Doc World
THURSDAYS 8/7c
DOC WORLD is a weekly showcase bringing the best international documentaries from around the globe to an American audience. Presented on WORLD Channel and told with authentic voices, these stories will surprise, inform, and delight. The series is a unique and contemporary window into the realities of people and societies from many nations. This is our viewers’ passport into the world’s films that they cannot see anywhere else.
DOC WORLD uncovers what matters most to people from other countries, the histories they remember, and what engages and concerns them most. These films explore social concerns, cultural touchstones, political hot topics, and environmental issues, revealing the commonalities and differences that peoples and cultures experience throughout the globe.
Episodes
About Season 7
DOC WORLD, an international documentary series showcasing stories that dive deep into the heart of an issue, gives viewers a chance to understand the lives and concerns of people beyond U.S. borders. Hosted by Andia Winslow.
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Episode
Surf Nation
In Hainan, China’s southernmost province, hundreds of athletes as young as 9-years-old train as part of the Chinese National Surf team. The young recruits, who have left their families, feel the pressure of failure. Over the course of two years, the film follows two of the country's top surfers, Alex, 17, and Lolo, 22, as they train, compete, and discover what they want their lives to be.
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Preview
La Lucha
In Bolivia, activists with disabilities risked everything for dignity. When pleas for a pension were ignored, they united in protest - trekking across the Andes in their wheelchairs. An inspiring journey followed, facing off against a government determined to silence them and a society indifferent to their struggle. But through cold, hunger, and vitriol, their resilience proved unstoppable.
About Season 6
DOC WORLD, an international documentary series showcasing stories that dive deep into the heart of an issue, gives viewers a chance to understand the lives and concerns of people beyond U.S. borders. Season six begins in Ireland during the dawn of surfing, and then traverses the globe to places like Tibet and Pakistan to explore both historical and current events. Hosted by Andia Winslow.
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Episode
Keep It A Secret
In 1972, every international sporting event in Ireland was cancelled...except for one. Surf pioneers transcended The Troubles' hostilities to host the '72 Eurosurf Championship. The film recounts the inspiring story of the dawn of Irish surfing, revealing how the sport gave young people hope while forever changing their lives, and how their community would leave a lasting impression upon Ireland.
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Ganden: A Joyful Land
Likened by Buddhists to the Vatican City, Ganden is considered the most influential monastery of Tibetan Buddhism. Monks lived in the monastery for more than 500 years before a brutal invasion drove them to India. GANDEN: A JOYFUL LAND is a look at the lives and remembrances of the remaining generation of monks to have studied at the monastery in Tibet where the Dalai Lama’s lineage began.
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The Accused: Damned or Devoted?
Powerful cleric Khadim Rizvi has one mission: to preserve blasphemy laws in Pakistan - they prescribe a death sentence for disrespecting the Prophet Muhammad. He is running for the country's highest office to carry out his goal, silencing anyone who tries to change the law with death. The film follows the rise of Rizvi’s push for power as people who have been accused, are just pawns in his game.
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Episode
Crossings
A group of international women peacemakers sets out on a risky journey across the DMZ between North and South Korea, calling for an end to the 70-year war that has divided the peninsula and its people. Comprised of Nobel Peace Laureates and renowned activists, the team faces daunting logistical and political challenges as they forge a path with their Korean sisters toward peace and reconciliation.
About Season 5
DOC WORLD, an international documentary series showcasing stories that dive deep into the heart of an issue, gives viewers a chance to understand the lives and concerns of people beyond U.S. borders. Season five begins with the four-part series AFGHANISTAN: THE WOUNDED LAND. Hosted by Andia Winslow.
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Episode
Afghanistan: The Wounded Land - Part 1: Kingdom
In the 1960s, King Mohammed Zahir Shah opened up Afghanistan to the world. The city of Kabul looked like a European capital and the country was a destination for hippies in search of drugs and adventures. But Afghanistan was divided between the westernized elite and the majority population that was both traditional and poor. When communists seized power in 1978, a never-ending war began.
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Episode
Afghanistan: The Wounded Land - Part 2: Jihad
In 1979, the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan; Afghans called for Jihad. The country turned into the epicenter of a struggle between Islam and Communism. The U.S. and the Arab world sent weapons and money to the Afghan resistance and foreign fighters, including a young Osama Bin Laden, joined in. A decade later, the Mujahideen pushed back the occupation, contributing to the Soviet Union's collapse.
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Episode
Afghanistan: The Wounded Land - Part 3: Taliban
Although the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan was over, ethnic groups and Mujahideen factions kept fighting. And so, the country entered into a ruthless Civil War. With Pakistan's support and the blessing of the clergy, the Taliban emerged and triumphed, turning Afghanistan into a lab for a new type of Islamic state and the training ground for Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.
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Episode
Afghanistan: The Wounded Land - Part 4: Trap
On September 9, 2001, commander Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated in Afghanistan. 9/11 occurred two days later. This was the first in attacks that Al Qaeda carried out in NY and DC, and the U.S. reacted by bombing and invading Afghanistan. When American troops arrived to secure stability and reconstruction, many Afghans hoped for peace and democracy - their expectations would soon be shattered.
