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The Berlin Palace, home of the Prussian royal family for centuries and an imposing presence on the Berlin skyline, was badly damaged by bombing in 1945. After the war the East German authorities demolished the ruins and built the Palace of the Republic, the seat of the parliament of the GDR.
After German reunification this communist-era edifice was torn down to make way for a replica of the baroque palace, finally completed and reopened to the public in June 2021. The controversial building houses the Humboldt Forum, a museum of non-European art, itself controversial in an age where the debate is raging over the restitution of art and artefacts from former European colonies.

The Humboldt Forum

Berlin controversial new (old) palace is now open and houses an equally controversial museum.

A New Palace for Berlin

Current Highlights

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Vivian Maier was an impatient, perhaps incompetent nanny... but in her time off, she was one of the most talented and prolific photographers of her generation. But she never sold a single photograph, or exhibited her work. Often, she wouldn't even get her pictures developed. It was only by chance that her hidden photographic genius was finally brought to light after her death.

Vivian Maier never exhibited or got paid for her photographs, but after her death she rocketed to fame for her work.

Vivian Maier's Portraits of New York

Sting appears at the Reeperbahn Festival opening gala in Hamburg performing "Rushing Water", a track from his forthcoming album "The Bridge", due for release on 19 November. Discover the track exclusively! As a bonus, one of the Police's biggest hits "Every Breath You Take".

Reeperbahn Festival 2021

Sting appears at the Reeperbahn Festival opening gala in Hamburg performing "Rushing Water", a track from his forthcoming album "The Bridge", due for release on 19 November. 

Sting - 'Rushing Water'

After the fall of the USSR, the industrial city of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine was overrun with poverty and drug addiction. But that didn't put off Pastor Gennadiy Mokhenko, who opened up a children's home with the hope of offering his charges a better life.

Pastor Gennadiy Mokhenko opened up a children's home, with the hope of offering his charges a better life

Re: The Activist Pastor in Ukraine

In southern Thailand, the Koh Panyee village sits on stilts and even has a floating football field, built in the 1990s by a group of children. But over time, the ad hoc field has fallen into disrepair. But now the village is about to hold its first tournament in years and the field needs a major overhaul.

GEO Reportage

The village of Koh Panyee sits on stilts and its football field is a floating island.

Thailand's Football Mad Island

Angela Merkel’s leaving office will not just affect the Germans. The longest-serving European leader has shaped politics in Europe and the world. What do European citizens think of Merkel after 16 years in power?

Angela Merkel’s retirement won't just affect Germans. What do Europeans think of her after 16 years in power?

Bye bye Merkel

Secondary highlights

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According to Extinction Rebellion, the textile industry is responsible for 20% of the world's wastewater, 10% of carbon emissions from transport and 22.5% of pesticides, applied mainly to cotton fields. Will the elite world of fashion one day disappear, buried by the climate crisis and the covid pandemic? Or will the industry take the opportunity to reinvent itself?
A documentary on the accusations raining down on the fashion world: Overproduction, environmentally harmful practices, racism and a lack of diversity.

A documentary on the accusations raining down on the fashion world: Overproduction, environmentally harmful practices, racism and a lack of diversity.

Is Fashion Finished?

In less than two centuries submarines have undergone a technological revolution. Used both for exploration and military means. This first part traces out the early development of underwater vessels in the 19th century up to the outbreak of World War II.

In less than two centuries submarines have undergone a technological revolution, used for both scientific exploration and for warfare. 

Submarines: Underwater Myths

With its grand churches, palaces and ruins, the Eternal City has a majestic architectural heritage that bears witness to its past grandeur. This subtle charm, which captivates millions of tourists from all over the world every year, is nevertheless a challenge for city planners and conservationists.
Can Rome become a modern metropolis while keeping hold of its glorious past?

Can Rome become a modern metropolis while keeping hold of its glorious past?

Enchanting Rome

For some people a bicycle is just a mode of transport, however for many it is a passion and a way of life.  

Biking Boom

Stanislaw Lem is Poland's most famous sci-fi writer who predicted smartphones and virtual reality decades in advance. Yet his life is shrouded in mystery and full of paradoxes. How did he manage to survive the Holocaust? What were his true feelings towards communism? How did he manage to keep up with international science and technology with such outstanding accuracy - whilst living on the outskirts of Krakow, behind the Iron Curtain? And why did he write for the Catholic weekly “Tygodnik Powszechny”, while being openly atheist?

