A Sinister Sect: Colonia Dignidad

With "Emil and the Detectives" Erich Kästner is revolutionizing children's book literature. In the Weimar Republic, he quickly rose as an editor, writer and screenwriter. His books were burned in 1933. Nevertheless, he does not emigrate, published under a pseudonym and abroad. In the post-war period, Kästner was a moral authority. But he can no longer build on his previous success, gets caught up in love affairs and fights his frustration with alcohol. Until his death in 1974, he struggled with the decision not to go into exile. The documentary drama takes a new look at Kästner's picture.

The People’s Republic of China now plays a central role in global politics, economics and diplomacy – more than it ever has before. Its president, Xi Jinping openly espouses the model forged by former Chairman, Mao Zedong, known as the Great Helmsman. But what do we really know about Mao? And how does his legacy relate to Xi’s ‘China Dream’? This 3-part documentary series explores Mao Zedong, his beliefs and his methods. It shows how these have shaped Xi’s philosophy and the reality of today’s China. Mao had set China on the road to true sovereignty, freeing it from the humiliation of foreign domination. Xi is now completing that journey towards the strong Middle Kingdom and cultural predominance that Mao aimed for – while sweeping under the carpet the unthinkable victims and costs of Mao’s rule. The story arc of Mao’s astonishing biography provides varied and profound insights into the ideals, strategies and ambitions of today’s People’s Republic and its position in the next decade.

The story around Frank’s voice: Francis Albert Sinatra as a person, the man behind the winning smile. Where lies the key to his success? How and why Sinatra became a big star, an icon, a hero, who influenced an entire era?

Those who knew them best describe the sensational lives and premature deaths of iconic actors and musicians whose passing left a void in pop culture.

Wife of the famous Oskar Schindler, recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations", Emilie Schindler also worked hard to save Jews. Portrait of a heroine in the shadows, forgotten by history.

A look back at the encounter between the King, then a conscript in Germany, and a 14-year-old “nymphet“ who became his wife, for better or for worse... Based in part on the story told by journalist and biographer Suzanne Finstad, this documentary refutes the idyllic version given by Priscilla in "Elvis and Me".

The story of the fascist conman Fritz Julius Kuhn is as unknown as it is terrifying: Kuhn is a German immigrant who pretends to be Hitler’s deputy in the USA during the 1930s. He is at the top of the German-American Bund, a fascist organization of Americans of German origin. The followers of this association march in goose-step with swastika flags and in Nazi-uniforms thru New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles. They gather in thousands in stadiums and sing the Horst-Wessel-song.

The self-proclaimed preacher Paul Schäfer gathered people around him in post-war Germany. The sect founded a youth home near Cologne. But in 1961 Schäfer had to flee. Many followers followed him to Chile. 350 kilometers south of Santiago, far away from civilization, they begin building the Colonia Dignidad. A supposed model village with workshops, agriculture, livestock breeding was being created. But paradise became hell because slave labor, violence and sexual abuse soon became a part of everyday life. After the military coup in 1973, Schäfer served the new rulers: secret police chief Manuel Contreras and dictator Augusto Pinochet now came and went in the colony, while the opponents of the terrorist regime are tortured and killed in the cellars. Using unpublished archive material and contemporary witness statements, this 4-part documentary miniseries traces the complex, 50-year history of perpetrators, victims, supporters and opponents of this place that became the epitome of evil.

He is the highest-paid actor of all time and the record holder among his male colleagues with three Oscars and twelve nominations. A global star whose career began in the theater and whose life is anything but ordinary. In a strict Catholic family, he grew up believing that his mother was his sister. His grandmother pretended to be his mother in order to protect the family's reputation. It was not until 1974, after a Times Magazine reporter conducted research into his family circumstances, that Nicholson himself learned the truth. The young rebel and class clown has been passionate about acting since his earliest childhood. He plays theater in high school and moves to Los Angeles at the age of 17 to live with his sister and mother, who works there as a dance girl. He keeps his head above water with temporary jobs, and his talent as a draughtsman later lands him a job as an animation artist.

“Being Jérôme Boateng” tells the story of a soccer world champion between triumph and downfall. From the soccer field to the 2014 World Cup title, from celebrated symbol of integration to convicted perpetrator of intentional bodily harm against his ex-partner. The documentary series looks behind the façade of professional soccer—a system that produces heroes but neglects people. It also addresses the question of how a soccer player is stylized into a role model by the media and society and burdened with excessive expectations. Boateng's story is thus also one of false projections that encourages us to reflect on our treatment of and longing for sports idols: What do we want to see in them? Do soccer players have to be heroes?

