Generation Africa

Les histoires de Mary Monday

Mary Monday's Radio

Radio der Hoffnung - Mary Monday

Mary Monday is a journalist for a Ugandan radio station. With only her cell phone and a portable solar-powered charger, she records, edits and reports on the life stories of the refugees in Uganda's largest camp.

Mary works for a Ugandan radio station. She reports on the life of the refugees in the largest camp in Uganda.

Transactions tells a story of Zimbabwean migration through a family divided by the circumstances of a failed economy. Three siblings, Frank, Miles and Portia, sustain their family through remittances while longing for the country and family they left behind. While the fourth sibling, Chrysthle, who is still in Zimbabwe, is frustrated by her inability to help financially, even though she has a full-time job. Their mother, MaMlilo, is a conduit of all the family’s challenges in hyper-inflationary Zimbabwe. Everyone who needs money comes to her in the hopes that she can help them financially. With each monetary transaction, expectations are raised on both sides.

Transactions

Transactions tells a story of Zimbabwean migration through a family divided by the circumstances of a failed economy.

Katanga is a bustling district of Addis Ababa where many locals dream of making it big in the capital. Enkehone, a street vendor from the countryside, lives in Amele Mamo's makeshift hostel. Both are part of this struggling community on the brink of extinction, as city developers edge ever closer to their derelict neighbourhood.

Katanga Nation

A struggling community on the brink of extinction

Fati didn't want to go to Europe, it was her husband's dream. Unemployed, the TV repairman left their village in Ghana to try to make it to Europe, but didn't make it any further than Libya. He was arrested in Tripoli, and asked Fati to join him. She went, and when she fell pregnant, the couple decided to make one last bid at reaching the West. They made it to Italy and were sent to a migrant camp. It was there that Fati broke. She asked to be repatriated. But she paid a heavy price: her husband divorced her, and her community considers her a failure.

Fati's Choice

After several months in Italy in a migrant camp, a young Ghanaian mother decided to return home

Manuela is smart and enthusiastic at school, but sad at home. She's eleven years old and preparing her first school certificate. She lives in Edéa, Cameroon, with her grandparents who do not understand why their granddaughter is unhappy when she wants for almost nothing. Except for her parents. They left when she was just four years old, to go work in Italy. Even if she understands it was for the sake of her future, Manuela still keenly feels their abandonment.

Njel and The Separation

Manuela's parents left her behind to find jobs in Europe, and the 11 year old is heartbroken by their absence

"I was 5. I was 13. I was 16." Originally from Fana, Mali, Mariam was sexually abused by a neighbour, then by her brother-in-law, and first cousin. During the last attack she tried to fight off her abuser, and her shoulder was injured. Dancing awakens the old pain in her shoulder and reminds her of the assault: but dancing is also how she reclaims her body for herself. Pregnant with her first child, she takes part in a workshop during which, with the support of the supervising choreographer and the other dancers, she reckons with her painful past.

Stay Upright

How an abuse survivor in Burkina Faso uses dance to heal herself

In Valencia, Spain, Ouloulou, Baldé and Doucouré, three young migrants from West Africa, speak daily to their marabout, who tells them the rituals to follow to obtain legal residency status. Meanwhile, in Mali, Bakary is preparing for the second time to reach Europe, also following the recommendations of his marabout.

In Valencia, Spain, three young migrants from West Africa talk daily to their marabout.

Taamaden

Paabi, 23, returned from Libya after his second attempt to make it to Europe. He's now trying to get 1,000 euros from a local NGO to invest in his own business - but by eschewing the rules. 

Paabi, 23, returned from Libya after trying to make it to Europe for the second time.

The Price to Stay

"People tell stories, but when it comes to theirs, they either lose their memory or decide to shut up." Born in 1994 in the Democratic Republic of Congo,  Akili Nadege had to leave her homeland for Rwanda, and then Burundi. She's suffered prison, torture, a murdered father and a torn homeland, and suffered isolation and loneliness. In this intimate documentary essay, the director Claudine Ndimbira had the young woman tell her testimony through a group of readers. These men and women who know neither Akili nor her past, but they will develop with her, over the course of reading her story, a deep bond of empathy.

