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THE BEST CHEFS takes us on a journey into the culinary philosophy and genius of each featured
chef. An exploration of the most beautiful gastronomic restaurants and châteaux introduces the
viewer to the history and culinary gems native to each beautiful region. The series takes us behind the scenes into the kitchens of these creative chefs who share their best-kept culinary secrets while presenting the dishes that either make them happy or have made them famous. Each of
these great chefs discuss their paths, inspirations and the catalysts which made them who they
are today.
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Experience the birth of the "Bird's Nest," Beijing's iconic National Stadium which played host to the 2008 Summer Olympics. Swedish designer, Thomas Herzog, conceptualized this marvel, which is not only functional, but architectural and cultural. Explore the creation of this magnificent structure from the beginning stages through the construction and completion. You'll hear from the designers, architects and welders who each played a part. The Bird's Nest stands apart from any other stadium as a one of a kind structure unique in its design and social significance. Like humans, buildings have life. The Bird's Nest will forever be a piece of Beijing's history and Chinese culture.
Related Titles: "The World's Dream Stage," "Megawheel"
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Cultural Flavors is a cooking tour that takes you around the world one dish at a time. Each episode of this 13 part series provides viewers with a snapshot of life around the dinner table of a different country. In every episode, the unique characteristics of local cuisine are shown, and afterwards each recipe is recreated step-by-step. Highlighted are the spices, vegetables, meats and seafood at the core of each country's culinary culture.
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Depending on your point of view Syria is either a rogue state run by an authoritarian regime, or a champion of the Arab cause. But what's not in dispute is that the war in neighboring Lebanon has drastically altered the balance of power in this region and radicalized opinion in Syria.
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Travel to Italy to discover more about its burgeoning contemporary art scene. We
meet rising star Patrick Tuttofuoco, who uses architecture as inspiration for his dynamic
sculptures and we meet il Padre of contemporary Italian art, Michelangelo
Pistoletto.
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In the vibrant city of Tokyo where Asian and Western art styles meet, photographer
Ishiuchi Miyako discusses her captivating work which explores the passage
of time. We also meet one of Japan's most established sculptures and painters,
77-year old Yayoi Kusama.
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Destination Fashion views the designs, innovations and philosophies of some of the most creative, new and well-known people who work in the fashion industry. This 3-part series features trendsetters, creators and writers from India, London and Copenhagen. India is a fast emerging fashion hub. The emergence of fashion weeks in Mumbai and Delhi gives Indian fashion a platform the rest of the world is invited to see.
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The target language in this series is Mandarin (Putonghua); the official language of the People's Republic of China, is based on the dialect of China's capital, Beijing. The Dragon's Tongue is a valuable source of genuine cultural information about China today.
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The discovery of oil in the Middle East sparked worldwide interest for its acquisition and control. Over the past 100 years, struggles for power and wealth have kept the Middle East at the center of world conflict.
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Part 1 chronicles the discovery of oil in Persia in 1908; the tumultuous claims placed on Middle East territories and conclude with the British being sent home from Iran in the 1950s. This episode explores the sphere of interest, power politics, oil's role in both World Wars, American influence, the Saudi empire, the exile of Britain, and the Shaw's rise to power and the start of turmoil between the nations of the Middle East.
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Part 2 profiles the history of Middle East oil beginning in the early 1970's. It chronicles the oil embargo and the resulting rise in import prices as foreign leaders attempt to negotiate. Tensions in the Middle East begin to heighten as conflicting groups become more violent with each other and foreign powers. Assassinations, hostage situations and torture are tearing the region apart. American female soldiers fighting in the Gulf War sparks interests in women's rights in Saudi Arabia. Fundamentalist groups react to this and become even more oppressive and aggressive.
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Part 3 profiles the after effects of the second gulf war. Iraq, which once played a major role in the Middle East oil trade, is struggling to gain stability. Exemplifying this is the city of Kirkuk, one of the two largest oil regions in the country, where oil brought destruction and discrimination against the Kurds. In Iran, controversy surrounds the Sunni and Shiite's and the struggle for everyday life. This episode also shows the disparity between north and south Tehran and the south's disappointment with failed promises by president Ahmadinijhad. In stark contrast lies Kuwait and Saudi Arabia where modernization is far beyond that of Iran and Iraq.
