UPDATED ON:
Monday, November 16, 2009
18:58 Mecca time, 15:58 GMT
Programmes WITNESS
Coming soon on Witness

No Longer Achmad                                                          Sunday, November 15


 

Achmad Hamdoon, a young Arab bedouin of the Hamdoon tribe, was raised a few metres away from the locked gate of Kibbutz "Lotem" in West Galilee, Northern Israel.

Having longed for the Kibbutz life most of his life, and having, as a child, insinuated himself into it, he finally take a momentous decision and moves to "Lotem", changing his name to the typically Israeli name Meidan Sade.

His clan is outraged and sees him as a traitor. Meidan becomes "the first Hamdoon" to carry ammunition while guarding the Kibbutz, completes his high school degree, and finds a new Jewish "cultural" mother.

No Longer Achmad is a unique expose of the young bedouin's identity crisis, torn as he is between his longing to be part of modern Jewish society, and loyalty to historical Arab traditions.

No Longer Achmad can be seen from Sunday, November 15 at the following times GMT: Sunday: 1400; Monday: 0600 and 1900; Tuesday: 0300.

Musical Investments                                                     Sunday, November 15

Abel Selaocoe, 16, hails from a poor township called Sebokeng near Johannesburg, South Africa. His mother is a domestic worker and many of his family members are unemployed.

A few years ago he started playing the 'cello, and quickly rose to be one of the country's top young classical musicians, challenging stereotypes that this music is for whites only.

The film follows Abel as he travels to Cape Town to take part in the yearly week-long MIAGI (Music is A Great Investment) youth orchestra event.

Musical Investments is an uplifting film about the power of music to transcend race, class and cultural boundaries.

Musical Investments can be seen from Sunday, November 15 at the following times GMT: Sunday: 0830, 1900; Monday: 0330, 1400 and 2330.

From Bullets to Ballots: Two years on                         Tuesday, November 17


 

After years of hereditary rule, Nepal introduced a constitutional monarchy but there was widespread disaffection and soon a Maoist insurgency was in full swing.

In 2007 Witness travelled to Nepal to film From Bullets to Ballots, the story of the role of women in the Nepali revolution, and their transformation from freedom fighters to politicians or army officers.

Two years after these momentous events, Witness has returned to Nepal to see how the lives of four of these women have changed. 


From Bullets to Ballots
can be seen on Tuesday, November 17 at the following times GMT: Tuesday: 0830 and 1900; Wednesday: 0330, 1400 and 2330.

Poet of Baghdad                                                           Thursday, November 19

A deeply personal film about the experience of exile told through the haunting verse of Nabeel Yasin, an Iraqi poet who is running for prime minister in the upcoming elections.

In 1979, Nabeel Yasin fled his homeland with his wife Nada and three year old son because he had published poetry that didn't conform to the views of Saddam Hussein and his regime, including the work The Poet Satirises the King.

Branded an 'enemy of the state', Nabeel faced imprisonment and likely death if he remained in Iraq. He continued to write and publish poetry from exile in the UK, his works smuggled back into Iraq where they became a popular symbol of resistance. 

The Poet of Baghdad can be seen on Thursday, November 19 at the following times GMT: Thursday: 0830 and 1900; Friday: 0330, 1400 and 2330.

Heavy Metal Junior                                                          Sunday, November 22


 

After Hatred is a loud, five-piece metal band from Stirling, Scotland with an average age of 11.

The film follows their shambolic preparations for a large open air gig as they battle with their song writing, their instruments, their parents and ultimately their own talent and band ambitions, in a bid for rock glory.

An affectionate portrait of life in a rock band, played out in miniature, and made by award-winning filmmaker Chris Waitt. 

Heavy Metal Junior can be seen from Sunday, November 22 at the following times GMT: Sunday: 0830, 1900; Monday: 0330, 1400 and 2330.

Patches                                                                              Tuesday, November 24

Marlyn Butchins is a middle-aged South African Jewish woman who emigrated Israel 18 years ago and lost family members in a terrorist explosion in Tel Aviv in 1996.

With the 10th anniversary of the attack approaching she decided to get all the affected families of the blast to come together to collaborate on a memorial for their lost loved ones.

Her idea to mark the anniversary is to persuade the relatives of other victims to design and make a mini-quilt for their lost loved ones to unite all the mini-quilts together in one, as a sign of solidarity.

It is her way of dealing with her continuing bereavement, but she quickly finds out that others don't take quite the same view.