Lend Me Your Voice

A choir of strangers tells the difficult testimony of a young Congolese refugee

Every year, over a hundred of the best law students from all over Africa meet in a different capital city to take part in the renowned African human rights competition "Plädoyer". For a week, these young aspiring lawyers play the roles of prosecution and defense in a fictional human rights case, with each hoping to take home the trophy.

Law students from across Africa play the roles of prosecution and defense in a fictional human rights case.

The Mooting Competition

Mahad was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, known for its Little Mogadishu, in the Eastleigh district. This colorful district is actually the second largest Somali city in the world. Mahad and his friends are called “Somali Sijui”, literally “the Somalis who don't know”. They are Somalis who are as much Kenyan as they are Somali, in search of their roots and identity in the cultural melting pot of Nairobi.

Almost Somali

In Nairobi, a popular social media content creator is working on films about the Somali identity

In southeast Nigeria, Mercy hopes to join her fiancé, who lives in Dubai. But the marriage negotiations between the two families over how big her dowry should be create tensions and put her dream future with her fiancé in Dubai on the line. 

In southeast Nigeria, Mercy hopes to join her fiancé, who lives in Dubai.

Ime Ego, The Bride Price

Adama and Awa, twin sisters, are trying to track down their father, a Burkinabè who left them in Senegal when they were children. Their journey takes them to Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso, in search of the other families he abandoned along the way.

Twin sisters Adama and Awa are trying to track down their father, who left them when they were small.

Footsteps of a Migrant

In central Benin, during the dry season, which is becoming increasingly harsh due to climate change, herders migrate en masse with their livestock. As this period approaches, herder Boube, worries about conflicts with farmers over water and space.

Leave to Live

In the footsteps of the Mauritanian traffickers who organise crossing to take west Africans to Europe. Are they helping these people on a dangerous journey or are they the heirs of the slave traders of the 16th century, at the time of the transatlantic slave trade?

Business as Usual

In the footsteps of the Mauritanian traffickers who organise crossing to take west Africans to Europe.

Generation Africa - Stories of Migration

Working her way out of poverty as a sex worker all while supporting her family in Romania. That’s Andrada’s goal. She speaks confidently and openly about her work in a red-light district in Germany’s Ruhr region.  
This programme by German channel ARD is part of The European Collection, a joint initiative of European public media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Portrait of a sex worker in the Ruhr region, Germany.  

Hard Life – I sell sex for money

Cosmetic surgery is becoming more popular in Europe and the world. We talk about the plastic surgery craze with French plastic surgeons Mauricio de Maio and Oren Marco and philosopher Heather Widdows.

We talk about the plastic surgery craze with French plastic surgeons Mauricio de Maio and Oren Marco and philosopher Heather Widdows.

Crazy for Plastic Surgery

“You can let yourself go and give up, or you can keep fighting.” That is Daniel’s motto. After many years spent incarcerated and homeless, he is now a magazine salesman and is managing to get by.

This programme by German channel ARD is part of The European Collection, a joint initiative of European public media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Better than prison. Portrait of a street magazine seller.

Hard Life – I spent half my life in prison

Mustafa is 28 years old and grew up in the Ratingen-West district in Düsseldorf, his “hood”. It’s an area with high unemployment rates and is home to people from many different nationalities, both a melting pot and socially deprived. Mustafa now runs a kiosk in the middle of the district, on Berliner Platz. Between high-rises, friendships and poverty, we discover his life.
This programme by German channel ARD is part of The European Collection, a joint initiative of European public media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Portrait of a kiosk owner in a socially deprived area of Düsseldorf, Germany.

