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How did the radical right reach the mainstream of American politics? This documentary shows how over forty years, an organised minority has lobbied to gain key influence in the judiciary, the media and in politics, culminating in the return of Donald Trump as presidential candidate in 2024.

How has the radical right reached the mainstream of American politics? 

USA: Rise of the Radical Right

Current Highlights

Donald Trump has decisively won the American presidential elections. But what will four more years of Donald Trump mean for the United States and the world? Our collection of documentaries and reportage on a divided nation.

Coverage and insight on the US elections

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are neck and neck in polls for the  US presidential election on 5 November 2024.

USA 2024: Presidential Elections

For decades there has been bloody fighting between Israelis and Palestinians. Numerous peace negotiations in recent years have failed, with only occasional fragile ceasefires. On Saturday, 7 October, hundreds of Israelis were killed and thousands injured in a Hamas attack on Israel. Israel's counter-attack has led to over 35,000 in Gaza dying.

Focus on the long-running Israel-Palestine conflict and its wider repercussions.

Israel-Palestine: A Never-Ending Conflict

Telling the story of an image: From its creation to its impact on our vision of the world, how can we explain its power? The World in Images offers an interpretation that asks us to look beyond the first glance.

The World in Images offers an interpretation of images that asks us to look beyond the first glance.

The World in Images

Then complex world of geopolitics broken down into ten minute, bite-sized chunks. You'll never sound uninformed at the dinner table ever again.

Mapping the World

On 24 February, Russian armed forces invaded Ukraine. We follow the war day by day and provide background information with special insights, reports and documentaries.

War in Ukraine

Many of these journalists didn't expect to become war reporters. But then their homeland became a conflict zone. As armies picked up guns, they picked up their cameras.

A look at daily life in Ukraine, as filmed by Ukrainian journalists

Dispatches From Ukraine: Local Journalists Report

Collections

Playlists

More and more city dwellers are getting a taste for foraging for food in the concrete jungle. They harvest herbs by the roadside and pick wild vegetables from cracks in the asphalt. From Brighton to Berlin, we meet the urban foragers who are making tasty and nutritious meals out of what they find in the streets and parks of major cities.

 From Brighton to Berlin, we meet the urban foragers who are making tasty and nutritious meals out of what they find in the streets.

Re: Urban Foraging

With two billion active monthly users, Instagram has conquered the world providing a photo-sharing platform for our ever more visual culture. This documentary examines how Instagram, launched in 2010 and bought by Facebook in 2012, has changed modern society: The app has created the influencer, transformed advertising, media and fashion but is also criticised for a rise in mental health problems in young people.

Instagram has disrupted advertising, fashion and fame. But has it turned its users into narcissists?

Instagram: Social Media for Narcissists

In the Tenderloin neighbourhood of San Francisco, thousands of homeless drug addicts are in thrall to Fentanyl, an opioid painkiller 50 times more potent than heroin. With 700 drug-related deaths every year, the Californian city is in a drug death spiral with dead bodies regularly found on the street.

USA: San Francisco Ravaged by Fentanyl

With 700 drug-related deaths every year, the Californian city has a huge problem with Fentanyl and other drugs.

ARTE Reportage

In 2014, Islamic State fighters massacred thousands of Yazidis in northern Iraq, abducting women and children and turning them into slaves. Many of the survivors later found refuge in Germany. How are the Yazidis who survived the massacres faring in Europe?

10 years after the genocide of the Yazidis in northern Iraq: What has happened to survivors who fled to Germany?

Re: Yazidis in Germany and Iraq

The eastern mediterranean island is a top tourist destination but also, due to its proximity to the Middle East, welcomes refugees from Israel and Palestine and acts as a base for humanitarian operations.

Cyprus welcomes refugees from the war in Gaza and acts as a base for humanitarian missions.

Re: Cyprus and the War in Gaza

Over 60,000 pregnancies have resulted from rape in the 14 American states where abortion has been banned since 2022, even in cases of non-consensual sex. The right to abortion is still a deep dividing line in American society and a major issue at this year’s presidential elections.

USA: Abortion - The Price of Pain

The right to abortion is still a deep dividing line in American society and a major issue at this year’s presidential elections.