Author of Solaris

Poland's most famous sci-fi writer predicted smartphones and virtual reality decades in advance. Yet his life is shrouded in mystery and paradox. Who was he really?

Stanisław Lem

25-year-old Sibel lives with her father and sister in a secluded village in the mountains of Turkey’s Black Sea region. Sibel is a mute, but she communicates by using the ancestral whistled language of the area. Rejected by her fellow villagers, she relentlessly hunts down a wolf that is said to be prowling in the neighbouring forest, sparking off fears and fantasies among the village women. There she crosses path with a fugitive. Injured, threatening and vulnerable, he is the first one to take a fresh look at her.

25-year-old Sibel relentlessly hunts down a wolf that is said to be prowling in the neighbouring forest.

Sibel

There are an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth and in the 20th century, 437 of them erupted in places like the United States, Russia, Indonesia and Japan. Both a blessing and a curse, they have shaped our world on land and at the sea.

Mapping the World

There are an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth and in the 20th century, 437 of them erupted. Both a blessing and a curse, they have shaped our world on land and at the sea.

A World of Volcanoes

With his Stetson on his head and a cigarette in his mouth, Townes Van Zandt (1944-1997), was a singer-songwriter of incandescent, beautifully despairing country songs. He was an artist plagued by demons, often under the influence of alcohol and drugs, but he nevertheless wrote some of the masterpieces of American song, including "If I Needed You" and "To Live is to Fly", and managed to climb to the top of the charts in spite of himself with the song "Pancho and Lefty", first popularised by Emmylou Harris and then covered by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. His song 'Kathleen' was recently covered by Tindersticks.
 Troubled Troubadour
Through concert footage, film archives and interviews, this remarkable documentary sensitively traces Townes Van Zandt's formative experiences and existential and artistic ups and downs - from the beginning of his musical career, inspired by early Bob Dylan records and legendary blues bard Lightnin' Hopkins, to his untimely death. His managers, his children, his three wives and numerous musician friends shed light on his personality and reveal the affection they had for this troubled troubadour.

Portait of troubled Texan folk singer Townes van Zandt (1944-1997) who wrote beautiful and despairing country songs.

Townes Van Zandt: Be Here to Love Me

After eight years of restauration, one of the greatest works of art ever made looks once again as its creators intended. The monumental tableau that is the Ghent Altarpiece, also known as the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, captures the viewer with its intense realism and complicated symbolism. A full immersion into this revolutionary work that looked forward to the modern world.

The monumental tableau that is the Ghent Altarpiece captures the viewer with its intense realism and complicated symbolism.

Secrets of the Ghent Altarpiece

Domino Effect tells the stories of four people in Germany, France and the West Bank, whose lives suddenly turn upside down when they go viral on social media. Their moment of fame – or infamy – sparks debated about terrorism, violence against women, freedom of expression and activism.

Domino Effect tells the stories of four people whose lives suddenly turn upside down when they go viral on social media.

Domino Effect

1974: ABBA’s victory at the Eurovision Song Contest was a taste of things to come. But a year later, when it was up to Sweden to host the Eurovision, the counterculture mobilised big time. On Channel 1 was the Eurovision and on Channel 2, a rival, parody version of the competition designed to mock ABBA and mainstream music as hopelessly capitalist and try hard.

ABBA

When it was up to Sweden to host the Eurovision, the counterculture mobilised big time in a bid to take down ABBA

"The Hare and the Tortoise" or "The Ant and the Cricket" - who has not heard of the fables of La Fontaine? 400 years later, the allegorical stories of the French court poet have lost none of their entertaining qualities and modernity. This elegant documentary looks at the life and work of the famous French fabulist, a source of inspiration for illustrators across the centuries.

A look at the life and work of the famous French fabulist, a source of inspiration for illustrators across the centuries.

Jean de la Fontaine and his Fables

Favourites

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Geneviève is one of the first female analysts of the DST, the French counterintelligence service. In the 1970s, she spent her days cataloging Soviet diplomats present in France. It's slow, meticulous work: this is the reality of intelligence gathering. She must also balance the demands of her career with the expectations of her husband and family.