Hard Life – I work in the middle of the ghetto

Djimé always knew he would end up in prison. Now aged 29, he’s been free for one year, after spending half a life incarcerated. He recounts his experiences while Arnaud and Hervé, two prison guards, manage the new arrivals at Varennes-le-Grand penitentiary’s reception hall. This is a glimpse at what it’s like to take your first steps in the often-overcrowded French prison system.
This documentary series by France.tv Slash is part of The European Collection, a joint initiative of European public media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Djimé and the arrivals ward

Djimé, who spent half his life behind bars, talks about his incarceration while prison guards Arnaud and Hervé man the arrivals ward.

Prisons (1/5)

It’s not always easy to escape the setting we’re born into. It definitely wasn’t easy for Mikael, AKA Doctor Rafiq, who expresses the precarity of his situation through his lyrics. His dream is to one day become a successful rapper, rather than spend his time hanging in the park with his friends.
This programme by German channel ARD is part of The European Collection, a joint initiative of European public media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SSR SRG and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Portrait of a young rapper from Dortmund, Germany.

Hard Life – I dream of a career as a rapper

First came bankruptcy, then the separation from his partner. For Jan, one thing led to another until he suddenly found himself living on the streets of Cologne. He has been homeless for four years, without much hope to return to a normal life. The film accompanies him through his daily grind, between local food banks and searching for a place to sleep.
This programme by German channel ARD is part of The European Collection, a joint initiative of European public media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Portrait of a homeless person in Cologne, Germany.

Hard Life – I live on the streets

With May the 9th Europe Day, Karambolage asks what Europeans living in France and Germany miss from their home countries.

European Expats in France and Germany

Karambolage

Before, it was simple: there was selfishness or altruism. Either we got rich or we helped others. But now these binary divisions are fading. A supporter of effective altruism, the young philosopher William MacAskill proposes to go even further with "arithmetic altruism". This is, applying the concept of profitability to charitable contributions.

Earth of Women helps women and girls to escape the vicious cycle of poverty, forced marriage and prostitution

Square Artist: Sibel Kekilli

Bonuses and Extracts

Discover more

At once seductive and dangerous, historical myth and male fantasy, the femme fatale represents both erotic promise and a death trap to the male observer. Conceived at the end of the 19th century in the works of Gustave Moreau, Franz von Stuck and Lovis Corinth, the femme fatale was completely reinvented in the 20th century by many female artists.

Seductive and dangerous, the figure of the femme fatale in art was completely reinvented in the 20th century.

The Femme Fatale in Art

Tensions between Moldova and Russia are escalating over the breakaway region of Transnistria, an investigation on how prepared Europe is for another summer of wildfires, and a report from the Dissident Club in Paris.

Tensions in Moldova / WildFires in Europe

Tensions between Moldova and Russia are escalating with street protests and controversy over Russian secret documents.

ARTE Europe Weekly

Behind his polite exterior lies a formidable leader with a ruthless character, ready to do anything to make China the world's leading power by the People’s Republic’s centenary in 2049. This well-documented portrait of the Chinese president gives an unprecedented insight into his politics and shows how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

A portrait of the Chinese president giving an unprecedented insight into his politics and showing how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

The New World of Xi Jinping

Highly influential indie rockers from Boston, famous for such tracks as Debaser and Where is my mind perform in Paris as part of a European tour for their latest album Doggerel.

Legendary and highly influential indie rockers perform in Paris as part of their European tour.

Pixies - Live at the Paris Olympia

The decisive moment in 1618 that triggered the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants and changed the course of European history.

The decisive moment in 1618 that triggered the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants. 

The Defenestration of Prague

Eclectic American singer-songwriter Ben Harper performs from his latest album, 2022’s Bloodline Maintenance. Filmed at Ground Control in Paris.

Ground Control

Eclectic American singer-songwriter Ben Harper performs from his latest album, 2022’s Bloodline Maintenance.

Ben Harper

At first glance, it's an image of innocence. A motherly milkmaid pouring out the milk in a kitchen, preparing snacks from our childhoods. But there's actually far more to her than meets the eye.

