A World of Faith

Everyone knows Columbus, but few know Vespucci. And yet, the continent of America was named after the banker and explorer Amerigo Vespucci. This film attempts to find the truth about the almost unknown Italian – was he a swindler, as was later claimed, or a daring navigator who first recognised the significance of Columbus' discovery?

Around 3,000 BC, the first territorial state in history was created with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. The empire on the Nile was to exist for 3,000 years. The current section focuses on religion, temple economy and the cult of the dead and examines the reigns of Akhenaten and Ramses II. The culture of Ancient Egypt is characterized by religion, temple economy and the cult of the dead. Two pharaohs play an important role in this context: Akhenaten and Ramses II. When Akhenaten ascended the throne around 1,350 BC, religious customs in Egypt had hardly changed for almost 2,000 years. The influential priesthood was organized hierarchically and the rituals were set out in fixed rituals. The temples are not only the spiritual but also the economic centers of the country.

Nowadays we associate Johannes Kepler with his famous laws of planetary motion. But the history of his discoveries is a drama of Shakespearian proportions - full of intrigue, passion, depravity and corruption.

This German format is not a series properly speaking, as it has no permanent cast or script continuity, but presents each time a 45 minutes documentary, usually in part presented as a docudrama (not faction, as close to scientific knowledge as possible, but visually attractive), elaborating a specific historical theme, widely varied, often exotic in the sense of a far time (as far back as prehistoric times) and/or place (around the globe), although some episodes fit together well, chronologically or thematically, but always fit to be watched separately. Usually authentic locations are used, as well as scenes from and/or interviews about the scientific research it is based upon.

Film about the gender binary. What is it, how does it manifest itself in our minds and our lives - and how can we go beyond? Just how different are “men” and “women?” Are they even two distinct groups? This film follows individuals and communities, experts and artists around the globe who right now are radically and joyfully redefining gender as we know it.

Wars dominate the headlines. Their triggers. Their course. The people involved. Their devastating effects, damage, destruction and suffering. The question is asked far too rarely: How does a war end? And what does it take to make peace possible? Not from just anyone, but from people who have been in the middle of important peace processes in various roles: statesmen, Nobel Peace Prize winners, top diplomats and chief negotiators provide rare insights into how it was possible to come to the negotiating table and establish peace in major conflicts. Leading international figures describe how they were involved in decisive turning points in history.

The "white gold" brought riches and wealth, technological innovation, migration, cultural exchange and early globalization, as early as 2,500 years ago. This ARTE documentary sheds some fascinating light on the history of the salt mine in Hallstatt. The life of the prehistoric people is resurrected in this documentary with lavish reenactments and animations. Hallstatt in the Salzkammergut in Upper Austria is one of the world's oldest and best documented industrial regions. Today, Hallstatt is a World Heritage Site. Salt has been extracted here in huge dimensions for about 7,000 years. For more than a hundred years, the world renowned archaeological site in Hallstatt, that gave its name to a whole age in European history, the early Iron Age, has been at the center of the research carried out at the Natural History Museum in Vienna.

A documentary tracing Charles Darwin's transformation from theology student to the founder of modern evolutionary biology. Following his voyage aboard the Beagle to the Cape Verde Islands, South America and the Galápagos, it explores the two decades he spent delaying publication of his theory of natural selection, torn between scientific conviction, his reputation, and the faith of his devout wife. Made for the bicentenary of Darwin's birth.

The Ascent Of Civilsations’, questions the myths and unravels age-old clichés about some ancient cultures. It examines their strange and sometimes amusing idiosyncrasies, gives fresh insights into who they really were, and provides a novel take on their societies, peppered with surprising new revelations. This is a new look at the Ancients that will change our perception of them.