Witness

★ 6.2 · 2012 · 59m · Documentary

Drug trafficking, poverty, gang violence, corruption and ethnic warfare have created some of the most dangerous hot spots on Earth. Follow our current generation of photojournalists into these conflict zones, see what compels them and experience why, when everyone else seeks cover, the photojournalist stands and moves closer.

Episodes

▶1. Juarez59m · Pro journalist Eros Hoagland has worked in conflict zones in Iraq, Afghanistan and Haiti, but his focus, here, is Juarez, Mexico, the murder capital of the world. Drug violence in Juarez has left over 10,000 dead, and the drugs are still flowing north. Eros began work as a photojournalist in 1993, covering the aftermath of El Salvador's civil war. He has since worked in Iraq, Haiti, Afghanistan and Columbia. His father, Newsweek photographer John Hoagland, was killed in El Salvador when Eros was a boy. Eros looks for an emotional narrative within the subjects. In a grim locale a man is shot in his car and dies. It is Hoagland's capture of the incongruity of the quietness of death and the waiting of the police that conveys the absurdity of accident and the deepest of feelings. Eros' search is always for the emotional narrative. Directed by David Frankham; produced by Ike Martin, Alison Kunzman and Youree Henley.▶2. Libya59m · Michael Christopher Brown has been to Libya five times during the conflicts that brought down Gaddafi's rule. Now, the revolution is over, but the chaos has only begun; the current situation in Libya is even more complicated. Internecine fighting continues, not unexpectedly. After 42 years of Gaddafi and no democratic tradition, Libya was not going to magically turn into Connecticut. On an earlier trip, in April 2011, Brown was in Misrata with veteran photojournalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros. He remembers having an uneasy feeling, saying, "The city was like a shooting gallery that day." Then a mortar round struck nearby, Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros were killed, and Brown was wounded. In WITNESS: LIBYA, Brown is in the extreme moments of present-day chaos and reliving the loss of his friends and mentors. Directed by Abdallah Omeish; produced by Julie Herrin and Josiah Hooper.▶3. South Sudan59m · In South Sudan, thousands have been killed, abducted or displaced by Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army. French photojournalist Veronique de Viguerie travels with the Arrow Boys, an unpaid militia of farmers who took up arms to protect their families from the LRA. For the last two decades, Joseph Kony has led a campaign of unfathomable brutality in an attempt to impose his command as the law of the land. His forces have kidnapped and forced into sexual or military slavery an estimated 60,000 children and driven two million of Uganda's people from their homes. The pregnant de Viguerie treks through wilderness with the Arrow Boys, as well as with the Ugandan Army. On a night patrol she is asked if she ever gets scared. She replies, "Sometimes...but here there is no time." Directed by David Frankham; produced by Julie Herrin and Josiah Hooper.▶4. Rio59m · Though Rio de Janeiro will host the Summer Olympics in 2016, the city currently remains crippled by a war raging between police and powerful drug gangs. Over 2,000 Brazilian military have taken to the streets in a largest offensive in decades. They are taking on the Red Command and Amigos de Amigos, two powerful gangs, in an attempt to regain control of the city's hilltop favelas before the world's eyes focus on Brazil as it hosts the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. The powerful drug gangs have fought back with a series of urban terror attacks on cars, buses and police stations. Several journalists have been murdered. Photographer Eros Hoagland is one of only a few willing to venture into the dangerous favelas like Mangueira, which overlooks the Olympic stadium. Mysteries are revealed: In some areas of "pacification," Red Command have been warned in advance and have already left for more remote parts.

More Like This

God in America

2010 · ★ 6

God in America explores the tumultuous 400-year history of the intersection of religion and public life in America, from the first European settlements to the 2008 presidential election. This series examines how religious dissidents helped shape the American concept of religious liberty and the controversial evolution of that ideal in the nation's courts and political arena; how religious freedom and waves of new immigrants and religious revivals fueled competition in the religious marketplace; how movements for social reform -- from abolition to civil rights -- galvanized men and women to put their faith into political action; and how religious faith influenced conflicts from the American Revolution to the Cold War.

More info →

Transamazonica: A Highway to the Past

2021 · ★ 10

The Transamazon highway was a gigantic saga, the greatest example of the pharaonic works of the Brazilian military government. But the road that would promote national integration was best known for linking the famine of the Northeast with the misery of the Amazon. This haunting docuseries follows the story of the construction of this highway and its morbid consequences.

More info →

Nicki Minaj: My Truth

2012 · ★ 6.2

Platinum selling rap artist Nicki Minaj makes headlines wherever she goes, for her music, her unique sense of style, and certainly for her no-holds-barred personality. She is thriving in what was once solely a man's world, and loving every minute of it. But who is Onika Tanya Maraj, the Trinidadian-born American artist with the outrageous personality, and the most Twitter followers of any rapper (14 million and counting)? Nicki Minaj: My Truth is a three-part special of never-before-seen footage of Nicki Minaj in her personal and professional life. The documentary gives the world a glimpse of "The Queen of the Barbz" Nicki Minaj wigs, makeup, personalities, and hit records. We also see Nicki discussing her fear of failure, behind the scenes footage of the filming for "The Boys" video clip and Nicki rehearsing for her first arena tour in the U.K.

More info →

World War II: From the Frontlines

2023 · ★ 8

Through vividly enhanced archival footage and voices from all sides of the conflict, this docuseries brings WWII to life like never before.

More info →

Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story

2023 · ★ 7.8

Keanu Reeves tells one of the greatest sagas in Formula 1 history. Through the insights of Ross Brawn and revered racing icons like Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, all is revealed in this gripping four-part series. From the formation of Brawn GP see their remarkable journey through strategic manoeuvres and financial trials during an exceptionally competitive era in the annals of the sport.

More info →