The war in the Ukraine has changed the way many European countries view Russian politics. Suddenly it became clear how dependent countries had become on Russian gas imports for decades and what Vladimir Putin was up to. However, no country needs more gas than Germany. It was only after Russia's invasion of the Ukraine that the German government realized that Russia had long used gas as a weapon to impose its will on states. The instrument created for this purpose is the natural gas production company GAZPROM. So how did Germany become so dependent on Russian gas? The documentary shows how, over several decades and several changes of government, a broad alliance of politicians and business representatives did everything possible to secure Germany's energy supply with cheap Russian gas, while the Kremlin's foreign policy became increasingly aggressive and the warnings of experts went unheeded.

A look at the life and work of the iconic US actor Charlton Heston (1923-2008); the embodiment of many mythic heroes who was both a staunch defender of the Civil Rights movement during the sixties and a spokesman for the National Rifle Association in his later years. The extraordinary and controversial public and personal career of one of the greatest film personalities of all time.

A portrait of the Spanish-German actor Daniel Brühl, a versatile performer capable of moving easily from the gentlest to the darkest role.

The story of a powerful political and economic dynasty, fundamental to understanding the turbulent destiny of the United States of America throughout the 20th century; of nine brothers who had truly extraordinary lives, marked by both greatness and tragedy: the story of the Kennedy family.

After a blow to the head, Gilles wakes up in the hospital. He knows that his wife Lisa caused the injury. The act is the result of years of accumulated desperation and shows the extent of the rift in the marriage. So he decides to fake amnesia for everyone to explore what went wrong in his marriage.

After a media storm that turns her life upside down, a famous Hamburg lawyer takes on the defense of a young musician accused of infanticide.

For the centenary of the Verona Opera Festival, Jonas Kaufmann gave a gala concert in the Arena on 20 August 2023. With colleagues Sonya Yoncheva and Ludovic Tézier, and accompanied by the Orchestra della Fondazione Arena di Verona conducted by Jochen Rieder, he performed arias and duets from Tosca, Otello and Andrea Chenier, and evergreens by Franz Lehár and Leonard Bernstein as well as famous film songs such as 'Nella fantasia' (The Mission) and 'Nelle tue mani' (Gladiator).

Inspector Sörensen has finally retreated to the Frisian province, but he still has to contend with his own inner demons. Loneliness, insomnia and inner restlessness plague him, and although he does everything he can to stop taking his medication for the anxiety disorder, he remains trapped in his psychological torment. One dark night he almost runs over a young, disturbed woman on the country road. She is malnourished, wears only a nightgown and is blind. After she finally reveals her identity to Sörensen, a web of murder, religious madness and well-kept secrets begins to unfold before him. Sörensen is overwhelmed, not only by the shocking situation, but also by his own demons, which are gaining power over him again. The villagers reject him, and as fear takes hold of him again, he will soon realize that it won't just be a corpse.

What hurts more: losing the wife to her younger lover after 21 years of marriage or having to share a lottery win with her after the breakup? The parcel carrier Henry doesn't want to give up half of his unexpected wealth because of the divorce. While his wife Ellen wants to make a clean break with the new beginning, he tries to save the long-hopeful marriage, but only on paper. The disappointment hurts too much to share the cash fairly! Neither his own daughter, who needs money for a journalism school, nor his best friend Mehmet know about the new fortune. His "favorite colleague" Mona either doesn't like the fact that Henry doesn't tell her the truth. She doesn't really recognize Henry anymore, with whom she has fallen in love. Ellen is also surprised that Henry, who is chronically exhausted, can afford an expensive racing horse. But there's a reason for the secrecy, because Henry wants to make his dream come true to win the Grand Prix of Germany. His maxim: Believe in losers too!

Juvenile court judge Marlene Neubach relies on strictness out of conviction. When she visits her son Jakob in Athens, who is currently studying there for a semester abroad, Marlene has a surprise. Jakob has disappeared from the face of the earth and is wanted by Inspector Vergas in connection with crimes. The lawyer cannot imagine that her beloved son could be involved in illegal activities. But can Marlene trust the local police? Together with her random acquaintance Alexandros, who offers to be a lawyer, the judge begins to investigate in the Greek metropolis. As she finds out, her son belongs to an allegedly criminal activist group. Through Jakob's friend Eleni, the worried mother learns about the double life of her son, who hasn't studied for months but has committed himself to political activism with conviction. In order to find him and help him, the courageous lawyer begins to rely on means that she would have to punish in the courtroom.

