All films

Ziona Chana is head of the largest family in the world, leader of a religious commune in India and, according to some, he’s God himself. Hundreds of followers pray to him and worship him as an immortal deity. RT Doc visits the polygamous “New Generation” cult he founded at the foot of the Himalayas. 

These Afghan girls have to reject their femininity and pretend to be male. They are called Bacha Posh. In Afghanistan’s traditional patriarchal society, many women can’t leave the house without a male accompanying them. For this reason, if a family has no son, a daughter is often appointed to play his role. Having tasted freedom, some of the girls never want to go back.

They joined the army driven by a desire to serve their country and its people. However, the wars they were sent to made them re-evaluate everything they believed in. Now, US veterans are trying to come to terms with their past and learn how to live among civilians again.  It turns out, they’ve no one to rely on but each other.

Lake Baikal in Russian Siberia is the oldest and deepest lake on the planet and is famous for containing 20% of the world’s fresh water. Its incredibly clear and clean water is home to hundreds of unique animal and plant species. Biologists, however, are increasingly concerned about the region’s ecology. James Brown goes back to Baikal seven years after his last visit to look into how the lake has changed.

It’s 15 years since the 2001 terror attack on New York’s twin towers changed America forever. Thousands lost their lives or loved ones and many others lost their health. On that day though, everyone in the US lost something else; peace of mind. RT Doc asks how 9/11 transformed modern America’s world view.

Mica is a shiny mineral that’s all the rage in modern-day makeup, helping to give beauty products a bright gleam and natural-looking glow. This beauty, however, comes at a price that most are unaware of. Those who pay it are the poorest and the most vulnerable. RT Doc visits India’s illegal mica mines where child labour is rife. 

Tatyana has a brain tumour and does not yet know whether it is benign or malignant. What is certain, however, is that she needs surgery. Her family is worried about the outcome and prognosis, but are reassured that she’ll be operated on in Sklifosovsky Institute – Russia’s best-known hospital. 

Klim suffers from epilepsy. The disease affects all areas of his life, as he requires constant assistance. A seizure may happen at any moment and lead to a serious injury or even death. In many cases epilepsy can be managed with medication, however Klim’s condition requires brain surgery. After weighing up the options in their native Kazakhstan and abroad, his family settled on Russia’s Sklifosovsky Institute to carry out the operation.

RT Doc’s Marina Kosareva returns to Greece two years after she was there as a reporter, covering the daily anti-austerity protests that accompanied the country's worsening economic problems. While the Greek crisis hasn’t been in the news much lately, it’s far from over. Ordinary Greeks share their feelings of dismay at their long-drawn-out ordeal and explain how they are trying to adapt to their country’s new reality.

Sklifosovsky Institute, aka Sklif: Europe's largest research and development facility for emergency medical care, complete with a hospital, research labs, surgery rooms, burn treatment facility and much more. Here, battles against death are fought every minute of every day. It takes the best to win.

The Indian state of Punjab is undergoing a severe water crisis. Once an agricultural leader in India, it’s now turning into a desert. Farmers and other rural dwellers are going bankrupt over the need to pay for water delivered from other regions. In this drastic situation, the number of suicides has skyrocketed, but the authorities deny that people are killing themselves over the water shortage.

In Syria, there are more than a hundred militant groups fighting against the State Army. Unusually, President Bashar al-Assad has offered an amnesty to militants who surrender. Any who haven’t completed mandatory military service are returned to the Army. RT Doc gained access to a unit comprised of amnestied soldiers. Some joined militants groups voluntarily while others say they were held captive, whatever their circumstances, they all serve together. 

This is a game in which the stake is human life. These people play with death. While the grim reaper stands at the head of the dying person’s bed, waiting for their final breath, volunteers from the Dutch “Ambulance Wish Foundation” arrive. They are prepared to fulfil any last wish of the patient. Completely free of charge! 

They can hold their breath for several minutes and slow their heart rate to almost nothing. Free divers plunge to incredible depths with no scuba gear. They push themselves to the limit to break new records but despite the serious risks involved, they can’t resist the call of the deep.

In peaceful Nepal a sinister black market is flourishing. Kavre province has become infamous for the shocking numbers of people who have sold a kidney. Poverty and lack of education about the potential impact on health mean villagers are easy prey for unscrupulous dealers. Tricked into undergoing risky surgery and paid a pittance, donors are often left with debilitating and lifelong consequences.

2016 marks the 100th anniversary of one of the bloodiest revolts in the history of the Russian Empire. The uprising took place in Semirechye, ‘the valley of 7 rivers’, in the south of the Empire’s territory in Central Asia. What started as a protest against Tsar Nikolas II’s policies quickly escalated into a fight between the native Kyrgyz population and the Russian and Cossack settlers. It was a conflict that turned ordinary men into murderers and heroes, revealing the worst, and some of the best, of human nature. Now, descendants of those who lived through it share their ancestors’ accounts of the uprising.