More and more women are taking up the male-dominated sport of motorcycling. Gone are the macho days: Nowadays women bikers are celebrating sisterhood and giving free rein to their passion at 100% female motorbike meet-ups and festivals.

Gone are the macho days: More and more women are getting into the male-dominated world of motorcycling.

Re: Women Bikers in the Fast Lane

More

Investigation and reports

In a slickly produced video posted on social media, Volodymyr Zelensky hails the delivery of F16 fighter jets to Ukraine. But why this public display from the Ukrainian president?

Why does Volodymyr Zelensky hail the delivery of F16 fighter jets to Ukraine in a slick video posted on social media?

FIghter Jets to Ukraine

On the one hand, Iran, an Islamic republic led by an ayatollah, sworn enemy of Israel and the USA, with a mostly Shiite population. On the other is Saudi Arabia, a hereditary monarchy whose inhabitants are 90% Sunni. This episode focuses on two neighbours whose rivalry shapes the balance of power in the Middle East...

Two countries whose rivalry shapes the balance of power in the Middle East...

Iran & Saudi Arabia: Neighbours and Rivals

Artist Émeric Lhuisset's reinterpretation of a famous 1891 painting is part of a memory war between Russia and Ukraine. His photograph has gone viral: Ukrainians have appropriated it in their ongoing struggle with Russia.

Ukraine: A War of Symbols

Artist Émeric Lhuisset's reinterpretation of a famous 1891 painting is part of a media war between Russia and Ukraine.

The United Kingdom, with its four constituent nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, has seen a number of crises in recent years with the Scottish independence movement, Brexit, and tensions in the Royal family weakening the UK’s unique political system.

UK: A Disunited Kingdom

The United Kingdom, with its four constituent nations, has been shaken by a number of crises in recent years.

No other state epitomises the American Dream more than California. Home of the tech revolution and highly fertile farmland, the Golden State has a lot of advantages but is also vulnerable: Earthquakes, wildfires and severe inequality threaten America’s most populous state.

The Californian Model

Home of the tech revolution and highly fertile farmland, the Golden State has a lot of advantages but is also vulnerable.

During the first televised debate of the 2024 US presidential elections, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris laid our their clearly different visions for foreign policy. Whereas Harris called for multilateralism with America’s allies, Trump set out his transactional ‘America First’ approach.

Trump-Harris: Opposing World Views

During the first debate of the presidential elections, Trump and Harris laid our their clearly different visions for foreign policy

Mapping the World Essentials

The world-famous Apple logo is embedded deeply into our everyday lives and the collective imagination. And the brand is on a legal crusade to own all images of apples on the planet.

Apple: The Power of a Logo

The world-famous Apple logo is embedded deeply into our everyday lives and the collective imagination.

Insights

The 2024 presidential election looks like a dead heat between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. The swing state of Wisconsin is a microcosm of the United States and one of the major battlegrounds for the tight contest. No surprise that the Republicans held their convention here and both Republicans and Democrats are campaigning hard to win the mid-west state. What do the people of Wisconsin want? And who will win the state this time?

The swing state of Wisconsin is a microcosm of the USA and one of the major battlegrounds for the presidential elections.

US Elections: Showdown in Wisconsin

A young actor decides to spread social messages to the people of Afghanistan using laughter: a dramatic approach in a region plagued by bombs, threats and disasters. But on August 15th, 2021, Afghanistan falls into the hands of the Taliban and Karim finds himself in extreme danger. He receives death threats and is forced to abandon what he loves most: his art.

The Afghan Charlie Chaplin

A young actor decides to become the Afghan Charlie Chaplin: Karim Asir wants to change his country using pantomime and humour 

Laughing in Afghanistan

The Olympic Games puts the host country in the spotlight and Paris 2024 is no different. This major event is a security and logistical challenge as well as a golden opportunity for nations to project soft power across the world.

The Olympic Games puts the host city and nation in the spotlight and Paris 2024 is no different.

Geopolitics of the Olympic Games

Category Banner (ACT)

14-year-old Matas is sent to a rehabilitation centre for adults on a remote farm in the Lithuanian countryside. Here he is confronted with a strictly regimented daily routine and has to live together with addicts and former prisoners. The male community does not always get along, yet is united in dealing with trauma and addiction.

