S2.E31 ∙ Vikings

A not-for-profit independent film by an invisible woman of war.

Forty years after the Fall of Saigon, a young Vietnamese woman is among the Vietnam War's uncounted casualties. Born near fields where American planes sprayed Agent Orange, Thao lives with severe physical deformities. Halfway around the world, a woman in New York is struggling to cope after the sudden death of her famed younger sister. In the midst of her crippling depression, a friend shows Elizabeth a black-and-white photograph from a recent trip abroad. The image haunts Elizabeth. It shows Thao sitting in a wheelchair outside a shed that houses pig feed, fertilizer -- and books. Despite her disabilities, Thao had set up a makeshift library for children in her village. The photographer who captured the image had asked her, "If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?" Thao replied, "Three hundred dollars, so I could buy more books." Through this simple request, Thao and Elizabeth are brought together, forging an unlikely sisterhood, transcending language and culture. Together the women reflect on the past. They confront the present. And they begin to heal.

Tales of a Sea Cow describes how a team of scientists have achieved the first ever decoding of animal communication; for the first time in history, they have translated the song of a marine mammal - the 'Steller's Sea Cow' - a species, which was until now thought to be extinct since 1768. The rediscovery in 2007 off the coast of Greenland is discovered in 'Tales of a Sea Cow'.

Yuval Gidron's first documentary film follows his family's journey in 2013 to Berlin and Frankfurt, in the footsteps of his father's German ancestors. The story is told from Yuval's point of view - who tries, during the course of the film, to understand his father's motives to take the whole family on this journey, as he was born in Israel and Germany is not his native homeland. Through the lens, the visits to the cemeteries and monuments, the encounters with the German reality, and mostly witnessing the process his father goes through during this trip, makes him look differently at the whole experience. This is a film about family and memory. About Germany of today, and Germany of 80 years ago. A film with humor and emotion and in particular a film about a father, a son and the camera between them.

Everyday some 20,000 people in Chittagong, a small port city of Bangladesh risk their lives for 2$US. They dismantle old ships retired from all over the world. An average of 20 workers dies in Chittagong every year. Despite the harsh working environment full of contaminants and toxic gases, the ships are gifts from God. A 21 year old Belal who left home 10 years ago, a Gascutter Rufik who has devoted all his 32 years in the shipbreaking-yards and a 12 year young child laborer Ekramul tell a heart-breaking story of their lives with breathtaking views of the ship-breaking yards.

Following 10-year journey of a Chinese couple searching for the truth behind their son's death in Canada, the film is a rare revelation of immigration, mental health and a Kafkaesque state bureaucracy at the heart of global migration.