ARTE Distribution

An international investigation reveals that, on Vladimir Putin’s orders, a system that was set up by oligarchs and closely linked to the Russian oil and gas industry, corrupted global finance. All this was meant to serve his revenge against the West. Discover four decades of Russian economic and financial history, through the rise and fall of the oligarchs.

Featuring testimonies and archival footage, the series shows how a handful of men took control of the Russian economy and established themselves as partners of the major Western powers, not only for their own benefit, but also to serve Vladimir Putin's ambitions. By focusing on their backgrounds, their motivations, methods and ambitions, the series exposes this mafia-like economic system, which reproduces itself like a sprawling octopus and adapts to geopolitical upheavals. This international investigation analyzes four decades of Russian economic and financial history, through the birth and rise of the oligarchs. Like a film noir, this series presents a bitter Russian novel, depicting the homeland of the Tsars and Lenin as a mafia-like petro-monarchy, where cynicism, violence, greed, and the thirst for power seem to have no limit.

Mafias and Banks: two opposite worlds. They share the same taste for luxury, risk, and easy money yet they despise and fear each other and both have connections to the government.

For a long time, criminals robbed banks, ripping them open and emptying their safes. It wasn't until the end of the Second World War that the mafias realized just how much profit they could make from banking institutions, and later from finance.

Little is known about the Chinese triads, the world's most influential mafias. Thanks to exclusive interviews with key protagonists, this in-depth thriller investigation takes us right into the heart of the world’s most powerful criminal organization, to reveal its far-reaching influence on geopolitics and the economy.

Who are they? What businesses are they involved in, and what are their strategies?  What is their role in the Chinese culture and history? Founded in the 17th century, the triads built their myth around the fight against China’s enemies. After Mao’s victory, they went into exile to two new territories where they established themselves and thrived: Hong Kong and Taiwan. Triad members became businessmen so they could take control of some parts of the underground economy, both in Asia and in the West. They blended into the game of globalization, inventing new criminal drug networks while investing in real estate in major Canadian or Australian cities, and flooding the world with fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.

10% of the wealthiest Americans own 80% of the country’s resources. This film dissects the capitalist storytelling that helped perpetuate the American Dream for over 150 years, from Rockefeller to Bezos. 

Culture, advertising, public relations and above all philanthropy are the weapons of a true gospel of wealth, which, despite the inequalities, continues to feed the American psyche. But for how long?
In 2018, the net worth of the three richest people in America was equal to that of about half of the least wealthy Americans combined; that is 162 million people. Since its inception, the United States has been capitalism's very own Promised Land. But the accumulation of wealth cannot come at the expense of democracy – as the founding fathers, who were multimillionaires themselves, said. Too many inequalities heighten the risk of chaos. Capital versus democracy: a typically American equation.

This 3-film series explores the depth of the connection, both physical and spiritual, between three nomadic tribes of Mongolia and animals. In each film, the protagonist is faced with an identity crisis between modernity and tradition. However, by returning to the wilderness and bonding with the sacred animal, they find a way to resolve their inner conflict.

Whether it's a woman convincing a camel to adopt a baby through music, a child trying to cure her illness by finding her protective reindeer, or a teenage girl breaking free of gender codes by training a golden eagle, these three stories show how strong are the relationships between the nomadic tribes of Mongolia and the local animals. While the relationships between the protagonists and the animals may seem strange and exotic, the conflicts and problems they face are universal. They awaken something familiar in all of us, evoke myths and common beliefs. In each story, the iconic animal acts as a mirror through which humans learn more about themselves and the dilemmas they face in a changing modern world.
 
"These ancient rituals of human-animal connection are among the last authentic forms of cultural expression for nomads. As an ethnographic filmmaker, I would like to document these rituals before they disappear, these ancient bonds that connect us to nature and animals. It is this secret language that I would like to convey in this trilogy." Hamid Sardar

A suspenseful diplomatic chronicle about how the US tried to balance its democratic ideals with the practical considerations of its realpolitik during WWII. The climax of this struggle happened at the 1945 Yalta Conference, where the “Big Three” (Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin) met to plan the postwar reorganization of Europe.

The documentary unfolds like a theatrical drama, with Roosevelt, a dying idealist symbolizing a military superpower; Churchill, the leader of a declining empire with sharp political acumen; and Stalin, a master of deceit at the height of military dominance. A fresh perspective on the 1945 Yalta Conference through a narrative focusing on the interactions among these key figures. From a macro to a micro viewpoint during the conference, just as if it were a fly on the wall, a witness just like Charles Bohlen Roosevelt’s’ translator and diplomat, the documentary captures the human interplay before and during the Yalta Conference. 

