Cocaine for Germany | DW Documentary

From DW Documentary. Germany is flooded with cocaine. Since 2017, cocaine residue in Berlin’s sewage has doubled. Since the pandemic, sales of cocaine across Germany have rocketed. The addictive potential of the drug is often underestimated and legal prohibitions do little to deter dealers or users. This documentary sheds light on new international smuggling routes…

The global battle over microchips | DW Documentary

From DW Documentary. Computers, cars, mobile phones, toasters: countless everyday objects contain microchips. They’re tiny, unremarkable and cheap, but since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, they’ve been at the center of a political and industrial tug of war. Against the backdrop of the trade war between China and the US, "The Microchip War" spotlights…

Kiribati and climate change | DW Documentary

From DW Documentary. Kiribati could soon become uninhabitable due to climate change. Residents are using all available means to protect themselves from rising sea levels. In Kiribati, residents are building walls to protect their homes from rising sea levels – which worked well for a long time. But the high tides are getting more extreme,…

Idaho, USA: The new wild West | DW Documentary

From DW Documentary. Far right militias are especially active in the American Midwest. Take the "North Idaho Militia": In Idaho, they plan to establish an exclusively white, Christian colony separate from the rest of the US. In their vision, it will be ultraconservative and have no multicultural diversity. Idaho and its neighboring regions are now…

Why IS remains a threat? | DW Documentary

From DW Documentary. Is the world facing a resurgence of the so-called Islamic State (IS)? In northern Syria, many former IS fighters are imprisoned in hard-to-secure prisons. Among their children, the next generation of jihadists is growing up. A severe earthquake in February 2023 brought northern Syria back into the international spotlight. It’s a region…

Robots to the rescue – High-Tech helpers | DW Documentary

From DW Documentary. From drones supplying remote villages with medication to robots taking on dangerous jobs: smart technology is helping people to go higher, faster and further. When lives are at stake, high-tech can often outperform humans. Tom Plümmer’s "Wingcopter" is half helicopter, half airplane. The drone with a two-meter wingspan has started delivering parcels…

A beauty salon for everyone in Leipzig | DW Documentary

From DW Documentary. At the "Grand Beauty" salon in Leipzig, people with a refugee or migrant background work as hairdressers, make-up artists and manicurists on a donation basis, with the goal to uproot prejudices. Mara Hesse is a freelance make-up artist and anti-racist activist. As a Muslim woman born in Germany, she has experienced discrimination…

How dangerous are algorithms? | DW Documentary

From DW Documentary. Algorithms are increasingly determining our lives and influencing our momentous decisions. At first glance, they seem logical and unbiased. But in fact, algorithms are shaped by the prejudices of both their programmers and users of the Internet. Algorithms contribute to creating an unequal world. What happens when we give these algorithmic systems…

Does Bitcoin Make You Rich? | DW Documentary

From DW Documentary. European conquistadors once came to Latin America to rob the indigenous population of its gold. Today, people from the global North are coming again. This time, they claim to be bringing gold with them. Digital gold, that is. Namely, Bitcoin. While here in Europe, cryptocurrency is perceived by many as a speculative…

Atomic energy, climate, and Russia | DW Documentary

From DW Documentary. The rising global temperature must be restricted to well below a two-degree increase. It’s crucial to make electricity production carbon neutral as quickly as possible. Is nuclear power the new game changer for achieving this ambitious goal? Kathryn Huff of the U.S. Department of Energy estimates nuclear power would need to be…

Migrants facing German bureaucracy | DW Documentary

From DW Documentary. Migrants who want to settle in Germany have to deal with its bureaucracy. The process can be a frustrating one, especially given backlogs at government offices. Every year, Cuban Yairan Montejo has to renew his German residence permit in order to keep living in the country. What may sound like a simple…

#MeToo in Bollywood | DW Documentary

From DW Documentary. Five years ago, the #MeToo movement reached Bollywood. News of sexual harassment and assault allegations followed. Has anything changed since then? India’s film industry produces more than a thousand movies annually. The films are watched by 3 billion people worldwide — and are loved for their song and dance sequences, emotional story…