Witness
Season 19
Episodes for 2024
Spain’s Housing Battles: A pensioner-turned-activist fights evictions
Under threat of eviction, Antonio emerges from his quiet retirement to fight for housing rights in Spain. Antonio and Maria are a Spanish couple in their 80s from Madrid. For the first time in their lives, they are finding it difficult to afford gas and electricity bills. They are struggling with the rising cost of living taking grip across Europe. To make matters worse, their rent has just been increased and there are no housing laws to protect them. Antonio and his wife have nowhere else to go. They decide to join their neighbours who are applying pressure on the Spanish authorities to bring in fair rental regulations. Faced with the possibility of losing his home, Antonio unwittingly goes from a quiet retirement to becoming the face of a grassroots movement that is giving hope to his community. Spain’s Housing Battles is a documentary film by Rodrigo Hernandez and Adriana Cardoso.
Fire Beneath Her: Battling wildfires in Indonesian Borneo
A young Indonesian Indigenous leader makes bold plans to protect her village from Borneo’s wildfires. A new fire season crackles to life in Kalimantan as 29-year-old Emmanuela Shinta monitors the air quality and distributes face masks to thousands of villagers expecting the worst. But she knows it is not enough. Each year, the region is prone to deadly fires caused by deforestation, trapping Borneo in a permanent state of ecological crisis. The fires of 2015 were so formidable, the haze could be seen from outer space. Now, climate change events also threaten to exacerbate the tinderbox conditions under the forest floor. Shinta starts raising funds to buy a plot of forest that she hopes will save her village from going up in flames. Fire Beneath Her is a documentary film by Denise Dragiewicz and Anson Hartford.
Echoes of Bagram: Moazzam Begg returns to Afghanistan
Human rights advocate Moazzam Begg returns to Afghanistan to battle demons and champion justice in the shadow of war. Haunted by nightmares of torture and abuse, British human rights campaigner Moazzam Begg decides to return to Afghanistan to confront the horrors of his past. Moazzam was detained at the notorious Bagram and Guantanamo Bay prisons without charge or trial, before being released in 2003. Ever since, Moazzam has fought for the rights of those imprisoned during the so-called, US-led war on terror. In Afghanistan, Moazzam advocates for the freedom of Mohammad Rahim, the last Afghan held in Guantanamo Bay. As the nation grapples with the scars of war under new Taliban leadership, can Moazzam ever make peace with his past? Echoes of Bagram is a film by Michael McEvoy and Horia El Hadad.
Ukraine: Escaping the Darkness
In war-torn Ukraine, a family weighs the dangers of leaving their makeshift bunker for the promise of freedom outside. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a young family endures life in Mykolaiv’s subterranean haven, “The Garages”. As the front line shifts, volunteer soldier Yuri is determined to keep his family safe underground even when their neighbours return to life outside. But his wife, Svetlana, is craving a normal home, and their teenage daughters are growing restless in isolation. When a chance for a new life emerges in the countryside, the family must reach an agreement, balancing their dreams and fears. Ukraine: Escaping the Darkness is a film by Clement Gargoullaud.
A Vision of Justice: Chile’s first blind senator
An Indigenous mother rises in Chilean politics when she is caught in the crossfire of a polarised nation. On her way to work, Fabiola Campillai was blinded when she was shot in the face with a tear gas canister by police during Chile’s 2019 uprising. Despite having no experience in politics, the Indigenous mother and former factory worker decides to fight for justice and run for parliament. Campillai is elected Chile’s first blind senator. The policeman who attacked her goes on trial as she meets other survivors of police brutality seeking reparations. Campillai knows her fight is far bigger than just her case. But she faces another unexpected attack – this time from within Chile’s polarised parliament. A Vision of Justice is a documentary film by Nancy Roberts.
Tunisia’s Fields of Resilience: The reality for female farmworkers
In rural Tunisia, a mother toils in the fields to secure life-changing surgery for her daughter. From the cold of winter to the scorching heat of summer, Noura works long hours in Tunisia’s fertile fields to earn a living. Alongside other women, Noura travels every day to the farm on the back of a truck. The women are poorly equipped and paid very little for the extreme working conditions. Noura’s motivation comes from saving her daughter, Reem, from a similar fate. Reem was born with a congenital jaw abnormality and needs multiple surgeries. Noura has little support from her husband who often threatens to leave. She has no option but to fight on her own to secure a better future for her daughter. Tunisia’s Fields of Resilience is a documentary film by Maya Youssef.
