Documentary films
- Culture, Documentary films, Film, Mount Everest, Mountaineering, Nepal, South and Central Asia, World news
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa review – a female Everest climber’s ascent
Documentary expertly follows the only woman to have climbed the mountain 10 times through spectacular scenery …
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Agent of Happiness review – Bhutan surveyors attempt to analyse joy
Two assessors ask questions but it’s the detail and nuance that is so compelling in this gently absorbing docu…
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Moosa Lane review – loving cinematic bridge between two countries and cultures
Shot over 15 years between Denmark and Pakistan, the film-maker captures day-to-day life in Karachi, and explo…
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Flickering Lights review – how the arrival of electricity heralded peace in a turbulent Indian state
Years in the making, this documentary shows preparations for the arrival of mains power in a village in Nagala…
- Asia Pacific, Biology, China, Culture, Documentary films, Film, Fungi, Nepal, Society, South and Central Asia, World news
Far Beyond the Pasturelands review – on the trail of the ‘Himalayan Viagra’
Documentary reveals the cost to Nepalese villagers of harvesting a supposed aphrodisiac that sells for more th…
- Documentary films, Environment, Indigenous peoples, Language, Laos, Music, Science, South and Central Asia, Urbanisation, World news
Birdsong: the dying whistled language of the Hmong people in northern Laos
Exploring the whistling traditions of the Hmong people of northern Laos, whose language straddles the boundary…
- Christianity, Culture, Documentary films, Film, India, Indigenous peoples, Religion, South and Central Asia, World news
The Mission review – a missionary comes a cropper on reaching an ‘unreached’ tribe
Documentary traces a 21st-century American evangelical’s reckless efforts to convert an isolated tribe, and hi…
- Culture, Documentary films, Film, Global development, India, Law, Life and style, Rape and sexual assault, Sexual violence, Society, South and Central Asia, Women, World news
How a father’s love for his daughter challenged India’s ‘rape culture’
The story of girl’s refusal to be shamed by her gang-rape and a father’s fight for justice, defying a village’…
- Culture, Dalits, Documentary films, Film, Global development, Hinduism, Human rights, India, Martin Luther King, Religion, South and Central Asia, US news, World news
‘He’d be horrified at discrimination today’: new film revives message of India’s Dalit champion
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is revered as a founder of modern India and for his work fighting the caste system. A n…
- Afghanistan, Culture, Documentary films, Festivals, Film, South and Central Asia, Taliban, Venice film festival, World news
Hollywoodgate review – a fascinating insight into the Taliban’s insular world
It’s no surprise that Ibrahim Nash’at’s documentary lacks in-depth interviews – his subjects barely tolerate h…
- Activism, Culture, Documentary films, Feminism, Film, Pakistan, South and Central Asia, Women, World news
This Stained Dawn review – Pakistani feminists’ courageous fight for their rights
Anam Abbas’s documentary records the preparations for and dangerous execution of a countrywide rally against p…
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Baato review – astonishing 500-mile walk to bring herbs to market in Nepal
This documentary about women who make an epic annual trek across a rocky mountain pass draws an intriguing con…
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A Rifle and a Bag review – quiet study of a marginalised Indian family
Documentary follows Somi and her husband, who are struggling to live an ordinary life after their past as Naxa…
- Culture, Documentary films, Film, India, Media, Pakistan, South and Central Asia, Television, Television & radio, World news, YouTube
While We Watched review – reporter Ravish Kumar’s quiet courage in Modi’s India
News anchor Kumar stays quietly courageous amid nationalist hysteria in Vinay Shukla’s tense documentary – but…
- Culture, Documentary films, Freedom of speech, Human rights, India, Journalist safety, Media, Narendra Modi, South and Central Asia, Television, World news
‘Resistance is possible’: Ravish Kumar, the broadcaster risking his life to tell the truth about India today
The eminent journalist’s fearless reporting on India under Narendra Modi cost him his job and freedom. Now bro…