Historians cite the Karabagh war (1989-1994) as one of the first signs of the Soviet Union's collapse. Front line journalist and former prisoner of war, Vardan Hovhannisyan, lived alongside soldiers, doctors, nurses, villagers, and children caught in the conflict, capturing their immediate thoughts, impressions and last words to their families. A decade later, Vardan returns to Karabagh, in an attempt to grasp the aftermath of a devastating war and to draw lessons of peace from the survivors.

This film was made in co-production with international broadcasters including the BBC, Arte (France/Germany), WDR (Germany), ITVS (USA), and YLE (Finland).

Zhora (76) and Knyaz (77) were once the most celebrated masters of tightrope dancing in Armenia. Today, they are the only surviving performers who can keep this ancient art alive against the current of contemporary society. Having been bitter rivals throughout their lives, a common objective has finally brought them together: to train the only student of tightrope dancing left in the country. Hovsep, a sixteen year old orphan boy, has to decide whether or not to accept the role of the last tightrope dancer in Armenia, in a society that has abandoned both him and the art of tightrope dancing.
This project is an international co-production with ITVS (USA), NHK (Japan), SVT (Sweden), YLE (Finland), TVP Kultura (Poland), and ETV (Estonia).

24,000 people. 6,000 donkeys. And just 2 cars. Lamu, just off the coast of Kenya, is one of the world’s only surviving centers of authentic Swahili culture. It is a place where the only two cars on the island collide, its ancient inhabitants are escaping an invasion of do-gooder tourists nervously buying land to “protect” the island’s culture, and donkeys (not people) are looked after by the island’s biggest aid project.
It is a strange island, but seen through the eyes of a donkey, the farcical antics tell a much more important universal story about the paradoxical and often hypocritical ways people try to deal with the reality of globalization.

Armenia Wants a Piece of the North Pole... and the South Pole, too! will be a two-part series taking a look at the chaotic scramble for resources and territory now taking place at the North and South Poles. Using the humorous device of an Armenian claim to the Poles, we highlight the, at times, absurd lengths to which nations go in the service of greed.

The lost Minaret of Saghar, stands somewhere in Afghanistan, waiting for a courageous archaeological team to reveal it. An Australian archaeologist on the cutting edge of his field, a wise old Afghan archaeologist who has experienced firsthand the history of his country, and two inexperienced archaeology students eager for adventure—this is the team that will travel to the minaret and doubtless have many adventures on their way…

As they experience the rich and varied culture of Afghanistan, they will see traces of wars past and present…Will the present war keep them from their goal, or will they discover the minaret that has never been seen by outsiders?

A new country is about to be created. At least, it will be if the UN and New Zealand have their way. Hidden from the hectic world, in the middle of South Pacific—30 hours from anywhere—is a tiny territory comprised of three magnificent coral atolls with just 1500 inhabitants who are being pushed to vote ‘yes’ and declare independence from New Zealand. The people of Tokelau have voted down independence twice in the last three years, but a new referendum is coming up in 2010, and the UN, New Zealand, and the roughly half of Tokelauans who favor independence are hopeful that this time it will succeed.
This documentary is a unique chance to capture the birth of a new nation as it happens…and to preserve a record of Tokelau should nature win and rising sea levels wipe this tiny nation from the map forever.

The Biblical Ararat land is home to some of the world's oldest civilizations, including the Babylonians, Hittites, Persians, Greeks and Romans. In an "against all odds" project, Armenian archeologists successfully contacted British scientists with an idea: to uncover old world secrets with new world technology.