London Grown: Roots of Resistance
In London, a city farmer battles to preserve her community’s green sanctuary in the face of soaring costs of living. For at least a decade, Sandra Salazar D’Eca has taught the art of growing food in North London, with a focus on empowering the Black community. What started as a hobby has become a vital survival strategy for many. But Sandra’s food growing projects come under threat when the council announces a three-fold increase in annual rents to local farming allotments. “My life is finished,” says 88-year-old Momma Selma, who has been growing food in the allotment for 50 years. Sandra leads a grassroots resistance to save the community’s sanctuary, but will she lose herself in the process? London Grown is a documentary film by Richard Mejeh.
Praying for Armageddon: Evangelicals, the US and the Middle East (Part 1)
Episode 1 of a doomsday political thriller about evangelical Christian influence on US foreign policy in the Middle East. The first episode of Praying for Armageddon goes inside the evangelical Christian movement to explore its influence on US democracy and foreign policy. Preparing for the “end times”, a grassroots pastor gathers an army of veterans in the heartland of the United States, and megachurch ministers provide spiritual advice to politicians in the nation’s capital. They call for the “final battle” which they believe will trigger the second coming of Christ. Central to their apocalyptic prophecy is Israel. It is with their blessing that the Trump administration controversially recognises Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moves the US embassy there in 2018. “It feels like everyone has a say about the destiny and the future of Jerusalem except for the Palestinians living in it,” says Palestinian activist Fayrouz Sharqawi.
Praying for Armageddon: How evangelicals affect the Middle East (Part 2)
The second episode of Praying for Armageddon examines the dangerous consequences of the fusion between evangelical Christians and US politics.
My Father, Nour and I: Confronting intergenerational trauma
A refugee from Iraq looks into his family’s past and wonders if his childhood trauma will affect his young son.
Holding Up the Sky: Saving the Indigenous Yanomami tribe in Brazil’s Amazon
A Brazilian tribal leader warns that illegal mining in forests will have dire consequences for the rest of the world.
Growing Together: A former MOVE family reunites after prison in the US
As he turns 40, Mike Africa Jr experiences life with his parents for the first time after they’re released from prison.
West Bank: Family Under Fire
A Palestinian family of activists in the occupied West Bank resist settler expansion as violence intensifies.
Small Town Safe House: Gender-based violence in a South African town
In a town plagued by rape and murder, a community worker is determined to help vulnerable young women.
Remains: The collision of science and America’s Indigenous people
A Danish scientist’s search for the earliest DNA in the United States uncovers profound ethical and personal dilemmas.
Stateless in Syria
A controversial aid worker is stranded in war-torn Syria when he is deprived of his citizenship by the United Kingdom’s government.
Neymar: Bolivia’s Ladder Boy
An 11-year-old cemetery worker in Bolivia dreams of a better education as he struggles to support his family.
Cine-Guerillas: How media helped win the Algerian Independence War
How media was used as a political weapon in the anticolonial struggle during the Algerian war of independence.
Not in My Name: One of the leading Jewish voices supporting Gaza
Antony Loewenstein is a leading Jewish voice criticising Israel’s attacks on Gaza, but some have branded him a traitor.
Paris: Game Changers – Defying the hijab ban on French athletes
A French Muslim athlete challenges a hijab ban in basketball with an inclusive tournament ahead of the Paris Olympics.
The Volunteer: A Vietnam War veteran’s 50-year search for his friend
A Japanese American veteran finds his friend who saved his life when he was mistaken for the enemy in the Vietnam War.
Anxious in Beirut: Capturing a city’s struggle for survival
Living with constant anxiety in Lebanon, Zakaria Jaber documents the revolution, COVID-19 and the Beirut port explosion over three years.
What’s Troubling Her? Treating women’s mental health in Afghanistan
A 26-year-old psychologist, Mehriya Qadiri, treats young women as a mental health crisis unfolds across Afghanistan.
Murky Waters: A humanitarian’s fight for justice
A humanitarian volunteer with a Danish NGO is charged with human trafficking and must fight to clear his name.
The Human Cost of Coffee: Rescuing slave workers in Brazil’s farms
From raids to rescues, a survivor of slave labour uncovers the exploitation of workers on Brazilian coffee farms.
35th JULY – Bangladesh’s Deadly Protest
On the deadliest day of protests in Bangladesh, a photojournalist captures images from all sides of the front lines.
Pure Unknown: Fighting for the right to be identified in death
An Italian forensic anthropologist identifies bodies of unknown people and campaigns for their right to be identified.
Of Caravan and the Dogs: The fall of independent journalism in Russia
Russia’s independent journalists face difficult choices in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Donga’s Diary: Libya’s Decade of War
Through his extensive video archive, Donga looks back on how events in Libya over 10 years changed him and his nation.
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