Patches can be seen on Tuesday, November 24 at the following times GMT: Tuesday: 0830 and 1900; Wednesday: 0330, 1400 and 2330.

Cousin's                                                                           Thursday, November 26


 

Cousin's is the only supermarket in Philadelphia with a halal butcher.

The store is owned by an extended family of second and third generation Palestinian Americans who feel strongly about catering to the esoteric needs of their global clientele.

The film depicts a day at Cousin's supermarket - not just any day, but the busiest day of the year—the day before Thanksgiving.

The film will touch on a wide variety of themes: race relations, food politics, and global politics - all in a day at a neighbourhood supermarket.

Cousin's can be seen on Thursday, November 26 at the following times GMT: Thursday: 0830 and 1900; Friday: 0330, 1400 and 2330.

Clandestine Crisis                                                             Sunday, November 29

Spanish police have dramatically stepped up random checks in major cities to identify immigrants without papers, and issue them with expulsion orders. In 2010 the controversial European "Return" directive is expected to come into effect.

Spain has boomed for the last 10 years and has relied heavily on immigrants to fill jobs, many without legal papers, most from Latin America.

But the economic crisis means local unemployment is shooting up. The individual stories of immmigrants tell us much about this particular moment in Europe, about the mechanics of expulsion, and about what effects this has in Bolivia.

So far EU-funded deportations have been discreet. But now the Spanish government wants to be seen to be acting. Through the Bolivians in Spain we explore Europe's next big social issue: the 8 million paperless workers it no longer needs.

Clandestine Crisis can be seen from Sunday, November 29 at the following times GMT: Sunday: 0830, 1900; Monday: 0330, 1400 and 2330.

Surviving Aids                                                                    Sunday, November 29


 

Sergei, Oxana, Sasha and Denis are some of the 'lost generation' of Kaliningrad: Teenagers at the time of the transition from socialism to capitalism, who fell victim to the seductive drug culture that swept into their city when the iron curtain was lifted.


HIV positive and in a country with little support or sympathy for drug addicts and people with Aids, Sergei and his colleagues are trying to turn back the tide and bring hope to those devastated by the disease.

The film introduces a range of characters, from addicts, homeless youngsters and women forced into prostitution, to survivors, health workers and a range of people who are fighting drugs and Aids.

 

Surviving Aids can be seen from Sunday, November 29 at the following times GMT: Sunday: 1400; Monday: 0600 and 1900; Tuesday: 0300.

Brothers in Work                                                              Tuesday, December 1

Giant oil tankers are being cut into scrap metal by Pakistani men. Ship-scrappers in Gaddani, Pakistan, who cut oil tankers into pieces, have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

As the massive pieces of steel fall into the sea, the men perform their hazardous work with perfectly choreographed co-ordination.

One slip of foot or one moment's negligence could spell disaster. "We are like brothers to each other," says one labourer. "And we have to trust each other. After all, we are all that we've got." 

A harrowing and visually-stunning excursion into the brutal realities of life for manual labourers across the world.

Brothers in Work can be seen on Tuesday, December 1 at the following times GMT: Tuesday: 0830 and 1900; Wednesday: 0330, 1400 and 2330.

Underground Heroes                                                      Thursday, December 3


 

Award-winning filmmaker Michael Glawogger introduces us to Ukranian miners, illegally digging for coal in abandoned seams in the snowy Donetsk valley.


It is cold, dirty and dangerous work as the men crawl on their bellies in the cramped conditions of the mine to hammer away at the rock and extract chunks of coal. 

The simple act of doing the work, no matter how dangerous, seems to give their lives structure and purpose; triumphing over fear adds to their sense of accomplishment.

Underground Heroes can be seen on Thursday, December 3 at the following times GMT: Thursday: 0830 and 1900; Friday: 0330, 1400 and 2330.

Rice Girls                                                                               Sunday, December 6

After the war, young girls were hired as seasonal workers in the rice paddies of the Piedmont region. Riso Amaro, a masterpiece of Italian neo-realistic cinema, brought their story and the image of the major character Silvana Mangano to the world.

Fifty years later a young filmmaker takes the girls back to the same fields on a trip down memory lane and to highlight the enormous changes that have taken place in modern day Italy.

And at the same time Rice Girls revisits and reconstructs that seminal portrait of an epoch whilst also confronting the fictitious world the film created.

Rice Girls can be seen from Sunday, December 6 at the following times GMT: Sunday: 0830, 1900; Monday: 0330, 1400 and 2330.

 Source: Al Jazeera
 
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