Female Spies Tell All

To escape life as a housewife, Geneviève becomes a spy

Geneviève: Mum, Wife, Spy

Jonna Mendez and her husband Tony are CIA celebrities. In 1989, one of the CIA's best Russian moles was on the cusp of being discovered by the USSR. The Mendez couple were sent to Moscow to coordinate the extraction of the mole and his wife.

How Jonna Mendez and her husband snuck a prized asset right out from under the noses of USSR intelligence

Joanna, the CIA's Sweetheart

A few days before their marriage, Ludmila's fiancé admits to her that he works for the KGB and that he's leaving to go live in Argentina under a false identity. If she wants to stay with him, she has to become a spy as well. After two years of training, she joins him in Buenos Aires, where the couple tracks down SS officials who fled to Latin America after the fall of Nazi Germany. 

How Ludmila went from bride to Nazi hunter

Ludmila, KGB Agent

In the 1970s, Israel offered to accept Falacha Jews from Ethiopia who were facing persecution. But their government refused to let them leave. So Mossad agents set up a hotel as a cover for their underground people smuggling operation. They manage to evacuate thousands of Falacha Jews to the safety of Israel. Yola was the manager of this hotel.

The story of how Yola ran a hotel as a cover for a people smuggling operation

Yola and Hotel Mossad

In 1989, the American army invaded Panama. Manuel Noriega, Panama's dictator, went into hiding. Martha, a field officer at the Military Intelligence Agency, was sent to track him down.

The story of how one fateful visit to the hair salon brought down a dictator

Martha Versus Dictator Noriega

Gabriele fell in love with a Stasi officer and soon realised to keep him, she'd have to spy for him. But even after they broke up, she continued working for East Germany for ideological reasons, even refusing payment. She delivered thousands of documents to the East.

Gabriele fell in love with a Stasi officer and soon realised to keep him, she'd have to spy for him

Gabriele, the West German Stasi Mole

They aren't Bond Girls. They're girl Bonds.

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The bioeconomy claims to solve our time’s biggest problems: Climate change, species extinction, pesticides and depleted soils. But what does the term "bioeconomy" even mean?  And can it really solve these problems? This documentary takes a critical look at the green promises of science, industry and politics.

It claims to solve our biggest problems: Climate change, species extinction,and depleted soils. But what does "bioeconomy" even mean?

Bioeconomy: The Green Revolution

Second or third children born illegally during China’s One Child Policy are banned from marrying, having children or simply boarding a train. Condemned to a non-life, these ghost children do not officially exist according to the Chinese state. ARTE Reportage goes in search of these ‘Haihaizi’,  those children who should not have been born.

Arte Reportage

Second or third children born illegally during China’s One Child Policy are banned from marrying, having children or simply boarding a train. 

China's Ghost Children

284 Russian soldiers are still missing in Afghanistan from the Soviet-Afghan War, a conflict that ended in 1989. ARTE Reportage goes in search of these lost red army soldiers

Afghanistan: Lost Soldiers of the Red Army

The great earthquake of 1999 which caused 18,000 deaths still haunts the memory of the people of Istanbul. The Turkish city of some 15 million souls lies over an active fault line which seismologists believe is due for another earthquake. Is the city on the Bosphorus prepared?

Predicting Earthquakes on the Bosphorus

The great earthquake of 1999 caused 18,000 deaths and still haunts the memory of the people of Istanbul. The  city lies over an active fault line which seismologists believe is due for another tremble.

Trembling Istanbul

BASE jumpers and other extreme sport practitioners put themselves in mortal danger time and again. They are looking for the flow, a feeling of intense positive emotion that comes from their experience of jumping off mountains or tall buildings. But the price is high in BASE jumping where one in 60 jumps ends in death.

Why BASE Jumpers Risk Their Lives

Extreme sport practitioners put themselves in mortal danger time and again. But the price is particularly high in BASE jumping where one in 60 jumps ends in death.

The Thrill of Danger

In half a century, Greenpeace has become a key figure in the fight against climate change. Its shock tactics have hammered home its green message and made headlines. But in the era of social media, should this major international charity reinvent itself?

Greenpeace has been fighting to protect the environment for fifty years. We look back at the charity's impact

Fifty Years of Greenpeace

This documentary, co-written with the chairman of the parliamentary commission of inquiry, Georges Fenech, looks back on how lives could have been saved if decisions made at the head of French police and the government had been different.