14-year-old Matas is sent to a rehabilitation centre for adults on a remote farm in the Lithuanian countryside. 

Murmuring Hearts

Everywhere is Europe, it seems, housing is becoming more expensive and more of a burden on households. Why is this? And what solutions are there?

Why Is Housing So Expensive?

Everywhere is Europe, it seems, housing is becoming more expensive and more of a burden on households.

42: The Answer to Almost Everything

In 1987, Bashir Abu Rabiah worked as an assistant on pyrotechnics and special effects on the film Rambo III. In this instalment of the Hollywood saga, Sylvester Stallone crosses the desert on horseback and fights alone against Soviet occupying forces in Afghanistan. The film, shot in the Negev desert in Israel, had far-reaching consequences for the Bedouin population.

Revisiting the filming locations of 1988’s Rambo III ‘rented out’ by the Israeli army to Hollywood.

Under a Blue Sun

In France, a child is killed by its mother every ten days. By giving a voice to some of these women and their families, this documentary takes a fresh look at a phenomenon that is still taboo.

Cécile killed her son. How can we (better) understand such an act?

Mothers Who Kill their Children

In the late 1990s, Julia "Butterfly" Hill impressed the world with her extraordinary tenacity in the service of a great cause: For 738 days, the 23-year-old activist camped at the top of a Californian sequoia tree, without coming down, to prevent the destruction of a thousand-year-old patch of forest. Her victory against deforestation has become a source of inspiration for generations of radical young women, outraged by the climate crisis.
 In the wake of the climate strikes launched by Greta Thunberg in 2018, campaigns that are spreading around the world are often led by young women: Anuna De Wever and Adélaïde Charlier in Belgium, Léna Lazare in France, Luisa Neubauer in Germany, Mitzi Jonelle Tan in the Philippines and Leah Namugerwa in Uganda. Environmental activism is also a form of feminism for them.

Inspired by the struggles of Greta Thunberg and Julia 'Butterfly' Hill, young women are speaking out against climate change.

Sisters in Arms

Carine Ducreux, 58, has been doing one odd job after another ever since she was a young girl: She’s worked as a waitress, a factory worker and a cleaning lady before investing all her savings in a snack van. For the past ten years, she has been plying the roads of the south of France selling chips, burgers, and paninis to tourists and locals alike. But as her van gives up the ghost, what is she to do now? A very personal documentary filmed by Carine’s son, Yann Ducreux.

Carine’s chip van is on its last legs… What is she to do now?

Carine and the Chip Van

Biniam Girmay is a promising young cyclist from Eritrea. He dreams of taking part in the Tour de France one day. Despite all the obstacles in his way, Biniam climbs the world rankings step by step and competes in races in Europe. Will he manage to join a top team for the pinnacle of competitive cycling?

Cycling Ace

 Will the promising young cyclist from Eritrea manage to join a top team for the Tour de France?

Biniam Girmay

Switching viewpoints

Kids

In Leicester, England, the Unglamorous Music Project aims to get older women, in their sixties and seventies, into playing music. They have 66 days to learn an instrument, write a song and perform in public.

ARTE Info Plus

In Leicester, England, the Unglamorous Music Project aims to get older women, in their sixties and seventies, into playing music.

Granny Punk in Leicester

Mariusz would never have become the artist he is now if Poland had not joined the European Union. He now creates striking murals in cities all over the world.

Europe of Artists

Mariusz Waras, Street Artist

In a career spanning more than half a century, Alain Delon made over 80 films, thrilling audiences and critics alike with his performances. .As the world-famous French actor passed away on 18 August at the age of 88, we say goodbye to a legend of cinema.

As the world-famous French actor passed away on 18 August at the age of 88, we say goodbye to a legend of cinema.

Alain Delon: Legend of French Cinema

JRR Tolkien’s literary works have fascinated the Italian far-right. His intricate and imaginary world where elves, hobbits and orcs live together without ever mixing coincides with the values they defend. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made several references to Tolkien during her campaign and most recently, opened a new exhibition about the author at Rome’s National Gallery.

Italy’s far-right government has a growing interesting in shaping the country’s cultural institutions.