About Season 4
DOC WORLD, an international documentary series showcasing stories that dive deep into the heart of an issue, gives viewers a chance to understand the lives and concerns of people beyond U.S. borders. In the Spring of 2020, season four begins with UNSETTLED: SEEKING REFUGE IN AMERICA. Hosted by Andia Winslow.
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Preview
Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America
In their home countries, four LGBTQ+ people were targets of death threats, harassment and discrimination because of who they are, who they love. They are among the many LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers who have fled persecution to resettle in the U.S. But as leadership continues to restrict the flow of refugees, UNSETTLED humanizes a group of people desperate to find a safe place to call home.
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Preview
A Growing Thing
25 years after the end of apartheid, a Black South African mother is training to become a leader in her township. With only a fifth grade education, Jabulile Ndaba is learning through Kopanang, a women’s project that enables women to earn money through embroidery. When the Irish nun running the program announces she will be moving, Jabulile and her fellow leaders must take over or risk losing it.
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Siqueiros: Walls of Passion
The story of Mexican visual artist David Alfaro Siqueiros, one of the great Mexican artists of the 20th century. As one of the primary advocates of modern public art, he was one of the first muralists to paint on the exterior of buildings to bring art closer to the people. SIQUEIROS: WALLS OF PASSION tells of this controversy-stirring revolutionary and activist who painted on an epic scale.
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Episode
Sands of Silence: Waves of Courage
A 15-year quest to expose the underworld of sexual exploitation and trafficking leads reporter Chelo Alvarez-Stehle to the windswept beach where her childhood ended, and family secrets began. As she documents the transformation of a sex-trafficking survivor, Chelo undertakes a parallel journey of healing and introspection, and sets out to shatter the silence about sexual abuse in her own life.
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Episode
Cocaine Prison
Follow the lives of three indigenous Bolivians who work at the lowest levels of the cocaine trade: two inmates of an overcrowded prison film their daily experiences, while one’s sister decides whether to traffic cocaine or pursue a college education. COCAINE PRISON bridges the ever-widening gap between the North and South, and brings a new perspective to the War on Drugs being waged in the Andes.
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Episode
Border South
Over the course of five years, Raúl O. Paz-Pastrana filmed the migrant routes from southern Mexico to the U.S. Mexico Border, assembling a vivid portrait of the thousands of immigrants who disappear along the trail. The film reveals the immigrants’ resilience, ingenuity, and humor as it exposes a global migration system that renders human beings invisible in life as well as death.
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Preview
No Country for the Poor
If a democracy fails its citizens, what happens to the vulnerable left with no money, rights, and country of their own? In Hungary, the government slashed social benefits and criminalized homelessness. But homeless, middle class activists, who believe their struggle is paramount, are fighting for justice. Despite these odds, their community keeps them going with hope and solidarity at its heart.
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Episode
Road Runners
In Montego Bay, Jamaica, three athletes from Spot Valley High School prepare to compete in the island’s greatest sporting event: Champs. ROAD RUNNERS follows the students over a year while highlighting the historic and contemporary issues of the island. See what it means to grow up in Jamaica, and learn why these young athletes are striving for success that could determine the rest of their lives.
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Episode
WHY SLAVERY? I Was A Yazidi Slave
In 2014, Islamic State fighters invaded Yazidi settlements in Iraq. Men were massacred while young women were kidnapped to be enslaved, tortured, and systematically raped. Two Yazidi women tell their story of escape to Germany with the assistance of a renowned trauma expert. Their journeys to recovery ask how a survivor of unthinkable sexual violence can find justice and a path to rehabilitation.
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Episode
WHY SLAVERY? A Woman Captured
For 10 years, Marish has been kept as a housekeeper by Eta, a Hungarian woman. She toils unpaid 7 days a week in exchange for meals, cigarettes and a couch to sleep on. Even money earned from an extra job must be handed over. Over two and a half years, filmmaker Bernadett Tuza-Ritter witnesses first-hand the relentless torrent of abuse - her presence also inspires Marish to live as a free person.
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WHY SLAVERY? Selling Children
In India, millions of vulnerable children are bought and sold. Far removed from the issue of child slavery until a family maid suffers a devastating loss, filmmaker Pankaj Johar travels the country to understand and expose the ways in which poverty, illiteracy and corruption conspire to provide a breeding ground for child trafficking in the world's largest democracy.
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Episode
WHY SLAVERY? North Korea's Secret Slaves: Dollar Heroes
With the promise of payment and honor, thousands of North Koreans are sent abroad, only to find themselves under constant surveillance and working in harsh conditions - with wages transferred to the government. The film shows how the country and globalization have made a pact: underpaid workers toil for the dictator's nuclear program while the United Nations and the European Union look away.