They were, at best mocked or ridiculed, at worst incarcerated, tortured, or even beheaded. But they would not be deterred. For decades ten thousands of women in Germany, Great Britain, in France, the U.S. and many other countries fought for their right to vote. Some used the institutions, others turned into media savvy politicians, and still others turned to terrorism, went on hunger strike, or died as martyrs. 100 years later we tell a multi-perspective and emotional story of the international fight, against all odds, for women’s suffrage as an important step towards equal rights.

A three-part portrait of Mao Zedong, a peasant's son who became a revolutionary and then a totalitarian leader. The story of a destiny that tells the collective history of modern China. Mao Zedong was born in 1893 in a rural China beset by political instability and social upheaval. After the revolution of 1911, which precipitated the fall of the Empire, the country was dominated by imperialist powers. The young Mao, whose political conscience was awakening, dreamed of seeing China return to its former greatness. Influenced by the Russian Revolution of October 1917 and embracing Marxist ideology, the activist co-founded the Chinese Communist Party, soon establishing himself as its supreme leader, notably during the Long March that ended in 1935. In 1949, after the war between the Kuomintang nationalists and the Communists, he seized power and proclaimed the People's Republic of China.

Patrick Jane, a former celebrity psychic medium, uses his razor sharp skills of observation and expertise at "reading" people to solve serious crimes with the California Bureau of Investigation.

In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

Starting over isn't easy, especially for small-town guy John Nolan who, after a life-altering incident, is pursuing his dream of being an LAPD officer. As the force's oldest rookie, he's met with skepticism from some higher-ups who see him as just a walking midlife crisis.

On a North Carolina island of haves and have-nots, John B and his tight-knit crew of friends find mystery and adventure while hunting for lost treasure.

Follows a sociopathic genius scientist who drags his inherently timid grandson on adventures across the universe.

Dr. Gregory House, a drug-addicted, unconventional, misanthropic medical genius, leads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton–Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey.

Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live. He becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting desire to secure his family's financial future at any cost as he enters the dangerous world of drugs and crime.

Chicagoan Frank Gallagher is the proud single dad of six smart, industrious, independent kids, who without him would be... perhaps better off. When Frank's not at the bar spending what little money they have, he's passed out on the floor. But the kids have found ways to grow up in spite of him. They may not be like any family you know, but they make no apologies for being exactly who they are.

The everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.

A stripper's fate takes a turn when she crosses paths with the wealthy, dysfunctional family behind a cosmetics dynasty and a devious trafficking scheme.

Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, surrenders in person at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He claims that he and the FBI have the same interests: bringing down dangerous criminals and terrorists. In the last two decades, he's made a list of criminals and terrorists that matter the most but the FBI cannot find because it does not know they exist. Reddington calls this "The Blacklist". Reddington will co-operate, but insists that he will speak only to Elizabeth Keen, a rookie FBI profiler.

Six young people from New York City, on their own and struggling to survive in the real world, find the companionship, comfort and support they get from each other to be the perfect antidote to the pressures of life.

Dr. Temperance Brennan and her colleagues at the Jeffersonian's Medico-Legal Lab assist Special Agent Seeley Booth with murder investigations when the remains are so badly decomposed, burned or destroyed that the standard identification methods are useless.

The origins of the world’s greatest hero–from Krypton refugee Kal-el’s arrival on Earth through his tumultuous teen years to Clark Kent’s final steps toward embracing his destiny as the Man of Steel.

When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one strange little girl.

A riveting police drama about the men and women of the Chicago Police Department's District 21 who put it all on the line to serve and protect their community. District 21 is made up of two distinctly different groups: the uniformed cops who patrol the beat and go head-to-head with the city's street crimes and the Intelligence Unit that combats the city's major offenses - organized crime, drug trafficking, high profile murders and beyond.

A Los Angeles S.W.A.T. sergeant is assigned to lead a highly skilled unit in the community where he grew up. Torn between loyalty to the streets, where the cops are sometimes the enemy, and allegiance to his brothers in blue, he strategically straddles the two worlds.

A regularly scheduled, live, year-round program featuring some of the biggest WWE Superstars.

Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join a prestigious hospital's surgical unit. Unable to personally connect with those around him, Shaun uses his extraordinary medical gifts to save lives and challenge the skepticism of his colleagues.

John Reese, former CIA paramilitary operative, is presumed dead and teams up with reclusive billionaire Finch to prevent violent crimes in New York City by initiating their own type of justice. With the special training that Reese has had in Covert Operations and Finch's genius software inventing mind, the two are a perfect match for the job that they have to complete. With the help of surveillance equipment, they work "outside the law" and get the right criminal behind bars.