China vs USA: Empires at War

Stand-up comedian Robert Newman gets to grips with the wars and politics of the last hundred years, from WWI through to the 2003 invasion of Iraq; but rather than adhering to the history we were fed at school, this show places oil centre stage as the cause of all commotion. This innovative history programme is based around Robert Newman's stand-up act and supported by resourceful archive sequences and stills with satirical impersonations of historical figures from Mayan priests to Archduke Ferdinand.

In China more people are on death row than the rest of the world combined. The children of the convicts are often left alone, stigmatized and living in the streets. Grandma Zhang, as the kids call her, is a former prison guard who has founded an orphanage in Nanzhao.

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams—Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization’s materials and debris.

As soon as he came to power in 2012, Xi Jinping clearly stated his ambition for a national renaissance. He will combine this with the construction of a powerful army and a certain vision of Chinese territory, which includes the reunification of Taiwan. In this quest, control of the oceans has become a crucial issue, and America an obstacle. In the South China Sea and the Pacific, the Chinese Communist Party has been pursuing a strategy to undermine American influence for the past decade. Relying on the active participation of maritime militias - fishermen trained by the military - China is creating a grey area between war and peace that destabilizes both its neighbors and the world's leading military power.

Hong Kong and Taiwan are 2 islands inextricably linked by their huge neighbour. Modern metropolises full of eastern traditions, they're forging forward in the 21st century as China's little dragons. Traveller Megan McCormick begins her journey in Hong Kong, looking out at the incredible skyline from Victoria Peak. She then takes in the contrasts of the city before taking the ferry visit Tap Mum Chau and Lantau Island. After a flight to Taiwan she explores the capital Taipei, ending her trip with a visit to its most remote outpost - Orchid Island.

Rosa is a Mexican woman who, at the age of 17, migrated illegally to Austin, Texas. Some years later, she was jailed under suspicion of murder and then taken to trial. This film demonstrates how the judicial process, the verdict, the separation from her family, and the helplessness of being imprisoned in a foreign country make Rosa’s story an example of the hard life of Mexican migrants in the United States.

Could our mounting modern problems have ancient solutions? Travel to the depths of China to find out.

In 1972, a seemingly typical shoestring budget pornographic film was made in a Florida hotel: "Deep Throat," starring Linda Lovelace. This film would surpass the wildest expectation of everyone involved to become one of the most successful independent films of all time. It caught the public imagination which met the spirit of the times, even as the self-appointed guardians of public morality struggled to suppress it, and created, for a brief moment, a possible future where sexuality in film had a bold artistic potential. This film covers the story of the making of this controversial film, its stunning success, its hysterical opposition along with its dark side of mob influence and allegations of the on set mistreatment of the film's star.

Through the eyes of a young drifter who rejects society's rules and intentionally chooses to live on the streets, Chinese filmmaker Nanfu Wang explores the meaning of personal freedom – and its limits.