The far-right and Italy’s cultural scene

The portrait photographer Stéphane Lavoué describes 11 photo shoots with personalities from the fields of politics, art and sport. He’s not here to talk about the medium of photography. Instead, he describes every minute – and sometimes every second - of portrait creation.

The portrait photographer Stéphane Lavoué describes 11 photo shoots with personalities from the fields of politics, art and sport.

A Photographic Pause: Florent Manaudou

Publishing house Marotta&Cafiero left the upmarket streets of Naples to set up shop in a crime-riddled neighbourhood. That was back in 2010, when the mafia reigned supreme and drug trafficking was rife. In 2017, the publishing house decided to open a book shop in the neighbourhood, which has flourished ever since.

Known locally as “book dealers”, this Naples publishing house has flourished in a neighbourhood riddled with crime.

Books over bullets in Naples

Europe as a source of inspiration: Meeting artists from across the continent whose works spring from Europe’s cultural diversity.

Through the eyes of artists

Chinese men are suffering. There are simply not enough women to go around since China implemented its one-child policy in 1979.  This means that 1 in 5 Chinese men will not be able to find a partner in five years’ time.

Chinese men are suffering. There are simply not enough women to go around since China implemented its one-child policy in 1979. 

China: Men without Women

Diwa is only 11 years old. She is one of the thousands of victims of a crime that is hardly reported on in Europe but which is causing havoc in the Philippines. She was raped by her parents, live on the internet, to satisfy the desires of foreign paedophiles who paid for the spectacle of her rape, giving instructions from a distance.

Philippines: Child Rape Online

Thousands of children in the Philippines have been abused, live on the internet. Report on a shocking crime.

When it comes to defence, Europe is dependent on the US. But now Donald Trump will be returning to the White House in 2025, and he’s threatened to pull out of NATO in the past. Meanwhile, the military threat from Russia is growing. Can Europe learn to defend itself without America?

Can Europe defend itself alone?

After Trump's election victory, Europe is increasingly worried about being left to fend for itself against Russia.

ARTE Europe Weekly

We live in a digital world surrounded with online ads where tech giants make huge profits from targeted advertising. But what may seem like a harmless way to keep the internet free means silicon valley bosses getting rich from rising online hatred, misinformation and dangerous scams.

How Online Advertising Threatens Democracy

Unregulated online advertising has led to tech firms getting rich on the back of misinformation and rising hatred.

The Click Trap

Pre-Christmas discount shopping season is here. Black Friday has turned into a month-long shopping spree, combining with Singles Day and Cyber Monday to become an entire Black November. Europe’s frenzy of overconsumption damages the environment and often rips off buyers, but is also an opportunity to save money. Why are we so sucked in by shopping deals? Is Black Friday just one big fraud day?

Black Friday: A good deal or a rip-off?

The US holiday has taken over Europe – but it might not be as good a bargain as it seems.

Faced with the urgent need to tackle climate change, the sustainable finance sector is offering investment opportunities in ecological responsible companies. But are these green financial products really that green? An in-depth documentary on the greenwashing phenomenon.

To tacke climate change, green finance is held up as a solution. But is it really that green?

Can Sustainable Finance Save the World?

During his term in office, President Trump overturned the principles of American foreign policy and implemented his America first" doctrine whereas President Biden sought to restore traditional American multilateralism. Which foreign policy will prevail after the US Elections?

US Foreign Policy under Biden and Trump

A comparison of Donald Trump's and Joe Biden's approach to international relations.

In the face of the climate crisis, private jets are a travel solution that serves the few and yet affects the many. And yet, order books are full as these jets become increasingly popular, including in Belgium. This investigation delves into this exclusive world, where the watchwords are comfort, speed and discretion. What are the most popular destinations? What’s the impact on the environment, and what are the safety risks?

This programme by Belgian broadcaster RTBF is part of the European Collection, a joint initiative from European public service media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR, RTBF and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

In the face of the climate crisis, private jets are a solution that serves the few and yet affects us all.

Private jets, public problem

In eastern Poland, on the border with Belarus, the Bialowieza Forest is at the heart of an intense migratory and geopolitical crisis. Despite the change of government last year, the whole area and its inhabitants are in turmoil as the Polish authorities try to militarise the border and stop migrant crossings.