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Episode
WHY SLAVERY? Maid in Hell
In 2016, Mary Kibwana, who worked as maid in Jordan, returned to Kenya with 70% of her body burned. Kibwana is one of many women in Africa and Asia trapped in the Middle East's Kafala System, a set of law governing migrant labor that binds them to their employers. The film gives unprecedented access to the inner workings the system, and the horrific reality faced by thousands of women each day.
About Season 3
DOC WORLD, an international documentary series showcasing stories that dive deep into the heart of an issue, gives viewers a chance to understand the lives and concerns of people beyond U.S. borders. In the Fall of 2018, season three will premiere with three films that follow refugees fleeing their homes in search of asylum. Hosted by Andia Winslow.
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Preview
Sky and Ground
With the worsening refugee crisis, more families are fleeing the violence in their home countries in hopes of finding safety elsewhere. SKY AND GROUND follows a Syrian family on their three-month journey from Greece to Germany. Facing setbacks, heartaches and threats of deportation, their determination propels them towards a better future.
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Ask the Sexpert
Sex is a taboo topic in India but 93-year-old Dr. Mahinder Watsa is trying to change that. For several decades, he has promoted the importance of pleasure, consent and information as a passage to gender equality and health. But his openness and popularity has not come without consequence - conservatives seek to remove his column and ban comprehensive sex education in schools.
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Los Comandos and Towards the North
Every year, thousands of people flee the extreme gang violence of Central America in hopes of a better life. In LOS COMANDOS, 16-year-old volunteer paramedic Mimi must decide if she will stay in El Salvador or risk her life helping others. TOWARDS THE NORTH is an intimate look into the daily battles of asylum seekers on the run through the eyes of Nelly and her daughter Joseline.
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Visitor's Day
Juan Carlos ran away from an abusive home and lived on the streets of Mexico City before finding his way to IPODERAC, a group home where dedicated staff ensure that the young boys receive the education, training and emotional support they need to heal the scars that haunt them. Follow Juan Carlos as he finds the strength to overcome his sense of abandonment and forgive his father for the past.
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Episode
The Guardians
The iconic monarch butterflies and an indigenous Mexican community depend on the same ancient forest for their survival...but they face uncertainty. Journey through the butterfly dense mountaintops of Michoacan as the people of Donaciano Ojeda face illegal loggers and internal divisions while struggling to build a sustainable path forward.
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¡Las Sandinistas!
Meet the women who overcame traditional gender barriers to lead rebel troops during Nicaragua’s 1979 Sandinista Revolution. The film exposes a watershed moment when women transformed their society’s definition of womanhood before facing renewed marginalization by their male peers. Now, 35 years later, these same women brave the streets to once again lead movements for equality and democracy.
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Episode
Facing the Dragon
As American forces and foreign aid leave Afghanistan, the country's fragile democracy and the recent gains for women hang in the balance. Trapped in the uncertainty are Nilofar and Shakila, who are forced to choose between motherhood and their devotion to reform. FACING THE DRAGON exposes the day-to-day realities of Afghan women on the front lines struggling to maintain their hard-won rights.
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Daze of Justice
Witness the story of Cambodian American women who break decades of silence to resurrect the memory of their loved ones before the UN Special Tribunal prosecuting the Khmer Rouge. In a courageous act, these women, who come face to face with the son of one of Pol Pot's torturers, find it within themselves to reckon with their past so they can extend the promise of redemption to future generations.
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Elephant Path - Njaia Njoku
The survival of the last wild herd of forest elephants in the Central African Republic is threatened by civil war and a poaching crisis driven by the global demand for ivory. ELEPHANT PATH profiles guardians of the herd united in their commitment: a local tracker, an American biologist and an eco-guard. The film is an indelible tale of devotion set against the beauty of the “Village of Elephants."
Specials
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Episode
Five Days to Dance
Monday morning, two choreographers appear in a San Sebastián high school in Spain to work with students who have never danced before. They have "Five Days to Dance;" motivating a classroom full of teenagers outside of their comfort zone to train and perform a complex choreographed work. Can they rise to these challenges and be ready?
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Los Comandos
As a result of extreme gang and police violence, El Salvador has the highest murder rate in the world. The emergency medical unit, Los Comandos de Salvamento, is one of the few institutions that is willing to take a stand against this reign of terror. 16-year-old Mimi, a high school student and volunteer paramedic, must decide if she will stay in the country or risk her life helping others.
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Tashi's Turbine
An uplifting tale of a small village’s attempt to harness renewable, sustainable energy. Friends Tashi and Jeevan journey to Namdok in the hopes of building a stronger Nepal, one wind turbine at a time. But the elements and landscape bring unforeseen difficulties -- increasing the struggle to realize the community’s vision of power created by wind.
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Tocando La Luz
Lis, Margarita and Mily are three blind women trying to survive the rapidly changing country of Cuba. From the music halls of Havana, a cinema club for the blind and a national singing competition, "Tocando la Luz" weaves together the stories of their lives, revealing both the pain and exhilaration of fighting for independence.