The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer

A famous image that at first glance looks totally innocent, but is in actual fact full of innuendo

Look but Don't Touch

An exclusive investigation into the Russian paramilitary organisation Wagner, headed by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. 2,500 documents were leaked from Prigozhin’s servers by anti-Putin hackers, shedding light on this secretive group of mercenaries, a key element in the war in Ukraine.

Data Sources

An exclusive investigation into the Russian paramilitary organisation Wagner, headed by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. 

The Prigozhin Papers

Lyubov, which means love in Russian, is 80 years old and lives alone on the shores of Lake Baikal. She bears witness to this wonder of nature and possesses and unbreakable bond with the world’s deepest lake in Siberia. Her life here is hard, especially in winter, but she would not live anywhere else.

On the shores of Lake Baikal, an old woman lives alone in a beautiful place that is dear to her heart.

The Old Woman and the Lake

Many governments and organisations are wary of their employers using the social media TikTok. Does the Chinese company really serve Xi Jinping’s regime?

TikTok: A Chinese Threat?

Mapping the World Essentials

Music director of the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru takes his musicians on a tour of his homeland, Romania. A tour stopping in Timişoara, his hometown. On the programme: The Piano Concerto No. 2 by Johannes Brahms with soloist Simon Trpčeski.

Concert from the European Capital of Culture 2023

Conductor Cristian Măcelaru and the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne perform Brahms and Klaus Lang in Romania.

Cristian Mācelaru in Timişoara

France’s President Emmanuel Macron forced through an unpopular reform of the country’s pension system – and the French aren’t having it. We travel to Romania to find out about a possible law to ban gambling adverts, and look at how to protect Europeans from addictions.

France’s pension reform / Gambling / Photography

Protests erupt across France in response to the government’s pension reform bill, and we explore gambling across Europe.

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.

Good News From Our Planet

In El Salvador, gangs have terrorised the country for decades. But when Nayib Bukele was elected president in 2019, becoming the youngest head of state in Latin America, he vowed to take back control from the gangs by installing a state of emergency.

El Salvador: The coolest dictator in the world?

When Nayib Bukele was elected president in 2019, he vowed to take back control from the gangs by installing a state of emergency.

ARTE Reportage

Far from the metropolitan centre of Tel Aviv, Sderot show another side of Israel. One with high-levels of social deprivation and strong support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s controversial judicial reforms.

Sderot - The Other Israel

Far from the metropolitan centre of Tel Aviv, Sderot is a different Israel with strong support for Netanjahu and high levels of social deprivation.

In Peru, every year, the people who live in remote mountain villages gather to build the Inca bridge of Q'eswachaka, a traditional structure of woven grass, and the last of its kind. This ancestral know-how inherited from the Incas, and the enduring spirit of community, enables the villagers to pull off a stunning feat of engineering, time and again.

In Peru, every year, villagers build the Inca bridge of Q'eswachaka from woven grass, and the last of its kind.

The Inca Grass Bridge of Q'eswachaka

With all the religious wars, the 17th century was a tense time in Europe. And in art one theme caught everyone’s imagination: the Virgin Mary.

Assumption of the Virgin - Nicolas Poussin

Look But Don't Touch

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli gaols have fathered around one hundred children over the last ten years. Their sperm is smuggled out of prison to be used in IVF with their partners.

Israel-Palestine: Secret Babies of the Intifada

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli gaols have fathered around one hundred children over the last ten years.

The literary source for Richard Strauss’s opera immortalizing the degeneracy of Herodes Antipas, King of Judea, and his step-daughter Salome, was supplied by Oscar Wilde. It tells of Herodes, who is keeping the prophet Jochanaan captive inside a cistern. Salome tries to seduce him and on being rebuffed, forces her stepfather to serve her the prophet’s head on a silver platter.

Directed by Christof Loy in Helsinki

Rejected by the prophet Jochanaan, Salome forces her abusive stepfather to exact revenge.

Generation Africa - Stories of Migration

Generation Africa

Transactions

Generation Africa

Katanga Nation

Generation Africa

Fati's Choice