Democracy is an illusion! It’s become a political system fostered by the élite, for the élite, in order to fool the people that they have a stake in the system. In actual fact, they have virtually none. The whole political system in the modern era, despite having noble beginnings, is now used to benefit the few at the expense of the many. – Mark Alexander, June 29, 2018
July 14, 2026 | Ninety years ago, a coup against the Spanish Republic led to Francisco Franco's dictatorship. Today, many people of all ages in Spain are romanticizing that regime, a trend fuelled by the far-right political party Vox.
After Franco's death in 1975, Spain's democracy was established based on the Amnesty Law of 1977, which shielded Franco-era agents and officials from prosecution. But victims are still demanding justice and compensation.
Today, there are two opposing narratives: One is based on a duty to tell the truth, while the other uses nostalgia to revive a former authoritarian system of government.
Between the ruling left-wing coalition, right wing parties and the far right, there appears to be no path forward to reconcile conflicting views of Franco's legacy. Against the backdrop of this political divide, even some young people long for the old order under Franco.
Right-wing populists are exploiting this trend to once again call democracy into question — especially the far-right party Vox, whose influence is growing among voters.
May 9, 2026 | St. Moritz is the birthplace of alpine winter tourism, as well of many winter sports. The village, with its magnificent location in the Swiss Engadin mountains, was already attracting celebrities in the last century.
St. Moritz is one of the most exclusive winter sports resorts in the world, with a burnished history. Located in the picturesque Swiss Engadin mountains, the village attracted many celebrities in the last century: including Charlie Chaplin, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Gunter Sachs, Andy Warhol and Herbert von Karajan. Coco Chanel sought refuge here, during the war. Alfred Hitchcock was inspired to write his first classic in one of St. Moritz’s grand hotels, and returned many times over the decades. The Shah of Persia temporarily ruled his empire from a chalet on the Suvretta slope.
Just 150 years ago, St. Moritz was still a simple mountain village. Then, adventurous Englishmen arrived, invented new winter sports and laid the foundation for the town's fame.
Five-star hotels sprang up in the village of 5,000 inhabitants, which suddenly became a winter hotspot for the rich and famous.
Numerous winter sports originated here, some of which are unique to this location: in Cresta, participants race headfirst down into the valley on low sleds - on the longest natural ice track in the world. The Cresta Club, founded over 100 years ago by Englishmen, is still one of the most exclusive clubs in the world.
In skijoring, skiers are pulled across the frozen Lake St. Moritz by horses. Winter sports, tradition and sophisticated lifestyle, luxury and cosmopolitanism characterize the history of St. Moritz.
Jan 1, 2026 | Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, is the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. For almost a decade, he has been radically transforming the country — at a breathtaking pace. Where is the modernizer and despot steering the kingdom?
Saudi Arabia is the world's leading exporter of crude oil. But Crown Prince MBS wants to prepare the country for the post-oil era. Two-thirds of the country's population is under 30 years old, and the crown prince is taking radical measures to turn the previously strictly conservative society on its head.
The documentary shows how contradictory Mohammed bin Salman's ambitions for his "Vision 2030" are, as it takes a look behind the scenes of the transformation.
On the one hand, there is the "Neom" project, which aims to create a futuristic new megacity in the desert. Tourism is to be expanded, major music and sporting events are to be brought to the country, and an extravagant lifestyle is being promoted.
At the same time, an authoritarian style of government continues to prevail, dissidents are sometimes brutally suppressed, and women's rights are still not fully granted - even if the influence of the ultra-conservative religious leaders of Wahhabism is no longer as strong as it once was.
July 31, 2025 | Even 35 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, there’s still an imbalance between eastern and western Germany. Many executive positions in the former East are still held by people from the former West Germany. What are the reasons for this?
Since the fall of the Wall, the former East Germany has undergone an unprecedented transformation, in which immigrants from former West Germany still play a significant role. Often, they arrived as young people, networked and rose to leadership positions. From here, they shaped and continue to shape eastern Germany today. According to figures published by the Federal Government Commissioner for Eastern Germany in September 2024, more than 3 decades after reunification, only around 12 per cent of the leadership elite in eastern Germany were actually born there. The documentary ponders the reasons for this - and its consequences. Does it go some way to explaining the widespread rejection of the democratic system and the great popularity of the far-right AfD party in eastern Germany?
