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A detailed reconstruction of the events from Nov. 9th to 11th, 1989, which led to the Berlin wall tumbling down, on a local, national and international level.

In April 1994, the parents of two-year-old Samuel Ishimwe were murdered in Rwanda. Like them, up to one million people died in the genocide against the Tutsi minority. 30 years later, Samuel wants to know how this could have happened.

The stories of Jewish cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who survived Auschwitz, and of star conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, who worked with the Nazis, provide insight. The film centers around two people who represent musical culture during the Third Reich - albeit in very different ways. Wilhelm Furtwängler was a star conductor; Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, the cellist of the infamous Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz. Both shared a love for the classical German music.

The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine is not only waged with bombs, rockets and rocket-propelled grenades, but also in the media. It is a "propaganda battle" internally and externally. Russia spreads targeted disinformation in order to systematically devalue news. At the same time, their own population should be convinced that they want to liberate Ukraine from Nazis. Ukraine's narrative wants to emotionally mobilize its own population and strengthen resistance to the aggressor. Spindoctors are of particular importance in the propaganda battle over Ukraine. On the Ukrainian side, it's often influencers like Oleksiy Arestovych. On the Russian side, Vladimir Solovyov, Putin's snout, is supposed to sell the war to his own people with his daily TV talks. The documentary shows the new front lines of virtual warfare and provides insights into the populists' bag of tricks on social networks.

The race for supremacy in the age of artificial intelligence is on: between the USA, China and Europe. Between big tech companies and start-ups. Who will win the competition? Will Europe be left behind? And who will determine a technology that will shape the future of humanity?

In the Durban South Basin, Themba lives with his father near to an oil refinery. He’s in love with Khanya, his best friend. Khanya has a new boyfriend, KG, who promises her a safe future. The more their relationship grows, the more Themba must fight to get her back, until he goes one step too far.

They are clad in the religiously correct abaja, are not allowed to drive and yet still go their own way with confidence. In pioneering work, a new generation of women in Saudi Arabia are fighting for positions as politicians, lawyers, editors-in-chief and entrepreneurs for the first time. A documentary about courageous women who are developing ideas about what the strictly conservative kingdom needs for its future.

"What would the world be like without Beethoven?" That’s the provocative question posed by this music documentary from Deutsche Welle. To answer it, the film explores how Ludwig van Beethoven's innovations continue to have an impact far beyond the boundaries of classical music, 250 years after his birth.

The Vatican opened once-secret records on Pope Pius XII on March 2020. This gave researchers a brand new insight into the Catholic Church during the Nazi era. What did the Pope know about the Holocaust?

For more than a decade, wildfires of unprecedented force have been devouring our lives, homes and forests at a steady pace. Each year, 350 million hectares of forest go up in smoke, the equivalent of six times the size of France. In the US, the fire season now lasts up to two months longer than a generation ago, and the surface burnt annually has multiplied by three. This film sets out on a gripping journey of investigation from Europe to the US, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia to follow the work of a global team of dedicated firefighters, scientists and fire experts as they investigate why our forests are going up in flames, and act on an unexpected discovery: if we want to save our forests, homes, health and our climate, we need to radically change our attitude towards fire and the way we fight wildfires.

The 9th Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the most popular pieces of classical music in the world. Even those who are not passionate about the classical music recognize the famous Ode to Joy. Despite the grim context in which it was created, the 9th Symphony leaves us fascinated, moved and uplifted by its creativity, its power and its culmination in the Ode to Joy. More than 160 years after it was written, Beethoven’s hymn to brotherhood was adopted by the European Union as its official anthem. But Beethoven’s Ninth is also met with enthusiasm far beyond the borders of Europe. What’s the explanation for its never ending success? What is it about this work of art that fascinates people all over the world?

The Nuremberg trials started in 1945 and marked a milestone in the establishment of international law. The images of high-ranking Nazis in the dock are seared into our collective memory. The Nuremberg trials were a series of military tribunals staged by the Allies after World War Two. The first and best-known trial ended in October 1946 with the sentencing to death of 12 high-ranking Nazis.

The documentary accompanied the work of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela.

Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948. Why was he killed and what events occurred before and after his murder? This documentary shows how India was dogged by nationalism and religious conflict on its path to independence - and how these factors mark the country to this day.

A look at the past, present and future of NATO, which has shaped Europe's security and defense policies since 1949.

Berlin’s Museum Island, the cultural center of the German capital on the Spree river, houses a large number of art pieces from all over the globe, from the Stone Age to the present day. A walk through their great institutions to marvel at their masterpieces.

June 1941, during World War II. Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler orders the mass abduction of particularly well-bred young children from Poland and the occupied territories of the Soviet Union in order to be educated in German culture, by both state schools and German families…

The Hamas terror attack had dramatic consequences for people in Israel, the Gaza Strip and around the world. Here, we hear individual stories from people living in Tel Aviv. What were their lives like before 7 October 2023? What’s their current perception of the war? What do they see, when they look to the future? In the summer of 2023, Tel Aviv was a lively, liberal and open metropolis, known as the “Mediterranean Capital of Cool”. Then came October 7, and changed everything. Here, people’s lives are forever divided: into ‘before’, and ‘after’. Club owners, culture workers, restaurateurs, LGBTQ activists and architects share very personal insights into a traumatized society. And they’ve not given up hope for better times once the war is over.

Ai Weiwei is a global star and an enigma. DW followed him for a year for this intimate portrait. The film shows Ai Weiwei at home, at work, and on the road for work, as he prepares his latest series of works focused on refugees and their fates.

In Russia, criticizing the war in Ukraine or Vladimir Putin’s regime has become a crime. Thousands of ordinary citizens are being arrested, tried, and imprisoned. They are called “Politzek”: political prisoners. Filmed clandestinely over the course of more than a year, Politzek gives a platform to those who, despite the fear, continue to speak out against Putin’s repressive Russia. Through the intersecting stories of a teenager sentenced to five years in prison for criticizing the government on social media, a young artist jailed for placing anti-war stickers, a human rights activist, and two theater directors facing Kafkaesque trials, the film unveils the machinery of state repression in Russia. With rare footage, broken yet unyielding voices, this is a story of silenced resistance.

Exciting stories on a wide variety of topics from around the globe: DW brings viewers background reports from the worlds of politics, business, science, culture, nature, history, lifestyle and sport.

Whether over land, religion, resources, or drug trafficking, conflict characterises our world. Decoding Conflicts explains what is behind them, how people are affected and what we need to know about them.