Le spie raccontano

Les Espionnes racontent - Martha

Spioninnen

Las espías se confiesan

Kobiety-szpiedzy

Female Spies Tell All

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.

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Martha Versus Dictator Noriega

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

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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.

Geneviève: Mum, Wife, Spy

To escape life as a housewife, Geneviève becomes a 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.

Joanna, the CIA's Sweetheart

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

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. 

Ludmila, KGB Agent

How Ludmila went from bride to Nazi hunter

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.

Yola and Hotel Mossad

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

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, the West German Stasi Mole

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

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Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong was the most densely populated area on Earth. 33,000 people settled on 2.5 hectares of land that was disputed between Chinese and British - meaning neither country asserted its authority there. This vertical slum was a hotbed of crime, but also full of factories, cheap shops and a strong community. This is a case for Crazy Borders. 

Kowloon: The Lawless Super City

This vertical slum was a hotbed of crime, but also full of factories, cheap shops and a strong community.

Crazy Borders

How can you misplace 80km2 of territory? In Mexico, the island of Bermeja had been on maps for generations. But when it came to actually finding the island... it seemed as if it had disappeared into thin air. And with the loss of Bermeja, Mexico lost a huge windfall of oil revenue in the Gulf of Mexico. This is a case for Crazy Borders. 

The Lost Island of Bermeja

Did you know that the Middle Ages is only a few kilometers off the French coast? A lord and his vassals live peacefully on the island of Sark where cars are not allowed. This is a case for Crazy Borders! 

Sark: A Modern Day Feudal Island

A lord and his vassals live peacefully on the island of Sark where cars are not allowed.

If a woman gave birth at the top of Mont Blanc, what nationality would the child be? For France, of course, the baby would be French. But not for Italy! The quarrel has been going on since 1860, when the divison of territory at the top of the mountain was unclearly defined... leaving each country to interpret the boundary more or less as they saw fit. This really is a case for Crazy Borders!

Mont Blanc: A High Altitude Dispute

If a woman gave birth at the top of Mont Blanc, what nationality would the child be?

Did you know that the last war between France and Spain took place in the 1970s? It was the war of the stop signs in Llívia, a Spanish town - but in France, in the Pyrenees. This bizarre quirk is due to a treaty signed centuries ago. This really is a case for Crazy Borders! 

Llivia, Between France and Spain

Did you know that the last war between France and Spain took place in the 1970s?

In the town of Baarle, a body of a woman was discovered in a house... but before police could intervene, first authorities had to call a surveyor. Baarle is crisscrossed over with a winding frontier between the Netherlands and Belgium, and police needed to know which country was responsible for investigating the killing. One half of the house was Dutch, the other half was Belgian. This is a case for Crazy Borders! 

Baarle, a Town of Two Nations

A city divided between Belgium and the Netherlands, and scene of a murder? Welcome to Baarle.

Can a state in the EU prohibit women from accessing its territory? In the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos women are not allowed in - even tourists - and any woman who enters could be arrested by police. It's a peninsula from another, bygone world and yet benefits from taxpayer funding (including female taxpayers, presumably...).

Mount Athos: Off Limits for Women

Can a state in the EU prohibit women from accessing its territory?

The former military base Camp Zeist in the Netherlands was once lent to Scotland. It was where the two men accused of orchestrating the Lockerbie bombings were put on trial. Libyans saw them as unfair victims. Meanwhile bereaved families demanded justice.

A Scottish Court in the Netherlands

The former military base Camp Zeist in the Netherlands was once lent to Scotland for the Lockerbie bombing trial

Did you know that people from Cyprus can cross the border into the UK every day? The British have a sort of autonomous state on the island: the Sovereign Base Areas. This is a case for Crazy Borders.

Dhekelia: Divided Between Cyprus and Britain

Did you know that people from Cyprus can cross the border into the UK every day?

