The End of Memory

Séfar, A City of Mysteries

November 2021 •French

Séfar (in Arabic: سيفار) is an ancient city in the heart of the Tassili n'Ajjer mountain range in Algeria, more than 2,400 km south of Algiers and very close to the Libyan border. Séfar is the largest troglodyte city in the world, with several thousand fossilized houses. Very few travelers go there given its geographical remoteness and especially because of the difficulties of access to the site. The site is full of several paintings, some of which date back more than 12,000 years, mostly depicting animals and scenes of hunting or daily life which testify that this hostile place has not always been an inhabited desert. Local superstition suggests that the site is inhabited by djins, no doubt in connection with the strange paintings found on the site.

The Bit Player

May 2019 •English

The Bit Player tells the story of an overlooked genius, Claude Shannon (the "Father of Information Theory"), who revolutionized the world, but never lost his childlike curiosity.

Surveilled

November 2024 •English

Uncover the insidious ways in which our daily lives are being surveilled by the state. In a gripping chase, Ronan Farrow travels across the world following breadcrumbs and finally exposing a dark world of spywares, hacking, and peddling of private information, where activists and journalists are persecuted, and no one is protected from the watchful and vicious eyes of authoritarianism.

The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey

January 2003 •English

Many geneticists and archaeologists have long surmised that human life began in Africa. Dr. Spencer Wells, one of a group of scientists studying the origin of human life, offers evidence and theories to support such a thesis in this PBS special. He claims that Africa was populated by only a few thousand people that some deserted their homeland in a conquest that has resulted in global domination.

Einstein and the Bomb

February 2024 •English

What happened after Einstein fled Nazi Germany? Using archival footage and his own words, this docudrama dives into the mind of a tortured genius.

Homicide Hunter: Never Give Up

August 2022 •English

The unsolved rape, mutilation and murder of young G.I. Darlene Krashoc has haunted Joe Kenda in the years since he turned in his gun and badge. Until a crack team of cold case cops uses Kenda’s groundwork to set a trap for a monster hiding in plain sight.

The Genius of George Boole

September 2015 •English

Narrated by Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons, The Genius of George Boole assembles academics and industry leaders from across the globe to explore the life and importance of one of the world’s greatest unsung heroes.

Cyberbunker: The Criminal Underworld

November 2023 •German

This documentary reveals how a group of hackers powered the darkest corners of the internet from a Cold War-era bunker in a quiet German tourist town.

Unrest

October 2017 •English

When Harvard PhD student Jennifer Brea is struck down at 28 by a fever that leaves her bedridden, doctors tell her it’s "all in her head." Determined to live, she sets out on a virtual journey to document her story—and four other families' stories—fighting a disease medicine forgot.

In the Frozen Tomb of Mongolia

August 2014 •French

Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery

October 2024 •English

A deep dive into one of the most enduring and high-stakes mysteries in technology and finance: the origins of Bitcoin and the identity of its anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.

The Real Beauty and the Beast

June 2013 •English

It's a condition known as "hypertrichosis" or "Ambras Syndrome," but in the 1500s it would transform one man into a national sensation and iconic fairy-tale character. His name: Petrus Gonsalvus, more commonly known today as the hairy hero of Beauty and the Beast.

Movies by Machine - AI and Cinema

September 2024 •German

As artificial intelligence becomes ever more sophisticated, the film industry is split between enthusiasm at what the technology can achieve and concern over the future for human workers in the industry. Will actors and actresses be replaced by machines? An overview on the coming wave of AI in cinema.

iHuman

November 2019 •Norwegian

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is possibly the most powerful technology of our time. It has the potential to solve humanity’s biggest challenges yet some fear AI will be our downfall. iHUMAN follows pioneers at the frontline of the race to develop the ever more sophisticated AI to find the questions we need to ask at this crucial point in history.

Unlocking the Mystery of Life

May 2003 •English

Unlocking the Mystery of Life represents a unique programming opportunity for local stations. Its broadcast release coincides with the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs in history-James Watson and Francis Crick's discovery that the DNA molecule carries hereditary information in the form of a code that many scientists have likened to computer software or a written language. This discovery (announced on April 25,1953) sparked a scientific revolution. But it also left a fundamental question unanswered. Where did the information in DNA come from? How did the software in the cell arise? Unlocking the Mystery of Life explores these questions through the stories of a growing number of scientists who no longer believe that natural selection or chemistry, alone, can explain life's origin. Instead, they think that the microscopic world of the cell provides evidence of purpose and design in nature.

Columbus DNA: His True Origin

October 2024 •Spanish

One of the most important and exciting historical research of all time, the study of the DNA of the navigator Christopher Columbus, finally answers two fundamental questions: where do his bones rest? What is his true origin?

The Hunt for the Oldest DNA

February 2024 •English

Three million years ago, camels roamed through Greenland’s endless forests and our ancestors lived in the trees. It all came to an end with the Ice Ages. What died and what survived, as natural selection shaped the evolutionary tree during this epochal shift from hot to cold? Until now, scientists have known less about the natural world before the Ice Age than they did about the age of dinosaurs, which ended 64 million years ago. A new discovery is set to reveal this lost world, species by species. Led by Danish gene-hunter Eske Willerslev, a team of scientists for the first time in history is sequencing DNA from before the Ice Age. The picture that emerges is of a hot planet, when forests blanketed the Arctic and carbon levels matched those in our atmosphere today. Is this a portrait of our own climate future?

Prehistoric Worlds

January 2020 •English

Five times, Earth has faced apocalyptic events that swept nearly all life from the face of the planet. What did these prehistoric creatures look like? What catastrophes caused their disappearance? And how did our distant ancestors survive and give rise to the world we know today?

Another Body

October 2023 •English

A college student searches for justice after she discovers deepfake pornography of herself circulating online.

Nothing to Hide

September 2017 •English

NOTHING TO HIDE is an independent documentary dealing with surveillance and its acceptance by the general public through the "I have nothing to hide" argument. The documentary was produced and directed by a pair of Berlin-based journalists, Mihaela Gladovic and Marc Meillassoux. It was crowdfunded by over 400 backers. NOTHING TO HIDE questions the growing, puzzling and passive public acceptance of massive corporate and governmental incursions into individual and group privacy and rights. After the emotion initially triggered by the Snowden revelations, it seems that the general public has finally accepted to live in a monitored digital world.