In eastern Poland, on the border with Belarus, the Bialowieza Forest is at the heart of an intense migratory and geopolitical crisis. 

Re: Migration Crisis on the Polish Border

In the collective imagination, international adoption evokes images of children being saved from a life of destitution in poorer countries by being adopted by families in Europe or America. But the reality that has emerged is one of child trafficking, falsified documents and governments around the world turning a blind eye.

Many internationally adopted children are realising that they were illegally separated from their biological parents.

Adoption International: A Global Scandal

Mallorca is a major holiday destination for Germans and other Europeans where alcohol-fuelled partying is commonplace. In an effort to control anti-social behaviour, off-licences must close early and outdoor drinking on the beach has been curtailed. How are locals, the police, and tourists adapting to these changes?

How are stricter alcohol laws affecting the legendary party scene in Mallorca in summer 2024?

Re: Alcohol Fuelled Tourism in Mallorca

Elon Musk was photographed at Auschwitz in January 2024. The billionaire, criticised for his anti-Semitic remarks, chose this highly symbolic location to improve his image. But was it a genuine mea culpa?

Elon Musk at Auschwitz

Was Elon Musk's visit to Auschwitz after his anti-Semitic tweets an admission of guilt or another publicity stunt?

Giorgi has no thoughts of leaving Tusheti, he loves his home in the Georgian Caucasus. The villages in the high mountains can only be reached by car for five months of the year. And there are hardly any jobs or young people left. Horse guide Girogi wants to bring new life to the area with adventure tourism.

Horse guide Girogi wants to bring new life to his mountainous region with adventure tourism.

Re: The Horse Guide of Georgia

Every day in Beirut, missiles are raining down on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, as the Israeli army seeks to destroy Hezbollah's command centres and weapons stores, hidden in the heart of a district that is home to hundreds of thousands of people.

Lebanon: A Firestorm

Every day in Beirut, Israeli missiles are raining down on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital

Listed as part of the intangible cultural heritage of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2020, the refreshment kiosks of the Ruhr region are fighting for their survival. Of the 20,000 or so establishments that were once in operation, only 2,000 remain today. But their owners are determined to fight the decline.

The humble refreshment kiosks of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia are fighting for survival.

Re: Germany's Disappearing Kiosks

Parkinson's is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, after Alzheimer’s. Sufferers have to deal with radical changes in their everyday lives after diagnosis. But how can they fight this invisible enemy and regain some control over their own bodies?

How can sufferers of Parkinson’s fight the neurodegenerative disease and regain control over their lives.

Re: Living with Parkinson's

Just to the east of China and the highly contentious South China Sea, the Philippines find themselves caught up in the geopolitical tussle between Beijing and Washington. As tension mounts between the two countries, we take an in-depth look at the situation in the archipelago.

The Philippines, China, and the South China Sea

The Philippines find themselves caught up in the geopolitical tussle between Beijing and Washington over who controls the South China Sea.

Collision Course

Most popular

By showing the difficult and painful process that four rape victims undergo to get their cases to trial, this documentary sheds light on how the French criminal justice system deals with rape.

Rape in the Criminal Justice System

"She Was Asking for It"

This documentary examines how Instagram, launched in 2010 and bought by Facebook in 2012, has changed modern society.

You might have seen Edel Rodriquez's anti-Trump drawings on the cover of Time or Der Spiegal, but now he's written his first graphic novel. "Worm" revisits his Cuban roots before his family decided to flee the Castro regime.

Cuban illustrator Edel Rodriquez has written his first graphic novel to serve as a warning.

Worm: The graphic novel that compares Castro and Trump

This summer, the European Parliament introduced an unprecedented law to ensure that member states provide adequate support for rape victims and punish perpetrators. But it has run into legal and ideological roadblocks from some countries, including France and Germany, which refuse to define rape as the absence of consent.

European institutions are at odds over the definition of rape and consent.

Only yes means yes - The story of a European law on rape

UK universities are in a funding crisis, with nearly 40% in deficit. Inflation, tuition fee freezes, and a drop in EU students post-Brexit have strained finances. Visa restrictions further hinder international enrollments, leaving many institutions calling for urgent reforms to avoid collapse.

UK universities are facing a funding crisis and seeing falling numbers of international students now that Brexit has passed.