The German ex-top model candidate Luna imagined it completely differently. She stands at the train station in Linz with all her luggage because she was promised a place in an influencer shared apartment. But Luna has too few clicks, too few followers and too little fame, which is why she's thrown out of the shared apartment before she's even been inside. Things are also going differently than expected for programmer Heribert, because he actually wanted to present the app idea at a pitching contest at Ars Electronica Center that would free him and his development team from his boring help desk job. But his pitch is at first pathetic, then embarrassing and ends in a faux pas with a shitstorm. And so he and his colleagues are thrown out before they can even develop. When the completely inexperienced but fearless would-be influencer Luna Heribert discovers first in the viral video and then in real life in Linz, she makes him an offer because she knows: we are better together than alone!

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel is retired and lives with her husband and pug in a small town. She is bored with the quiet life. When a man is found murdered in a castle, she begins to investigate on her own, supported by her bodyguard.

For the young nun Charlotte, the strict convent life is a liberation from her previous life in the fast lane. When advertising professional Conrad is stranded in the convent on a business trip, Charlotte feels vindicated in her decision to choose life in the convent. But the convent is in the red and has been making losses for too long, which is why the unexpected guest comes at just the right time for Abbess Katharina and Sister Hedi. With his experience and skills, he could make the convent profitable again and save it from being sold. Although Charlotte has another plan to save the convent, she reluctantly agrees to work with Conrad.

A dead biology graduate, a billionaire investor, a mysterious house and a rare beetle keep detectives Burkhard "Butsch" Schulz and Viola Delbrück busy this time as they finally investigate side by side again.

Melanie is in her mid-thirties and works for the Brandenburg police. Her precinct is the province north of Berlin. Melanie likes it when anybody likes her. If it gets political, she keeps herself out. But that's no longer so easy when her best friend Lydia, an ex-daily soap star, makes herself important as a populist influencer with right-wing slogans in her home village and a street disappears overnight. Its bumpy cobblestones were the last evidence of a dark time when building material for the Wehrmacht was mined at the Kiessee, today a bathing area. Forced laborers and concentration camp prisoners toiled here. Elementary school teacher Anja considers it a thoughtless mess that this stone memorial to history should simply be asphalted. With brown homeland paroles, Lydia heats up the mood in the village and earns good money through clicks on the Internet. When the violence escalates, law enforcement officer Melanie, who is addicted to harmony, has to decide which side she is on.

Svenja and her 16-year-old daughter Kira have traveled the world a lot. Svenja is a hotel manager and is currently bringing an aging hotel in Australia back into shape. But her biggest challenge is her daughter, who has switched to complete refusal and doesn't let Svenja tell her anything anymore. Kira doesn't avoid confrontations at school either, which in turn leads to conflicts with Svenja. After another argument, Kira decides to go to Jack. Jack is Aboriginal and Kira's only friend. Together, the two young people go in search of their “special place”, their own particular locality. Svenja is beside herself with worry when she notices Kira's disappearance and gives chase with Jack's father Kalti, a deeply relaxed hotel boat guide whom Svenja had released two days earlier. An adventurous journey begins in the barren deserted Outback - for Svenja and Kira a strange world, fascinating, but also life-threatening!

Eva Jensen is a female carpenter form Hamburg who wants to make a new start on the Baltic Sea coast in eastern Germany. She tries to buy a workshop with a view of the sea offered for sale by Heide, who rents out beach chairs. Unfortunately, Heide’s ex-husband vetoes the sale. In trying to understand his reasons, Eva comes across a painful family secret from the days of the GDR. And in other respects too, the newcomer from the West faces prejudice in the village, although her skills are urgently needed. Fish-seller Christian is also interested in the workshop, which Eva just sees as fair competition. Then they discover a common passion, kite-surfing, and unexpectedly grow closer.