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HAMAS VICTORY investigates the appeal of an officially terrorist organization both in the isolated, more traditionally Islamic oriented Gaza Strip, and in the secularized West Bank. The earlier Palestinian popular support of Yassir Arafat's "Fatah" movement has declined as its corruption and scandals punctuated the failure to achieve peace and prosperity, much less totally expel the Israelis - portrayed as alien and brutal occupiers.
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Part 1 - Columbus, Vespucci, Magellan - The earliest maps didn't represent the actual land content of the world. Maps were updated as more of New World was explored. The maps of the Middle Ages, were mostly based on conjecture rather than actual discovery. With the expansion of the spice trade between Asian and Portugal and Spain, the maps began to change once again.
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The earlier explores provided mapmakers with an understanding of the major continents. Part two of this series highlights the voyages of British Explorer James Cook and French explorer Jean Francois de la Perouse. James Cook, an exceptional navigator and cartographer, circumnavigated New Zealand, explored the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, and crossed the Polar Circle being the first to understand the icy nature of Antarctica.
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This two-part series gives viewers insight into how maps were drawn and revised based on the voyages of the great explorers. Interviews with historians and cartographers are interspersed with reenactments and the voyages and discoveries.
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10 year old Celine has dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina since she can remember. She auditioned at the age of 8 for this special school. Celine attends morning classes of French, math, geography and history. Lunch is followed by dancing classes.
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An 80-ton tuna ship from Brittany is both home and school to 12 year old Antoin and 9 other young people. Many subjects are learned experientially. He learns to pilot the ship and to interpret weather reports and many other things.
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Andrea lives in a house built on wooden poles. After the national anthem and the salute to the flag science class begins with a study of Amazonia and its environment.
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Boys and girls attend separate classes in this Aborigines school where English is the official language. Today begins with group reading exercises and a composition test.
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Rotna and her friend Fatima attend a UNICEF school. They practice writing in Bengali, the official language, and study their country's history. Transportation is varied, with skateboards competing
with rickshaws.
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Claudio, who's 10, attends the only circus school in Brazil. Mornings involve the traditional ABCs but the afternoons are devoted to the circus.
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Pasqualle is 12 and lives in snow-covered Quebec, where her father teaches computer science. This week is letter-writing week and Pasqualle collects, separates, and distributes the letters in her class. Each class is 50 minutes long, with groups of 6-8 in each class.
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Havana, capital of Cuba, is home to young Susana, and the location of her school. Each day begins with the “matutino”, a period of 5 minutes where the students talk with their teachers, receive recognition for good work and resolve problems.
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7 year old Taco is the first of his family to attend school and therefore tries very hard. His first lesson concerns the purification of water. Taco dresses like his Inca ancestors in a hat and poncho. He and his classmates salute the flag like soldiers, even bringing their heels together.
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Corfu is home to 11 year old Kosta. His social studies teacher plans a two-day treasure hunt in the city with clues which reinforce what the students have learned in the classroom.
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Jim bicycles to school. His first class discusses road signs; after recess the students study French, acting out sketches to employ their new-found foreign vocabulary.
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Eleven year old Sanders rehearses his multiplication tables to moves of his favorite classic Indian dance, the bharata natyam. He rides to school on a motorized rickshaw hanging on to the outside.
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Yael attends religious school where boys and girls pray separately as they learn the duties of Judaism, as taught in the Torah.
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Linda and her siblings are transported to school in Tuscany by donkeys when the weather is nice. At outdoor art class the students draw various historic sites.
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Zena is 11 years old and loves history. Today the 30 members of her 6th grade class begin with French and then study Lebanese crafts.
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Mauritania is on the west coast of Africa; 12 year old Hakim lives in a tent and walks a half mile to school. Islam is the official religion of Mauritania. Both Arabic and French are spoken. Boys and girls must share the same classroom because of lack of space but they sit on opposite sides of the room.
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Because of a school shortage, Khadija attends classes for only half a day. Some classes are taught in French because Morocco was once a colony of France. Writing exercises are done on slate boards. At home her father helps her prepare for a test in dictation by citing portions of the Koran.
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Nine year old Alex lives on the island of Taquil on Lake Titicaca, on the border of Peru and Bolivia, a place with no cars and no electricity.
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In the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa lies Reunion Island. Fabienne is in the 6th grade and her school is located in the middle of the village with no fences, but no one leaves the school grounds. Today her class is doing a photo study of the village labeling various locations.
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On Bute Island 10 year old Edward prepares to leave his family's sheep farm to attend a boarding school on another island. Classes begin with geography.