An international team of archaeologists explores the heart of Saudi Arabia and the Black Desert of Jordan to find out more about the oldest megastructures in human history. An extraordinary story with spectacular discoveries and breathtaking landscapes.

In the North of Saudi Arabia and South of Jordan lie thousands of mysterious geoglyphs whose shape, when seen from the air, reminds us of giant kites. The oldest of these immense stone structures were built around 7000 BC, predating the Egyptian pyramids and the spectacular Stonehenge monument by over 4,000 years. Who designed these structures and why were they built? Using cutting-edge technologies, an international team of archaeologists led by French researcher Rémy Crassard and Franco-Jordanian research fellow Wael Abu-Azizeh are trying to solve this mystery, as they are determined to shed a new light on the little-known Neolithic period.

Organic farming is becoming increasingly mechanized and globalized. An international investigation inside the organic industry, filmed with hidden cameras and revealing the first in-depth study on the exact composition of the biopesticides that are produced by agrochemical giants.

Behind the fantasy of purity lies a darker reality: the agroindustry has progressively set aside the principles of organic farming to apply the same methods as conventional agriculture. The crisis in the sector, which has been lasting for over two years, is twofold: it's first a trust crisis due to numerous scandals involving fake organic products, the discovery of dubious social and production practices and state attempts of corruption but it's also a production crisis. Indeed, it's no longer possible to keep up with demand and the lowering of production costs to meet the demands of mass distribution, which has become the main sales channel. This exclusive investigation is produced by the same team as Mass-market retailing: The End of a System?

The story of several Afghan women who fled their country after the Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021, and are now living in exile in Canada. Former MPs, ministers and journalists, they are fighting to keep the spotlight on the plight of women in Afghanistan. 

Forced to flee their country after the Taliban seized power in 2021, several Afghan women are working to keep the spotlight on what is happening in Afghanistan, while at the same time accepting that their power has been usurped and that over two decades of progress have been wiped out. Now in exile, they are reinventing the struggle to keep fighting for a free and just Afghanistan. As the world's eyes are fixed on the next headline news, and even the greatest superpower admits defeat, can these women achieve their goal? 

Does power erode dreams? This documentary explores the ANC's transition from liberation organization to ruling party in South Africa, through the evolution of the relationship between two of its most prominent members, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma.

Exiled under the apartheid they were brothers in arms, under Mandela they loyally worked to build a non-racial state, now they are bitter rivals. Their duel threatens to tear apart the ANC and the country, as the poor desperately seek hope in change and the elite fight for the spoils of victory.
 
Behind the Rainbow features key interviews with ANC current and former leaders including Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe, Jacob Zuma, Pallo Jordan and Terror Lekota.

He was the world's best-known Russian opposition leader: Alexei Navalny was in serious condition after being poisoned in 2020, arrested in 2021. He died in prison in February 2024 while he was serving a 19-year prison sentence. How did this man become Putin's fiercest opponent? Where did he stand politically? Was he the democratic hope that his inner circle portrayed him to be?

Russian filmmaker Igor Sadreev has been working on Navalny in secret for a long time. After the Russian attack on Ukraine, he smuggled his extensive filming equipment out of the country and left Moscow. On arrival in Berlin, he was able to complete the film with his colleague, journalist Aleksandr Urzhanov. Alexei Navalny died in prison on February 16, 2024.

Every 5 seconds, a BILLY bookcase is sold. But the staggering figures of the Swedish brand have a cost: they depend on the uncontrolled exploitation of wood and human labor. A unique investigation, tracking the production line of the furniture giant.

Investigative journalists working for Disclose spent over a year investigating the production chain of the furniture giant which generated a 44.6 billion euros revenue in 2022 and attracts over 5 billion visitors to its stores and website every year.
From the boreal forests of Sweden to Brazilian plantations and New Zealand coastlines, they uncovered how IKEA intensively exploits wood around the world, fuels the illegal trafficking of this resource and threatens the last precious European forests. Long overlooked, intensive logging is now sparking outrage and anger among citizens in Poland and the Baltic countries, who are increasingly concerned about the fate of their countries' public forest domains and biodiversity loss. In Romania, where IKEA owns 50,000 hectares of forests, activists are risking their lives mobilizing against the timber mafia. This film tells the expansion of a discreet forest predator, grappling with the limits of the planet's resources. A resource that is at the center of the fight against climate change.