Once again, 16-year-old Jonas starts at a new school and, as always, he has no intention of being anybody’s darling. Jonas has muscular dystrophy, is confined to a wheelchair and knows that he will die sooner rather than later from this incurable and progressive disease. His mother Alma, who raises Jonas alone and would rather take a second job than forego therapy for him, is determined to delay his deterioration. She has placed Jonas with Dr. Wildenhahn, an authority on Duchenne disease. The doctor manages to be taken seriously by Jonas, that is until he gets to know Emily, Marianne Wildenhahn's daughter, who goes to his class. Emily has a massively low academic grade, which she hides from her mother because of the doctor’s high standards. Emily falls in love with Jonas, and her sincere affection gives him the courage to love her back. Emily and Jonas become a couple, overcoming all obstacles.

Once again, a few years have passed when old friends Patrick and Maltemeet again. Patrick shows up completely unexpectedly at Malte's mobile home, which is parked on a cliff on the Baltic Sea, in the middle of a deserted restricted area.

Forensic biologist Inga Ehrenberg is so absorbed in her work at the Forensic Medicine Institute that she doesn't initially notice how lonely she is after her divorce a few years ago. It is only when her father claims that she has a half-sister and a falconer asks her to take care of a young falcon that she finds herself in a whirlwind of long-hidden, painful feelings. She begins to tame the falcon, convinced that the bird will never leave her.

The criminal psychologist Annett Schuster and the case analyst Jan Kawig have to solve their first case together when a male body is found near the Wartburg. Huddled in a fridge like the victim is praying. The man was known as the "Judge Merciless" at the Higher Regional Court of Erfurt - revenge as a motive is therefore obvious. Annett Schuster finds religious symbols that refer to the Bible quote "An eye for an eye".

Isabel Burger would normally consider herself lucky. An unexpected inheritance takes Isabel, a trained chef, to Crete, where her German father left her a country house complete with its own olive grove. If only her failed startup in Munich and the resulting financial woes hadn’t led to the recent opening of insolvency proceedings against her. Isabel’s insolvency administrator gives her four weeks to sell her house on Crete as best she can and use the proceeds to pay off her creditors.

Hormones – without them, nothing would work in our body: the messenger substances control our physical and mental state. New studies show how complex the connection between hormones, feelings and behavior really is. Surprisingly, the body's own hormone production is also apparently influenced by a person's behavior.

Klaus Gremme, a retired instructor with the combat swimmers at the Baltic Sea, sets off for Lake Constance to meet his son Thomas and his grandchildren. They don't know anything about him because Klaus left his wife and Thomas when the boy was still very young. Klaus takes up residence with Mona, a single mother whose house is across the street from Thomas'. The reunion with his son turns into a fiasco, but Klaus doesn't give up and develops an elaborate plan to win Thomas and his family over after all. In the coming weeks, however, the ex-fight swimmer constantly clashes with his esoteric, pacifist landlady Mona. She and her children, the overweight Linus and Claire, who has Down syndrome, slowly grow fond of the lone warrior. In the end, the rapprochement with his own family seems to have failed. But Klaus may have found a new, completely different family in this search.

Retired teacher Ulla is celebrating her golden wedding anniversary with her husband Paul. Unfortunately, Ulla's romantic idea of renewing their vows backfires, as her husband has fallen in love with Ulla's best friend.

The endless expanses of the Indian Ocean are home to the last natural paradises: Remote atolls surrounded by coral reefs in crystal clear water. Whole regions of this ocean are still unexplored, many reefs are not marked on any map. The departure of the research vessel Agulhas II from the island of La Réunion marks the beginning of one of the greatest scientific adventures of our time. The expedition, initiated by Monaco Explorations with the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, lasted six weeks and led into the Western Indian Ocean along the Mascarene Plateau.

Father and mother are thrilled: So now their teenager son has a girlfriend. And what a fabulous young woman she is! In contrast to his older sister Milli, 17-year-old Franz was previously an introverted, quiet, shy loner. His parents are all the more impressed when he brings home the pretty, self-confident Zoe one night. Zoe quickly finds her way into the heart of Franz’s family. Or is this young woman just telling people what they want to hear because she sees their hidden desires? After an ecstatic night in the clubs of the city of Munich with a little too much drugs, Zoe has disappeared and Franz's heart is broken. He absolutely has to see her again and goes looking for his first great love.

