Episode list

Danny in Arabistan

Libanon - Verboden Liefde
Danny returns to Beirut, the capital his native land, where he had some schooling before settling in the Netherlands. Lebanon is in many respects the most Western, open, emancipated and tolerant Arab country. However part of the legal enshrining of the official division of the population in churches and sects of Christianity and Islam, plus Druze, is their legal monopoly on performing marriages, rarely allowed inter-religious alliances. Many families are also conservative enough in this respect to repudiate 'faith traitors', while children can only change their legal religion form age 18. Especially among Syrian refugees, arranged child marriages are a desperate way out of the miserable camps. Proponents of civil marriage have a long way to go, despite support from celebrities and foreign brands.
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Gaza - Arm & Rijk
Amongst the worst-off Arabs long-term are the Palestinians under Israeli occupation, especially in the extremely overpopulated Gaza strip. After Islamist Hamas overtook the PLO and the resulting fallout with Egypt, isolation is near-complete, causing shortages of everything as Israel restricts all access as reprisals for anything it deems terrorist. This lives most people in Gaza poor and desperate, many young citizens hoping for a better future abroad. Yet among those who remain or even returned, some still run lucrative although unsure businesses, and choose a hedonistic lifestyle precisely because tomorrow may well deprive them of much, so they engage busily in parties, competitions, all forms of luxury.
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Syrië - De Achterblijvers
Danny visits the bulk of Syria, which is now relatively safe as the sad regime has crushed the rebels except for a few provinces. The damages are obviously huge, to buildings, infrastructure, (crippled) people, businesses - Yet Syrians tend to give positive answers, mainly due to regime minders, partially genuinely optimistic. Every family lost people to the war or mass emigration, but the remaining citizens are determined to rebuild their country, especially the renowned capital Damascus.
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Stelvio. Crossroads of Peace

Stelvio. Crossroads of Peace

A documentary that showcases an extraordinary place in the heart of Europe: The Stelvio Pass. Here, at 3,000 metres above sea-level in the middle of the Italian Alps, one finds an imposing natural treasure where the present meets the past and the visitor discovers a breath-taking landscape and mountain sports experience. Whereas the Stelvio alpine glacier is a big tourist attraction for summer skiing, the mountain road to the Pass, an engineering wonder built in 1825 by the Austrian Empire, hosts the most famous stage of the Giro d'Italia. But people once battled here not just for sporting reasons: One hundred years ago soldiers on those peaks experienced the so-called White War which took place on the highest and coldest battlefield of World War I. After one hundred years trenches, cans, bombs and weapons from that cruel war are still found in the snow by people like Mario Pasinetti, a hotel porter and former member of the Italian Alpine brigade, who collects war remains in his spare time. Through Mario's story the viewer meets the people that make the Stelvio a lively microcosm: Claudia, a female forest ranger; Gustav Thöni, a former world skiing champion; Pompa, an aficionado and pilot of vintage airplanes as well as inventor of Artic rescue tools which he tests personally on the glacier; and Lorenz, a shaman who lives at the foot of the Stelvio road. Through these people and other characters, along with the help of majestic mountain shoots (including helicams and wescam shoots), this documentary enables us to discover the unexpected power and magic of this alpine microcosm that has changed from a point of collision between hostile forces to a place of interchange and discovery, of encounters and leisure activities: a "crossroad of peace".

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