The fact is that immediately after the fall of the Wall, West Germans were urgently needed - for example in the judiciary. Many East German lawyers didn’t make the grade. Iris Goerke-Berzau came to Saxony-Anhalt from West Germany in the 1990s and helped to rebuild the judiciary. She has stayed to this day. When it came to the economy in the new federal states, the rebuilding process also relied on skills of West Germans like Ludwig Koehne. The Oxford graduate came to the former East Germany in 1992 and worked for the Treuhandanstalt, a government agency set up to privatize East German state-owned enterprises. When the agency was dissolved in 1994, he took over a railway crane manufacturer in Leipzig and turned it into the global market leader in its sector. Koehne says this economic salvage operation wouldn’t have been possible without western knowledge and capital.
Angela Merkel and Joachim Gauck are prominent exceptions - former East Germans who have excelled in their field. Another is 45-year-old Manja Kliese, who heads the crisis response center at the Federal Foreign Office. "Many East Germans wouldn’t even dare to apply for careers like mine,” she says. Eastern Germans are also underrepresented in senior positions at the Federal Foreign Office. "We have a huge democracy problem,” says Kliese, "when people in the East have been controlled by others for decades.” This is another reason why people feel very distant from elite groups and are more likely to support right-wing extremists, she says. But still, she encourages other eastern Germans to get involved -- and better represent their part of the country.
Dec 31, 2024 | While the German economy navigates troubled waters, the lives of the rich continue on unaffected. This film takes a look into the largely closed-off world of the country's millionaires and billionaires - and at how the wealthy see themselves and their privileged lifestyles.
We talk to the CEO of a luxury watchmaker who says German industry suffers from overregulation, with insufficient rewards for taking risks. A well-off building contractor from Dusseldorf, on the other hand, explains how most of the country's millionaires acquire their wealth not from entrepreneurship, but from inheritance. He wants to see a drastic rise in tax rates for the rich, and the proceeds invested where they're needed, e.g. in infrastructure and education.
This documentary also shows life at the Salem boarding school, where the wealthy pay tens of thousands of euros a year to send their children to school. For many, their education includes learning to take on the responsibility involved in later running their family-run businesses.
The superrich live longer and enjoy special tax benefits. The suspension of a wealth tax in 1997 has reportedly cost the German state €380 billion in lost revenues. With the country facing a financial crisis, will its most prosperous individuals live up to their responsibilities that come with privileged financial power?
Nov 19, 2024 | Is Javier Milei a savior or a destroyer? It’s been just over a year since the far-right, chainsaw-wielding 54-year-old was elected President of Argentina, and society is more divided than ever before.
Argentina’s poverty rate has soared to over 50% since Javier Milei took office. Many young voters opted for Milei because they wanted a radical break from the previous government. Many Argentinians in the business community are also hoping Milei's "shock therapy” will improve the economic situation - while others are stunned by the president's harsh reforms.
In his first year in office, Milei did not hold back, abolishing many ministries, scaling back publicly funded media and cutting many subsidies. We hear from both supporters and opponents of the president and his policies, including farmers, students, pensioners, trade unionists, journalists and entrepreneurs.
Oct 23, 2024 | Nicolás Maduro has been president of Venezuela since 2013. He rules the country, which faces grave political and economic problems, with an iron fist. Despite massive criticism from home and abroad, Maduro is clinging to power. Successfully, so far.
Venezuela experienced many dramatic events in recent decades. There was the "Bolivarian Revolution" started by Hugo Chávez, who was elected president in 1998 and introduced a socialist system to the country. There were also attempted coups, violent protests, and severe economic crises — despite the fact that Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world.
After the illness and death of Hugo Chávez in 2013, Nicolás Maduro succeeded as president. The former bus driver and socialist set himself the goal of continuing Venezuela's socialist revolution, at any cost.
His rule has been authoritarian. Corruption within Venezuela's state elite and mismanagement are widespread. Years of poor economic decisions have driven the country to ruin under Maduro's presidency. Millions of people in Venezuela are impoverished, and many have fled to neighboring countries.