Frank hasn't been back to his home village for years. But he sets off with his small family to attend his mother's funeral. His wife and son Tim immediately feel at home in their grandmother's inherited cottage and want to spend the summer in the countryside. Tim joins the soccer club. But Frank's childhood demons catch up with him. A well-known personality awakens terrible memories and now enters his son's life.

Suddenly the Russian Galina reappears in her ex-boyfriend Tom's life and asks him to contact his sister, who heads the crisis team at the Foreign Office. Galina offers herself as a whistleblower to Germany after hackers specifically attacked the computer systems of the Berlin Central Hospital. She has the code that can thwart further attacks, but in return she demands money, asylum and inclusion in a witness protection program for herself and her young daughter.

Kadeg's aunt is dead and he is admitted to hospital seriously injured. Dupin takes a closer look at his assistant's family and discovers that this was not the only mysterious death in their circle.

Bettina and Martin meet again, one year later on New Year's Eve. This time, they are trapped in the backroom of Moosbach's sports hall since Martin risks being beat up once he comes out.

Pensioner Gerda grabs burglar Simon (armed with a harpoon) and forces him to be her carer. Anything is better than the nursing home to which she was taken by her daughter Linda. When the daughter has to move in with her mother because her apartment has become a permanent building site, things really start to get "funny".

More than sixty years after her birth, the Barbie doll is still as seductive as ever. Between stereotypes and emancipatory discourse, we explore an iconic toy that has changed with the times.

The Brooklyn Bridge spans the East River and connects Manhattan and Brooklyn, the two centers of the port city of New York. Its architect Johann Roebling was one of the great inventors and master builders of his time. The wire rope: his product. The suspension bridge: his dream. The film tells the amazing story of the Roebling family and the spectacular history of the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Amalfi Coast is not only one of the most scenic regions in Europe. In the last century, it became a fashionable meeting place for stars, artists, the rich and famous, and the towns of Amalfi, Ravello and Positano became the stage for dazzling stories. Off the coast, the island of Capri beckons as an Eldorado for forbidden desires and lust for life.

“Fear AI!” – “ warns Elon Musk back in 2014, joining other opinion leaders like Steve Wozniak, Noam Chomsky and Stephen Hawking in backing a petition against the development of autonomous weapons. As Vladimir Putin stated in 2017, “Whoever leads in AI, rules the world.”

In Canada and Alaska, the consequences of global warming are being keenly felt by brown bears - but in different ways by different populations. Their survival depends mainly on the quantity of wild salmon available in the region, as it is the fruit of their catch that enables the bears to accumulate fat reserves for the winter. While salmon populations off Canada's Pacific coast continue to decline year after year, in the immense Bristol Bay in western Alaska, as well as on Kodiak Island, they are increasing considerably. The water temperature in the North Pacific is now ideal for salmon development. From Canada to Alaska, the documentary follows different bear populations over a two-year period.

Young lawyer Mia Stocker takes up her first job at her father's renowned law firm. Her first case seems to be routine: An elderly gentleman dies in a nursing home due to incorrect medication. But this is actually just the beginning of a major scandal.

There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for the right way to die. Cancer-stricken pensioner Hermann is having a hard time dealing with the inevitable: He doesn't want to wait for death and instead wants to give it a helping hand - but discreetly.

Violent squalls, hail, waterspouts, lightning... storms put animals and plants to the test. At a time when climate change is multiplying extreme weather events, this documentary plunges into the heart of a storm, from the heavy, dry atmosphere that precedes it to the deluge that follows.

The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine is not only waged with bombs, rockets and rocket-propelled grenades, but also in the media. It is a "propaganda battle" internally and externally. Russia spreads targeted disinformation in order to systematically devalue news. At the same time, their own population should be convinced that they want to liberate Ukraine from Nazis. Ukraine's narrative wants to emotionally mobilize its own population and strengthen resistance to the aggressor. Spindoctors are of particular importance in the propaganda battle over Ukraine. On the Ukrainian side, it's often influencers like Oleksiy Arestovych. On the Russian side, Vladimir Solovyov, Putin's snout, is supposed to sell the war to his own people with his daily TV talks. The documentary shows the new front lines of virtual warfare and provides insights into the populists' bag of tricks on social networks.