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Bonuses and Extracts

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Kitschy trash or misunderstood genius? Italo disco was the euro sound of the 1980s that many loved and many hated. This documentary looks at how big names of the genre like Sabrina Salerno and duo Righeira conquered the charts.

The Sparkling Sound of the 1980s

Kitschy trash or misunderstood genius? Italo disco was the euro sound of the 1980s that many loved and many hated

Italo Disco

Israeli choreographers Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar present their show Chapter 3: The Brutal Journey of the Heart at Nuits de Fourvière.

Nuits de Fourvière

The Brutal Journey of the Heart by Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar

Martin Ritter is a German organic farmer, with land in both Germany and Ukraine. All of a sudden, his livelihood is located in a war zone. With the help of the municipality of Ostheim, he decides to send aid to Ukraine and to welcome refugees.

Martin Ritter is a German organic farmer, with land in both Germany and Ukraine. When war broke out, everything changed.

Re: Farming in a War Zone

Young Korean musicians have been taking the world of classical music by storm. A new generation are winning the big prizes and pursuing successful careers in Europe and around the world. What makes these Korean classical artists so good? A documentary following the rising stars of K-Classic

The Korean Musical Mystery

Generation K-Classics

The sea absorbs our carbon emissions, gives us plentiful food, and regulates our climate. A healthy sea is a healthy planet. But we can't stop stripping the sea of resources. Whether through overfishing or deep sea mining, humanity is destroying an ecosystem it can't live without.

Whether through overfishing or deep sea mining, humanity is destroying an ecosystem it can't live without.

Overexploited Oceans

Planting trees against climate change: Ireland is reforesting its territory by growing spruces. But it's not just about being green, it's about profit. Wood is a big business... much to the displeasure of local environmental activists who want Ireland's forestry policy changed. 

Growing trees to be harvested for wood is big business - but what are the environmental ramifications? 

Re: Money Grows on Trees

The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad sits between Lithuania and Poland. Once German East Prussia, it is now home to 1 million Russian citizens. What is life like in this small territory now practically cut off from its EU neighbours since the war in Ukraine began?

Kaliningrad: Putin's Enclave

The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad sits between Lithuania and Poland and is now practically cut off from its EU neighbours since the war in Ukraine began.

ARTE Reportage

According to the latest calculations by the OECD, South Korean women could live to be over 92 years old on average in 2070, and men over 89. That would be a world record. What's the secret?

South Korea: An Obsession With Health

South Koreans are on track to be the longest-lived people in the world

Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish perform at Hellfest 2022.

Hellfest 2022

Nightwish

Bulgarian DJ and techno producer KiNK is adored for his dynamic and spontaneous sets. Both playful and experimental, his sets brilliantly alternate house, techno and acid, peppered with jazzy improvisations. Electro sounds that evoke the characteristic frenzy of a rave.

Stone Techno 2022

Bulgarian DJ and techno producer KiNK is adored for his dynamic and spontaneous sets.

KiNK live

The trio led by Matthew Bellamy is one of the most explosive and creative forces in rock music over the past two decades. There is no one else quite like Muse. Be impressed by their committed performance at Berlin’s Tempelhof Sounds Festival.

Tempelhof Sounds 2022

 There is no one else quite like Muse. Be impressed by their committed performance at Berlin’s Tempelhof Sounds Festival.

Martha Versus Dictator Noriega

Female Spies Tell All

Female Spies Tell All

Female Spies Tell All

Geneviève: Mum, Wife, Spy

Female Spies Tell All

Female Spies Tell All

Joanna, the CIA's Sweetheart

Female Spies Tell All

Female Spies Tell All

Ludmila, KGB Agent

Female Spies Tell All

Female Spies Tell All

Yola and Hotel Mossad

Female Spies Tell All

Martha Versus Dictator Noriega

Female Spies Tell All

Female Spies Tell All

Gabriele, the West German Stasi Mole

Female Spies Tell AllMartha Versus Dictator Noriega

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