Yet despite opposition attempts to force him out, Maduro has survived. He was declared the winner in Venezuela’s 2024 presidential elections in July - this, although the parliament had tried to remove him from office in 2017 already. People took to the streets to demand his resignation back then and this year again.
However, none of this seems to have affected Maduro - and following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the resulting rift between Russia and North America and Europe, the international geopolitical situation has changed. The world is more desperate for oil than ever; and a vast quantity of oil is lying dormant underground in Venezuela.
Oct 22, 2022 | In Cuba, the socialist project begun by revolutionary hero and former president Fidel Castro is teetering on the verge of failure. The nation is sinking deeper into crisis, with many people’s daily lives marred by shortages of food, medicine and electricity.
Cuba has been subject to sanctions for decades. Despite recent attempts at reform, the country is increasingly isolated and economically dependent. A currency reform enacted in 2021 is also causing major problems, with inflation soaring and prices skyrocketing. Food is scarce, and lines in front of the few state-run stores are getting longer and longer.
Poverty is on the rise. Even the famous ingenuity of the Cuban people is reaching its limits as they try to cope with the day-to-day effects of the crisis. Images of bygone revolutionaries are fading in the streets the capital, Havana, and all over the island. Official voices continue to broadcast the state’s ideology, but ordinary people are losing hope that things will improve.
Aug 4, 2022 Lebanon is now going through the worst economic crisis in its history. 80 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. In one year, food prices have jumped 500 per cent due to galloping inflation.
Lebanon was long regarded as the Switzerland of the Middle East. But those days are gone. A series of crises have plunged the nation into the abyss. And its people are suffering.
For Riad, who runs a grocery store in the suburbs of Beirut, business has become hellish. Every morning, calculator in hand, he changes the labels of his products according to the day’s exchange rate. An operation made all the more complex by the fact that his store is plunged into darkness, due to a lack of electricity. The Lebanese government no longer provides more than two hours of electricity per day in the country. It is impossible for the population to heat, light or use their refrigerators. Taking advantage of the situation, a network of private generators has emerged.
The Lebanese pound, the local currency, has lost 90 per cent of its value. The only people unaffected are those paid in dollars. The greenback, which can be exchanged for a small fortune against the local currency, has created a new privileged social class in the country. A salesman in an international pharmaceutical company, Joseph lives like a king in a ruined Lebanon. Thanks to his new purchasing power, he repaid his mortgage in two months, instead of... twenty years!
In a bankrupt state, plagued by corruption, six out of ten Lebanese now dream of leaving the country. In Tripoli, in northern Lebanon, Mohammed and his son set out for Germany by sea. Even though the trip was cut short off the Turkish coast, the young father is still ready to take all possible risks to reach the European Eldorado.
Homelessness, hunger and shame: poverty is rampant in the richest country in the world. Over 40 million people in the United States live below the poverty line, twice as many as it was fifty years ago. It can happen very quickly.
Many people in the United States fall through the social safety net. In the structurally weak mining region of the Appalachians, it has become almost normal for people to go shopping with food stamps. And those who lose their home often have no choice but to live in a car. There are so many homeless people in Los Angeles that relief organizations have started to build small wooden huts to provide them with a roof over their heads. The number of homeless children has also risen dramatically, reaching 1.5 million, three times more than during the Great Depression the 1930s. A documentary about the fate of the poor in the United States today.
How much power do people with a lot of money really have? Who decides how Germany should look? These questions are the subject of the film "Land of Inequality - Power.”
Many studies show that a small but wealthy part of society defines a country’s political direction. It’s the same all over the world. German researchers evaluated hundreds of opinion polls on the topics of the economy, environment, foreign policy and finance. They then examined what poor people wanted from politics on these issues - and what the rich did. The differences were clear: "An obvious example is taxes on property,” says Armin Schäfer, a political scientist at the University of Munster. "Higher income groups are more skeptical about any reintroduction of a property tax, whereas lower income groups definitely want it. So far, we have not reintroduced a property tax in that form.” So who gets to decide what Germany looks like? To find out, our film follows building contractor Christoph Gröner, who has made millions from the construction business. Gröner wants to build an entire new district in Cologne, which is facing a severe housing shortfall and where rents are soaring and the poor in particular feel ignored. But he has faced delays in getting building permits. Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker says: "It is a city’s job to provide land and grant building permits.” But can’t it do that faster? Gröner says the politicians should take their foot off the brakes. To show how much power money really wields, we go to the places where politics and economics come together - to the district town halls and the VIP box at a Bundesliga stadium. And to Europe's largest real estate show in Cannes, where billionaire investors use their financial clout to shape cities and regions as they wish.