Suicide is one of the world's leading causes of death, with almost 800,000 people taking their own lives every year, not counting those who go unrecorded. What drives people to take their own lives, and how can they be prevented from doing so? This documentary attempts to provide some answers.

The amazing story of stunts, men and women who risk their lives every day on set to get the perfect action scene.

Citizens across Europe who used to belong to the lower middle class have fallen into poverty. An in-depth investigation into the precariat, a new social class of financially insecure citizens who, although they are employed, find it very difficult to make ends meet.

More and more prominent people are publicly admitting to being affected by dyslexia. Hardly any other aspect of learning at school has been researched as extensively in recent decades as dyslexia, and yet there is still a lack of clarity in the scientific community about causes and therapies, and children are left alone with the feeling of being a failure.

A year has passed since the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, and it is still unclear what actually happened at the bottom of the Baltic Sea at that time. ARD, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and DIE ZEIT have joined forces for a large-scale investigation and set out to find the alleged perpetrators. An investigation into one of the most spectacular criminal cases of our time, an attack of historic proportions.

Endless beaches, dunes, heath and the Wadden Sea characterize the landscape of Sylt. Germany's largest North Sea island is also a paradise for numerous animal and plant species. Around half of its area is under landscape or nature protection. In spring and autumn, thousands of migratory birds stop here on their way between Siberia and East Africa. Sheep graze on the dike meadows, female seals give birth to their young off Sylt. And the Sylt Wadden Sea is one of the last large wilderness areas in Europe. But in winter storms hit the island. If the “Blanke Hans”, as the storm on Sylt is called, causes the North Sea to rage, it hits the island with tremendous force. Only a few places on the German North Sea coast are as exposed to the force of the sea as the west coast of Sylt. The documentary shows Sylt's nature in fascinating images. People who are particularly connected to the island and its nature are accompanied in their everyday lives.

27-year-old Anna and Jonas, who is one year older, get to know each other through their university clique. The initial attraction leads to an unspectacular one-night stand that seems like the beginning of a light summer affair. However, the encounters between the two are also characterized by a lot of friction and provocation. Then something happens that completely changes their lives: after a party with lots of alcohol, the two have sex. Later, Anna thinks she was raped by Jonas. Anna feels traumatized and thinks she can remember her “no.” Jonas, on the other hand, remembers consensual sex. The only person Anna can initially confide in is her sister Daria, who advises her to report the crime. Eventually, those around you also find out about the accusation. Friends have to take a stand. The podcaster Kelly researches the events and tries to explore attitudes and discourses surrounding the case and its effects on victims, perpetrators and those around them.

A look at the Sun, the star that revolves at the center of the Solar System, and its representation in art throughout history.

The extraordinary work of the American artist Philip Guston is a milestone in modern painting. Guston is one of the most discussed painters of his time and today a star of the younger generation of contemporary artists. ARTE is showing the documentary on the occasion of the major Guston retrospective at the Tate Modern in London.

The widower Danyal worries about his adult daughter Jila, even though the doctor has long been on her own feet. When the man in his mid-fifties can't reach her by phone, he rushes from Kitzingen in Franconia to Berlin with two friends. The career lawyer Markus and the entertainer Tobi, also loving fathers with adult daughters in the capital, would like to combine the friendship service with the opportunity to visit their offspring. However, as soon as they arrive, the three realize that they know very little about the lives of the young women. Jila doesn't want to talk to Danyal because she believes he is responsible for the failure of several relationships, the unsuccessful actress Tilda is burdened by her father's excessive career expectations and Hanna confronts the complacent judge Markus about a secret marriage for legally questionable reasons. The three fathers' short trip develops a dynamic of its own that also pushes the daughters to their limits.

Henning Stehmann is an investment advisor and has cheated several people in his immediate vicinity, including his entire neighborhood, out of their money. Probation officer Klara Sonntag is to take over the court assistance and write an expert opinion on the man for the public prosecutor's office.