving behind his two daughters aged 11 and 12, his wife and a newborn baby seriously ill in hospital, radio repairman Ion Bugan set off from his village in the middle of the night. Ion drove through the night, 200 km to Bucharest. In the back of his car he had hidden some …
Witness
The story of our times told by the people who were there – a BBC World program. The niece of UCK founder Adem Jashari who survived the massacre on their family. The woman who brought the letter from Tito to Stalin declaring independence from the USSR. The woman who stood next to bishop Romero when …
Wrong Friends – Foute Vrienden
Burnt Herman, Red Jos, Fat Bob and Amsterdam Jan are like ‘blood brothers’. The ‘free men’ try hard to stay out of trouble, but time and again their beer seems to be more transparent than their affairs. These four friends, who are part of the ‘penose’ – the old traditional Amsterdam ‘underworld’ criminal scene – a …
Drones
Witness is a BBC World Service programme of the stories of our times told by the people who were there. For almost five years, Brandon Bryant worked in America’s secret drone programme bombing targets in Afghanistan and elsewhere. He was told that he helped to kill more than 1,600 people, but as time went by he …
Woat Et Aule Es
Woat et aule es (The Baptism) In Bolivia, near the town of Santa Cruz, lives a very conservative Mennonite colony. Johan is one of the young Mennonites who is wrestling with a dilemma…
The Man Who Went Looking For Freedom
Romania under the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was a country of food shortages, electricity rationing and Orwellian surveillance of ordinary people by the secret police. In 1983 Ion Bugan, a TV repairman, made a personal demonstration against the system. He was jailed immediately. From then, until the day they emigrated to America six years later, his …
Film Series Living Rights
Living Rights is a six part documentary series (6×25′) on the Rights of the Child seen from the perspective of everyday life with intimate portraits of children living in a situation conflicting with the United Nation’s convention. “Great cinematic moments, an antidote to sentimental story-telling.” Jury 58th Locarno International Film Festival “a fascinating ethical and sociological …
Nisha
Nisha’s (11) world begins unravelling when her mother reveals that they are both infected with the HIV virus. ‘Nisha’ is a young girl’s brave struggle to face the stigmatisations around AIDS and the fatality of her illness. Upon request login codes to watch the online version.
Film Series Behind Closed Eyes
Four children with war experiences learn how to build a future, despite hauling their past as excess luggage with them. They are blessed with an impressive survival instinct. ‘Behind Closed Eyes’ is a documentary series about that will power to carry on with their lives. ‘Behind Closed Eyes’, presents the face and voice of a …
Yoshi
Yoshinori Takeuchi (16) has Asperger Syndrome, a disorder related to autism. Recently he was transferred from a regular to a special school with severely handicapped. Yoshi feels lost between two worlds. He dreams of a solution to become ‘normal’. Watch clips of the film, duration 3’40” (login for full film available upon request)
Roy
Roy (10) and his family search in the mines for gold. A project that encourages children to go to school, has great impact on the family ties. Watch clips of the film, duration 3’22” Upon request login codes to watch the online version.
Toti
The Maasai father of Toti (14) wanted to marry her off. Toti ran away and her twinsister was married off instead. After three years without contact, Toti tries to reunite with her sister and her family. Watch clips of the film, duration 4’06” Upon request login codes to watch the online version.
Lena
Lena (12) lives with a foster mother since her mother can’t take care of her. Chernobyl left a high level of radiation in the area. A possible adoption by an Italian family makes it hard for Lena to decide whether to stay or leave. Watch clips of the film, duration 3’59” Upon request login codes to …
Joey
Joey lives with his mother Kristin, who has a borderline personality. Joey is often unmanageable for Kristin. The conflicts between Joey and Kristin tend to escalate often, is this situation maintainable? What should be done in the best interest of the child? Should the state intervene? Watch clips of the film, duration 5’34” Upon request login …
No Bush for a Bad Child
A relief project for former child soldiers in Liberia. Spencer (18) is one of those soldiers, who are war criminals and victims at the same time.
Haguruka Uvuga – Stand up and speak
Jacqueline (18) is one of many Rwandans girls who has been raped by soldiers during the war. Because of the child she subsequently bore, Jacqueline has to live with the violation of her body day in day out. It’s hard for her to feel affection and responsibility for her baby, who serves as a constant …
Dreams of a Kite
Thirteen year old Nhom (13) lost his leg, like the many children in Cambodia who were maimed by old land mines, faulty weapons and unexploded bombs…
Sad Faces with Bags and Children
Eranda (7) and her family have fled the war in Kosovo. Eranda’s life as a refugee takes her from a Macedonian camp to a shelter in the Netherlands. For Eranda, the refugee camp is a dead-end situation. Although she finds herself further and further away from home, the war stays close to her.