The market for oil is volatile. The transition from petroleum to renewables is in full swing, and global demand for oil could fall faster than predicted.
When the price of crude oil tumbled dramatically between 2014 and 2016, it heralded the demise of an economic and geopolitical world order in place since the end of World War II. In the last few decades, fracking technology has turned the US into the world's largest oil producer. Against that backdrop, the move towards renewable energies and away from fossil resources is making dramatic steps forward. A study published back in September 2012 made headlines by predicting an imminent drop in oil prices. The analysis bucked traditional mainstream scientific opinion, which forecast that the market would continue to climb until hitting ‘peak oil’ - the moment when global oil production peaked. After that, most experts believed, the price for crude would skyrocket. But by the end of 2013, market supply began to far outstrip demand, and prices collapsed. Within two years, they fell by 70%. Was it just another anomaly in the history of the industry? Not quite. Many factors contributed to the fall.
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the US was shocked by reports that Saudi Arabia might have been involved. North America relied on vast imports of oil from the Middle East, so to lower US dependence on the Gulf States, policymakers overhauled and realigned the country’s oil strategy. When oil prices rose dramatically in the first decade of the new millennium, companies in the US were able to begin implementing a technology that had previously been viewed as economically unviable - extracting oil and shale gas through fracking. By exploiting its significant shale oil deposits, the US was able to slash imports, which in turn led to an oversupply on world markets and crashing prices. The world’s biggest oil-producing nations began fighting fiercely for their slice of the pie. In a move to break the American producers, Saudi Arabia moved into high-stakes poker mode, flooding the market in an intentional attempt to lower prices even further and force the North American fracking industry to its knees. But the move didn’t pay off, and the order that had prevailed on the international oil market since the end of the Second World War was stood on its head. To turn prices back around, Saudi Arabia and the other members of OPEC were forced to curb production and join forces with Russia. It’s a game with high geopolitical stakes, and the market for oil remains volatile. Meanwhile, the transition to renewables is in full swing, and global demand for oil could fall even faster than predicted. Is it the beginning of the end of the Oil Age?
Investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in New York on September 15, 2008 after more than 150 years in the banking business. [Online until: 13.10.2018]
At the time, the company had accumulated over $600 billion in debt. It did not just hit the US financial system hard: global networking sent companies around the world into a tailspin. How could that happen? And above all, could it happen again? The documentary tells of the risky rise and ruinous collapse of former global investment bankers Lehman Brothers. The bank had sensed a killing when the US Federal Reserve massively cut interest rates at the beginning of the millennium. "Cheap money" gave many Americans the feeling that they too could fulfill the dream of owning their own homes. Loans were made without anyone asking if customers were really solvent. These mortgages were then bundled and offered for sale as "safe bonds." But real estate prices in the US fell and those so-called safe bonds turned into liabilities, sending shockwaves around the world. More than 500 investors in Singapore suddenly faced bankruptcy in 2008. They had bought into so-called mini-bonds - innovative products that specifically targeted private investors, promising them high profits and maximum security. But most people did not understand what was actually behind them. Many of these bonds were linked to American banks such as Lehman Brothers. In the end, Lehman Brothers had to file for bankruptcy, leaving thousands of small investors around the world facing ruin.
Sex, drugs & dollar bills - ex-banker Florian Homm lived a life of excess. Although the bachelor has swapped prostitutes for prayer, he remains one of the FBI's Most Wanted. Find out more in FROM HELL TO HEAVEN - THE CASE OF FLORIAN HOMM.
A successful career on the stock market ended with allegations of defrauding investors and fixing stock prices. Now Florian Homm claims to be a devout Catholic. He's cracked his cocaine addiction and now teaches economics - of course, by the book. But he faces a 225-year jail sentence if he steps foot on US soil.