Millions remember the countdowns, launchings, splashdowns, and parades as the U.S. raced the USSR to the moon in the 1960s. But few know that both countries also ran parallel space programs, whose covert goal was to launch military astronauts on spying missions. In this program, NOVA delves into the untold story of this top-secret space race, which might easily have turned into a shooting war in o
How do you run 26.2 miles if you have trouble making it around the block? With good coaching, discipline, and lots of group support, as NOVA shows when it follows 13 generally sedentary people through a training regimen designed to prepare them for an ultimate test of stamina and endurance. Created in cooperation with the Boston Athletic Association®, which granted NOVA unprecedented access to t
While AIDS may be one of the most feared diseases of modern times, there is still a degree of scientific debate over the subject of just how the disease originated, and how the first cases spread. Two filmmakers explore a controversial theory about the beginnings of the disease. In the 1950s, American and Belgian missionaries in the Belgian colonies of the Congo widely distributed polio vaccine to
“It all started when I Googled my name” said Killeen of his movie. And who in today’s day and age hasn’t engaged in just such an activity in a moment of idle “webbing.” The difference here that the filmmaker actually followed up on his findings by not only contacting his namesakes but also traveling to whatever remote location called for to meet and interview the subjects of his search, even disco
The Final Solution is a 2003 documentary directed by Rakesh Sharma about the 2002 communal Gujarat Riots that arose as a response to the Godhra Train Burning incident on February 27, 2002, where 58 Hindus were burnt alive on a train carriage. An official estimate states that 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims were killed during the riots, with 223 more missing. The documentary consists mostly of interview
This is a very moving award-winning documentary from Japan NHK which follows the life of a class of 10 year old students through an academic year in which they learn more about the realities of life and especially death and coping with emotions under the inspired guidance of their extraordinary teacher.
Anthrax War is a ground-breaking feature length documentary which illuminates one of the most important stories of our age – the threat that a terrifying Germ War Arms Race may now be beginning around the globe… Just weeks after 9/11, the United States was confronted with the frightening reality of biological terrorism. Anthrax-laced letters sent to government and media offices in Washington and
An award winning documentary film produced for German television by Freider Wagner and Valentin Thurn. The film exposes the use and impact of radioactive weapons during the current war against Iraq. The story is told by citizens of many nations. It opens with comments by two British veterans, Kenny Duncan and Jenny Moore, describing their exposure to radioactive, so-called depleted uranium (DU),
102 Minutes That Changed America is a 102-minute American television special documentary film that was produced by History and premiered commercial-free on September 11, 2008, marking the seventh anniversary of the attacks. The film depicts in virtually real time the New York-based events of the September 11 attacks primarily using raw video footage from mostly amateur citizen journalists. The doc