David Attenborough explains the enormous growth of interest in tribal art, and explores the emotions which lie behind the masks and decorations of primitive people.
Social & External
The people behind it
David Attenborough
High in the cliffs surrounding the Koke people of Papua New Guinea are galleries of their ancestors. Hung in chairs, overlooking the village. Mummies, preserved for the living to visit and celebrate. Since the 1950s, as European missionaries traveled through this region, the ritual of mummifying your dead was forbidden. The village elder, Gemtasu, wanted to change that. He did not want to be buried in the soil for no one to see. When his time came, he wanted his relatives to mummify him as he mummified his father. His time came, and expedition leader and photographer Ulla Lohmann was there to document it, honoring his wish to share his story with the world.
Through unprecedented access we showcase the spectacle that is Wild Russia. From east to west, via mountains, volcanoes, deserts, lakes and Arctic ice, this breathtaking six-part series uses stunning cinematography to chart the dazzling natural wonders of this vast country.
Big, Bigger, Biggest is a British documentary television series which began airing in 2008. A total 20 episodes have been produced across 3 seasons.
Follows people performing extremely dangerous jobs.
Weapon Masters is a television show that premiered on the Discovery Channel on December 31, 2007. It is currently airing on the Military Channel.Hosts Chad Houseknecht, an inventor, and Mike Loades, a weapons historian, choose a different historical weapon each week. While Loades explores its history—often traveling to the country from which it comes to interview modern practitioners—Houseknecht attempts to improve on it using modern technology. At the end of each episode a challenge test of the new version is held.
This Is How I Made It is an American reality-documentary television series on MTV. The series premiered on October 13, 2012. The series sheds light on the mountains that various athletes, actors, artists and other celebrities hurtled over in order to become the person they are today.
Sex, Death and the Meaning of Life is a three-part television documentary presented by Richard Dawkins which explores what reason and science might offer in major events of human lives. He argues that ideas about the soul and the afterlife, of sin and God's purpose have shaped human thinking for thousands of years. He believes science can provide answers to some of these old questions we used to entrust to religion.
Presents world leaders, social influencers and iconic figures who have an informed global perspective on a particular subject. Explores pressing issues from political governance, environmental consciousness, nuclear disarmament, gun control, to education and job creation.
Human beings may have roamed the Earth for over 315,000 years — a mere blip in geological terms, but one with far-reaching consequences: wherever people have ventured, they’ve left behind permanent traces of their presence. In fact, we’ve changed the Earth itself. The distinguished Cambridge historian Sir Christopher Clark takes us on the ultimate world tour of man-made masterpieces, cultural achievements, and miracles of nature from the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to over a thousand sites of incredible treasures listed by the UNESCO world heritage organisation today. A whistle-stop tour across space and through time to some of the most astonishing testaments of human ingenuity and nature’s gems. This is a glossy and gripping series tracing the rise of human civilisation and its astonishing impact on our planet.
Focussing on women's sport, this series takes an in depth look at the challenges sportswomen and the people who work alongside them face at a systemic level.
Bear strands himself in popular wilderness destinations where tourists often find themselves lost or in danger.
Don Wildman unearths relics from the world's greatest institutions to reveal secrets from the past. He examines each artifact to illuminate history's most incredible triumphs, sensational crimes and bizarre encounters.
Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.
In this true-crime documentary, a cult expert and filmmaker infiltrate a polygamist sect to expose a self-proclaimed prophet and bring him to justice.
Award-winning actor and nervous explorer Eugene Levy steps out of his comfort zone for a whirlwind tour of the world's most beautiful and intriguing destinations.
Consistently stunning documentaries transport viewers to far-flung locations ranging from the torrid African plains to the chilly splendours of icy Antarctica. The show's primary focus is on animals and ecosystems around the world. A comic book based on the show, meant to be used an as educational tool for kids, was briefly distributed to museums and schools at no cost in the mid-2000s.
Sir Kenneth Clark guides us through the ages exploring the glorious rise of civilisation in western man. Beginning with the bleakness of the dark ages to the present day, we consider civilisation's articulations and expressions in some of man's finest works of art.
The documentary takes viewers through Janet Jackson's life and career, contain never-before-seen footage, and feature home videos from the legendary artist. Jackson discusses her controversial 2004 Super Bowl halftime show performance with Justin Timberlake, her father Joe Jackson, the death of her brother Michael Jackson, and more.
Filmed across six continents, this docuseries uses cutting-edge camera technology to capture animals' nocturnal lives, revealing new behaviours filmed in full color like never before.
A look at the life of Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, who opens her personal archives and reflects on a career in which she has sold 80 million records and reinvented herself, and by extension pop, several times. Home movies, personal photographs and new interviews reveal the picture, as Kylie addresses how she’s faced public scrutiny, personal loss and illness.
Journeying to the far reaches of our planet, this eight part series follows some of the world's most amazing species, telling extraordinary stories that are dramatic, thrilling, funny and sometimes heart-breaking, but always full of hope.
This immersive series follows the world's most magnificent creatures, capturing never-before-seen moments from the heartwarming to the outrageous.
Come one, come all to The Circus. This real-time documentary series pulls back the curtain on the current political stories, revealing the intense, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines. Key characters and events are presented in real time, as they are happening.
Australian host Steve Irwin and his wife Terri run a wildlife refuge. Their shared passion is educating the world about wildlife, including the much feared crocodile and numerous venomous snakes. Steve's specialty is the capture and relocation of crocodiles. No animal appears too threatening to Steve, his true respect for animals is the foundation for everything he does.
Natural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed by independent production companies and purchased by the BBC. Natural World programmes are often broadcast as PBS Nature episodes in the USA. Since 2008, most Natural World programmes have been shot and broadcast in high definition.
Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode was broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly television episode on BBC One. The running time of the first two series was 30 minutes, being extended to 45 minutes in the third. BBC Three also broadcast a cut-down edition of the programme, lasting 15 minutes, shown after the repeats on Sundays and Fridays and after the weekday evening repeats of earlier seasons.
Morgan Freeman presents his quest in order to find how most religions perceive life after death, what different civilizations thought about the act of creation and other big questions that mankind has continuously asked.
Each of the twelve 50-minute episodes features a different aspect of the journey through life, from birth to adulthood and continuation of the species through reproduction.
Transcending the music documentary genre by creating a new lane that merges music, socio-cultural commentary and and intimate family portrait of the Wu-Tang Clan.