On the horrific night of 13th November 2015, French bureaucracy contributed to the terrible death toll

Bataclan: The Paris Attacks

The historian Herodotus in the fifth century BC said that Egypt was "a gift from the Nile", and from the pharaohs to Nasser, the Nile has played a vital role in Egypt's fortunes. But Ethiopia now intends to remind leaders in Cairo that the Nile is not just an Egyptian river.

Ethiopia wants to remind Egypt that the Nile is not just Egyptian

Geopolitics of the Nile

Watani - My Homeland is the story of one family's struggle to survive the Syrian Civil War. Having lost her husband, the mother makes the heart achingly painful decision to leave her homeland, in search of safety and a brighter future for her children. Filmed over three years, this film chronicles the family's journey from the front-line in Aleppo, to the little town of Goslar in Germany. Escaping the chaos and terror of their war torn homeland becomes a catalyst for a different kind of struggle; the struggle to understand your past and accept your present, to adapt to a new life, to hold on to hope, and the idea of belonging to a homeland.

Watani - My Homeland is the story of one family's struggle to survive the Syrian Civil War. 

Watani: My Homeland

August 15 2021: The Taliban take Kabul. As the international coalition leaves after 20 years of intervention, there is chaos at the airport with Afghans trying desperately to get out. ARTE follows four Afghan civilians in the last few days before the fall of Kabul as their worst nightmares become reality.

Afghan Civilians in Danger

ARTE follows four Afghan civilians in the last few days before the fall of Kabul as their worst nightmares become reality.

Re: The Taliban in Kabul

In 2016, Colombia the country signed a historic peace treaty with the FARC rebels. This was intended to mend the deep rift in Colombian society, which has long been divided into two extreme camps: on the one hand the Marxist revolutionary guerrilla, on the other the ultra-conservative right and paramilitary militias. But the violence that has shaped the recent history of the country is far from over.

Colombia is still struggling to control violence from extreme groups and drug cartels

Colombia: A Nation in Revolt

Incisive investigative documentaries and reportage

In Depth

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A look at innovative green energy solutions around the world: Geothermal waters in Iceland, wind power and hydropower in Madeira, community-owned wind turbines on the Danish island of Samso and wave power is being harnessed on Orkney.

Good News From Our Planet

How Green Energy Can Work

Earth's drinking water resources are dwindling and to avoid shortages, scientists will have to come to the rescue.

Earth's drinking water resources are dwindling

Drinking Water in Danger

A look at how we are getting better at managing and conserving water supplies in drier parts of our planet like southern Spain, Israel and the desert city of Las Vegas.

Water

 A look at how we are getting better at managing and conserving water supplies in drier parts of our planet like southern Spain, Israel and the desert city of Las Vegas.

How can we preserve the natural environment whilst still benefiting from natural resources? In the Republic of the Congo a logging company is committed to sustainable resource management in order to preserve the biodiverse tropical rainforest, home to gorillas and other primates.

How to Preserve Nature

Climate Change: the Global Challenge

There Is No Planet B

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An expedition through France, discovering its wild nature and varied landscapes.

Deepest France

Living at high altitude in the Andes, the Q’eros people of Peru are perhaps the last guardians of Inca traditions. Their mix of Christianity and Andean beliefs fascinates photographer Franck Charton who has come to document the ‘Qoyllurit’i’, an impressive religious festival of processions, dances and prayer.

Travelling Photographers

Living at high altitude in the Andes, the Q’eros people of Peru are perhaps the last guardians of Inca traditions. 

Peru: People of the High Andes

Since 1963, a unique railway line has traversed Mauritania and its oceans of sand. The 2.5-kilometre-long desert train, with more than 100 wagons, was built to transport iron ore to the Atlantic coast and has become a vital means of transport for the desert inhabitants.

The 2.5-kilometre-long desert train, with more than 100 wagons, was built to transport iron ore to the Atlantic coast and has become a vital means of transport for the desert inhabitants.

Mauritania: The Desert Train

Kyoto has been at the epicentre of Japanese culture for over a thousand years. Along its traditional alleys lined with wooden houses and sliding doors, geisha can still be spotted in their kimono and obi. At once works of art and artists at work, they embody a uniquely Japanese way of life.

