Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds

The Unpredictable Factor

November 2022 •German

In today's climate debate, there is only one factor that cannot be calculated in climate models - humans. How can we nevertheless understand our role in the climate system and manage the crisis? Climate change is a complex global problem. Increasingly extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and more difficult living conditions - including for us humans - are already the order of the day. Global society has never faced such a complex challenge. For young people in particular, the frightening climate scenarios will be a reality in the future. For the global south, it is already today. To overcome this crisis, different perspectives are needed. "THE UNPREDICTABLE FACTOR" goes back to the origins of the German environmental movement, accompanies today's activists in the Rhineland in their fight against the coal industry and gives a voice to scientists from climate research, ethnology and psychology.

The Last Man on the Moon

February 2016 •English

The 1960s was an extraordinary time for the United States. Unburdened by post-war reparations, Americans were preoccupied with other developments like NASA, the game-changing space programme that put Neil Armstrong on the moon. Yet it was astronauts like Eugene Cernan who paved the uneven, perilous path to lunar exploration. A test pilot who lived to court danger, he was recruited along with 14 other men in a secretive process that saw them become the closest of friends and adversaries. In this intensely competitive environment, Cernan was one of only three men who was sent twice to the moon, with his second trip also being NASA’s final lunar mission. As he looks back at what he loved and lost during the eight years in Houston, an incomparably eventful life emerges into view. Director Mark Craig crafts a quietly epic biography that combines the rare insight of the surviving former astronauts with archival footage and otherworldly moonscapes.

Attacking the Devil: Harold Evans and the Last Nazi War Crime

June 2014 •English

Before the internet. Before social media. Before breaking news. The victims of Thalidomide had to rely on something even more extraordinary to fight their corner: Investigative journalism. This is the story of how Harold Evans fought and won the battle of his and many other lives.

A Very British Space Launch

August 2023 •English

With exclusive access, the thrilling, untold story of Virgin Orbit's bid to launch satellites from Cornwall and propel the UK into the space race. Including the moment it all went wrong.

Black Hole Hunters

April 2019 •English

A team of international scientists attempt to document the first-ever image of a black hole.

Lunar

May 2017 •English

In the year 1957 the cold war expands to space. The Soviet-Union sends Sputnik as the first manmade object into earth-orbit. 3 years later Yuri Gagarin enters space as the first man in space. The so called "Space Race" seems to be decided. But in 1961 President Kennedy promised to send American Astronauts to the Moon. The Apollo Project was born. A space ship had to be built that is strong enough to escape earth's gravitation, land on the moon and bring the crew safely back to earth. Motion Designer Christian worked with his brother and Composer Wolfgang for 18 months on this shortfilm. The foundation were thousands original NASA photographies, taken from the Astronauts during the Apollo Missions, which were released in September 2015. It is an animated collage using different techniques to bring the stills to life.

Space Dogs

August 2019 •Russian

Laika, a stray dog, was the first living being to be sent into space and thus to a certain death. A legend says that she returned to Earth as a ghost and still roams the streets of Moscow alongside her free-drifting descendants. While shooting this film, the directors little by little realised that they knew the street dogs only as part of our human world; they have never looked at humans as a part of the dogs’ world.

Apollo's New Moon

July 2019 •English

This extraordinary film features NASA film footage enhanced by AI-based software and other image processing. The clarity of the images gives viewers a whole new perspective on what it was like to step onto lunar soil and ramble about the alien landscapes. The film shows how teams of astronauts collected evidence that has revolutionized our understanding of the origin of both Earth and the moon.

Apollo 11 : Retour vers la lune

July 2019 •French

Homo Spatius

September 2018 •French

Can Homo sapiens evolve into Homo spatius? For over 50 years now, we have been testing our human nature in our effort to conquer outer space, and still 30 years away from a possible human exploration of Mars, a question remains: Can our body take such travels? Will it ever adapt? Combining human adventure and the exploration of the human body, this film offers unique insights into the physical and psychological effects of space travel on the Astronauts and measures the impact on medical sciences.

Einstein's Universe

January 1979 •English

A documentary produced in 1979 to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Albert Einstein. Narrated and hosted by Peter Ustinov and written by Nigel Calder.

Brian Cox: Seven Days on Mars

June 2022 •English

With unique access to Nasa, Brian Cox follows Perseverance rover’s search for life on Mars during a critical seven-day period as it undertakes an epic journey across the red planet.

How William Shatner Changed The World

November 2005 •English

William Shatner presents a light-hearted look at how the "Star Trek" TV series have influenced and inspired today's technologies, including: cell phones, medical imaging, computers and software, SETI, MP3 players and iPods, virtual reality, and spaceship propulsion.

Together to Mars?

October 1987 •English

The Divided Brain

April 2019 •English

A film which explores a radical new idea - is there an imbalance between our brain hemispheres that is affecting how we live in our modern society?

The Wonder of It All

January 2007 •English

The Wonder of it All focuses on the human side of the men behind the Apollo missions through candid interviews with seven of the Apollo astronauts: Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Edgar Mitchell, John Young, Charles Duke, Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt. They all reflect on the training, the tragedies, the camaraderie, and the effect that their space travel has had on their families.

Miniverse

April 2017 •English

What if you could get behind the wheel and race through space? We scale down the Solar System to the continental United States and place the planets along the way to better appreciate the immense scale of the Universe. See space as never before, with Mars looming over the Freedom Tower and Jupiter towering above the Lincoln Memorial. Join former astronaut Chris Hadfield - a YouTube sensation for his performance of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” aboard the International Space Station - and his interstellar hitchhikers Michio Kaku and astronomers Derrick Pitts and Laura Danly. It’s a joyride from coast to coast - and from the sun to Pluto.

James May on the Moon

June 2009 •English

Top Gear presenter James May presents this informative program that examines the historic moon missions. Traveling to America, May meets three of the men who walked on the surface of the moon, learning how it felt and how the now antiquated technology was used to achieve such an historic feat.

Our Mr. Sun

November 1956 •English

One entry in a series of films produced to make science accessible to the masses—especially children—this film describes the sun in scientific but entertaining terms.

Machine

December 2019 •English

If machines can be smarter than people, is humanity really anything special?