In the back of history - The lost villages of Masuria

In September of 2017 German writer and director Daniel Raboldt accompanied a group of German and Polish scientists and students into the woods of Masuria, Poland. The expedition aimed to find traces of the so-called "lost villages", left by the Masurians around 1945 by the end of the Second World War. Today only some of the old graveyards can be found deep in the woods of the beautiful Masurian landscape. The documentary "In the back of history - The lost villages of Masuria" shows the students at their work in the historic archives and in the woods. How conclusive can this kind of historic research be? How much can we really learn by looking through old files or other sources? And what can we learn from the vanishing of the Masurians? Do we face similar problems today? The film dives deep into themes like the rise of nationalism and identity and uncovers the tragic end of a population that was asked one simple question in the early 20th century: Stay or Leave?

Flying Supersonic

Thundering across the sky on elegant white wings, the Concorde was an instant legend. But behind the glamour of jet setting at Mach 2 were stunning scientific innovations and political intrigue. Fifteen years after Concorde's final flight, this documentary takes you inside the historic international race to develop the first supersonic airliner. Hear stories from those inside the choreographed effort to design and build Concorde in two countries at once - and the crew members who flew her.

The Apollo

The history of New York City's Apollo Theater in Harlem is given the full treatment.

TGV, la réussite française

Tupperware!

The remarkable story of Earl Silas Tupper, an ambitious but reclusive small-town inventor, and Brownie Wise, the self-taught sales-woman who built him an empire out of bowls that burped. Brownie was an intuitive marketing genius who trained a small army of Tupperware Ladies to put on Tupperware parties in living rooms across America in the 1950s. She rewarded her sales force with minks and modern appliances at extravagant annual jubilees which the company filmed. her saleswomen earned thousands, even millions, selling Tupperware. And the experience changed their lives.

CIA vs KGB: Battleground Berlin

For 50 years, Berlin was the symbol of the Cold War. The city at the heart of the intelligence war between the US and the Soviet bloc. Thousands of KGB or CIA, agents observed each other, cogs in the biggest information war in history.

The Lost Gods of Easter Island

A simple, carved figure bought at an auction in New York leads David Attenborough on a global journey from Russia to Australia, from England back to the Pacific. On the way he delves into a history of the stunning stones on Easter Island.

Mad and Bad: 60 Years of Science on TV

From Raymond Baxter live on Tomorrow's World testing a new-fangled bulletproof vest on a nervous inventor to Doctor Who's contemporary spin on the War on Terror, British television and the Great British public have been fascinated with the brave new world offered up by science on TV. Narrated by Robert Webb, this documentary takes a fantastic, incisive and funny voyage through the rich heritage of science TV in the UK, from real science programmes (including The Sky At Night, Horizon, Tomorrow's World, The Ascent of Man) to science-fiction (such as The Quatermass Experiment, Doctor Who, Doomwatch, Blake's 7, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), to find out what it tells us about Britain over the last 60 years.

Dva muži v roce jedna

The Plow That Broke the Plains

A documentary about what happened to the Great Plains of the United States and Canada when uncontrolled farming destroyed the soil and led to the Dust Bowl.

Balancing Acts: A Jewish Theatre in The Soviet Union

Moscow, January 1948. In the bitter cold, a large crowd attends the State Funeral of the Yiddish actor and director Solomon Mikhoels. An official proclamation mourns the death of "a great People's Artist of the Soviet Union." What people are really mourning is the death of the most popular Jewish theater in the Soviet Union, and the man who kept it alive against all odds for over 20 years. No doubt many suspected the truth: he had just been assassinated by Stalin's secret police.

Kino Eye

This documentary promoting the joys of life in a Soviet village centers on the activities of the Young Pioneers. These children are constantly busy, pasting propaganda posters on walls, distributing hand bills, exhorting all to "buy from the cooperative" as opposed to the Public Sector, promoting temperance, and helping poor widows. Experimental portions of the film, projected in reverse, feature the un-slaughtering of a bull and the un-baking of bread.

Tsar to Lenin

A documentary film account of the Russian Revolution, based on archival footage.

Ancient Aliens Debunked

Ancient Aliens Debunked is a 3 hour refutation of the theories proposed on the History Channel series Ancient Aliens. It is essentially a point by point critique of the "ancient astronaut theory" which has been proposed by people like Erich von Däniken and Zecharia Sitchin as well as many others. The film covers topics like: Ancient building sites: Puma Punku, The Pyramids, Baalbek, Incan sites, And Easter Island. Ancient artifacts: Pacal's rocket, the Nazca lines, the Tolima "fighter jets", the Egyptian "light bulb", Ufo's in ancient art, and the crystal skulls. Ancient text issues: Ezekiel's wheel, Ancient nuclear warfare, Vimana's, the Anunnaki, and the Nephilim.

México, México: Mexique en mouvement

"Mexico begins where the roads end ”. Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes tells us about the history of Mexico: its invasions, its revolutions, its sacred lands, its forgotten legends, its religious rituals and this frightening misery. François Reichenbach and his camera sink into the dust, on this sacred land, where "the land never ends."

Antarctica: A Frozen History

Antarctica: A Frozen History takes a look at the history and stories of the human explorations in the Antarctic. Although quite slow paced and relatively old, the documentary film successfully incorporates reconstructed film material and original Antarctic expedition footage to fully illustrate the hardships of the heroic and extreme arctic explorations. Human endurance is tested to the maximum, as the documentary takes a look back at those who have tried, failed and conquered this most unforgiving landscape. Some of these stories entail Robert Falcon Scott, a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition of 1910–1913. Scott reached the South Pole in January 1912 only to find he had been beaten to the spot by 33 days. His entire party died on the return journey; eight months later, a search party discovered some of their bodies, diaries and photographs.

The Hitler–Stalin Pact

How could Hitler and Stalin, sworn ideological enemies, come to a secret pact in 1939? The captivating and detailed story of the diplomatic fiasco that led to the signing of the Nazi-Soviet pact and its devastating consequences.

Reformation: Europe's Holy War

Historian David Starkey tells the story of the Protestant Reformation and how it transformed the face of modern Europe, unleashing fundamentalism, terror and religious violence.

This Is Halloween

Shock Docs: This is Halloween combines an impressive set of experts/historians and stars from many of the Travel Channel’s most popular series such as Ghost Nation, Destination Fear, Ghost Brothers, Kindred Spirits, Expedition Bigfoot, and The Holzer Files to reminisce on not only the history/origins of the holiday, but also recall their favorite memories of the celebrations, costumes, and scares.

Temporarily Exiled

A community of Armenians, refugees from the Soviet Union during the Baku pogroms, live in a deep American province. Baku life, Armenian blood, Soviet mentality, and American emigration mix in incredible tragicomic proportion.