City Country Culture

Geisha are at once works of art and artists at work, and embody a uniquely Japanese way of life

Geisha, the Ladies of Kyoto

In the remote valleys of the Hindu Kush live the Kalash people, the smallest ethnic minority in Pakistan. With a distinct culture and polytheistic religion, they are said to be descendants of Alexander the Great’s troops. But modern life is reaching their valleys and their culture and way of live is under threat.

In the remote valleys of the Hindu Kush live the Kalash people, the smallest ethnic minority in Pakistan.

The Kalash of the Hindu Kush

From Peru to India to Papua New Guinea, photographer/ethnographers travel to the four corners of the globe to meet people and discover their traditions.

In France, the bungalow evokes holidays in the sun. In the UK, they are humble everyday dwellings for grandparents. But in Germany or the United States, they take on a very different form: they are a bourgeois luxury, a single-storey villa with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking nature. Inspired by the "bangalo", a traditional one-storey Bengal house open to the outside, this style was also a staple of colonial architecture. 

In the US and Germany, bungalows are a bourgeois luxury

Bungalow

Since ancient times Indigo’s rich blue has been in demand  
for clothes and other fabrics. Makers of natural indigo dye in rural Mexico follow an age-old and laborious process, but cheaper synthetic equivalents threaten this tradition.

Mexico's Indigo Artisans

Makers of natural indigo dye in rural Mexico follow an age-old and laborious process, but cheaper synthetic equivalents threaten this tradition.

The Guardians of Colour

Known as the Polish Manchester, Poland’s third city was an industrial powerhouse in the 19th century. Today the vast brick warehouses and factories are being renewed by artists and artisans.

Łódź - Poland's Other Capital

The Soča river valley in Slovenia saw bloody battles during the first world war. Witness to this violence was a young Ernest Hemingway whose experiences informed his novel A Farewell to Arms.

Slovenia: Hemingway's Farewell to Arms

The elusive and enigmatic nature of Prague is captured in Milan Kundera’s cult novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being. The Czech writer explores the philosophical vertigo of the difficult quest for freedom in human existence.

The elusive and enigmatic nature of Prague is captured in Milan Kundera’s cult novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being. 

Kundera's Prague

Travel & Adventure

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Photographer Renato Soares visits the Kalapalo people in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. Once a year they celebrate the Yamurikuma festival where women take control of the village and come together for dancing and sporting competitions.

Travelling Photographers (10/10)

Brazil: Dancing Women Warriors

Photographer Renato Soares goes to the heart of the Brazilian rainforest where he meets up with his friends of the Yawalapiti people. They are reviving the tradition of building canoes from the Jatoba tree.

Travelling Photographers (9/10)

Brazil: the Art of Jatoba Canoe Building

Travelling Photographers (8/10)

Photographer Franck Charton has visited Peru for the last twenty-five years and has seen the gradual assimilation of indigenous Amazon people.  The Ashaninka, however, have conserved their traditions.

Travelling Photographers (7/10)

Peru: Becoming an Ashaninka Woman

Ulla Lohmann returns to the Island of Ambrym in Vanuatu. Her good friend Gédéon has named his daughter after her as a symbol of their friendship and they are planning a ceremony to formalise this bond.

Travelling Photographers (6/10)

Vanuatu: The Little Girl from Ambrym

In Vanuatu every 15th of February the inhabitants of Lamakara celebrate the Cargo cult. Photographer Ulla Lohmann is invited to this unique ceremony which honours the American forces that defended the region from the Japanese in the Second World War.

Travelling Photographers (5/10)

Vanuatu – The American Cargo Cult

In the Rift Valley of Northern Tanzania reside the Hadzabe people who live off the land by hunting and gathering. Photographer Christophe Ratier joins them to visit their sacred rock, Dondobi, hidden in the Savannah.

Travelling Photographers (4/10)

Tanzania: The Last Hunter-Gatherers

In Tanzania the Kissongo are a clan of shepherds and warriors, part of the larger Maasai tribe. Photographer Christophe Ratier comes to visit to record the ceremony where a boy becomes a ‘Moran’, a warrior and protector of their lands.

Travelling Photographers (3/10)

Tanzania: Kombe Warriors

Photographer/ethnographers travel to the four corners of the globe to meet people and discover their traditions.