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Didai's school was founded by missionaries and is in session 6 days a week. Class begins with geography; Tanzania lies on the east coast of Africa and includes Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. Swahili is the official language.
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12 year old Viron is an apprentice monk who lives in a temple area. Much of his time is devoted to study and meditation.
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Discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1498, Trinidad is in the Antilles Islands in the Caribbean, and home to 8 year old Kemba . Though the school is a public one, the students wear uniforms. Trinidad's population is comprised of Muslims, Catholics, and Anglicans and English is still the official language.
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Would-be superstars come to the most famous tennis school in the world here in Florida; among them is 11 year old Alejandro from Venezuela. At St. Stephen's Episcopal school mornings comprise various traditional classes and computer studies and are succeeded by afternoons devoted to tennis.
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The ice on the Arctic Ocean continues to melt at an alarming rate. On Thin Ice focuses on the life of the ice-dependent seals, one of the key species in the Arctic and one of the first to suffer as the icy platforms for which they rely, melts away beneath them.
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The Ottomans continued the theme of borrowing from, or adapting the work of their Byzantine predecessors. The two dominating buildings of historic Istanbul are the Blue Mosque and Haghia Sophia. The latter is a converted Christian cathedral, still containing the images of Jesus and Mary alongside the motifs of the early caliphs. The man mainly responsible for the conversion was the pre-eminent architect of Islam, Sinan. He was lucky enough to win the patronage of Suleiman the Magnificent, one of the richest and the most powerful of Ottoman rulers.
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Filmed in Turkey, Lebanon and Iran, this episode profiles the origins and history of Islam by analyzing the teachings of the Koran. The most sacred book in Islam, the Koran serves as a guiding principle and dictates a Muslim's daily life. Among other topics profiled: Jihad, architecture of some important Mosques and selected history of Islam's relationship to Christianity.
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The Endless Challenge focuses on ancient Persia, a vast empire that stretched across western Asia into Europe and Africa. The blending of cultures in ancient Persia left a number of artifacts that show how prolific writing systems came to be. The program centers on how the century-long task of deciphering these writing systems produced a greater understanding of ancient Persia and its influences long after, even on Western civilizations.
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Describes dramatic change brought about by the evolution of writing from simple letters to entire alphabetic systems. This program both examines the reasons the alphabets were developed, and traces how the use of alphabets spread around the world, changing the cultures they touched. Letters of a sphinx discovered on the Sinai Peninsula in 1905 reveal how the characters found there were in a very different style from earlier forms of writing and suggest the beginning of an alphabet.
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During the Middle Ages, Fez, once the crown jewel of Moroccan civilization, was the core of Islamic Culture and education. At the Mosquee Qaraouiyne University some of the great scientists, mathematicians and mullahs studied and subsequently awakened Europe out of the darkness of the middle ages with their discoveries and inventions. Today, Fez is a bustling city with roads so narrow that donkeys are the only method of transportation.
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In 711 A.D. the Moroccan Islamic army crossed the strait of Gibraltar and reached Tarifa, a port at the edge of the European continent, and began a rule of more than 800 years. Those years of Islamic rule left unique traces of its culture in the Andalusia region of Spain. Now, Southern Spain has a complex history having absorbed the influences from not only Islam but from the Romans and Christianity. Cordoba became a symbolic city mixing the various influences and now has a culture unique to Spain. Does that cultural development continue today?
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SAVORING THE WORLD is a journey of discovery into the rich realms of other lands, cultures and people. It transports us around the world through breathtaking sights, sounds and tastes in 13 different regions. Each episode explores a unique interplay of geography, history, and culture (art, architecture, music, religion), and colorful cuisine. Exquisite photography and authentic regional music set among high mountain valleys, river plains, and ocean shores reveal the vibrant culture and excitement of each region in a fascinating kaleidoscope.
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Covers the European theater with references to the pre-war Nazi annexations of Austria and Czechoslovakia, and the rapid German conquest of Poland. Reasons for the Allied collapse are cited. The Japanese war in China and triumph over the British in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.
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There will be a very large-scale super volcanic eruption from Yellowstone National Park. The question is not if it will happen, but when.
For over a century, tens of millions of visitors have marveled at the natural beauty of Yellowstone National Park, home to the largest concentration of geysers in the world, including the iconic Old Faithful. However, beneath all this beauty lurks a beast.
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