STIRR

Documentary Movies

Giant Pink \'S\': A Story Of Survival, The

Giant Pink \'S\': A Story Of Survival, The

Lesser Flamingo numbers are declining, so ornithologist Mark Anderson came up with the idea of constructing an artificial breeding island for the birds in Kimberley, South Africa. A local mining company agreed to help with the construction of a giant S-shaped island. The birds accepted the island as their home, and in their first successful breeding season, over 9000 chicks hatched. As a result the project has received world wide acclaim.

Duration : 29m
Maturity Level : all

Nelson Mandela: A Special Tribute

Nelson Mandela: A Special Tribute

A special report that plays tribute to the South Africa\'s greatest leader Nelson Mandela, by telling the full story of his dramatic life.

Duration : 1h 27m
Maturity Level : all

Stranded

Stranded

On the 29th May 2009, 55 False Killer Whales swam ashore at Kommetjie beach in Cape Town. The public swamped the beach in an attempt to keep the beached whales alive, but before the sun set all the whales had been shot dead by authorities in bid to end their suffering. This tragic event is the starting point for a film which delves into the events of that fateful day and also examines the worldwide phenomena of why cetaceans beach.

Duration : 50m
Maturity Level : all

Space Hero: China\'s First Man In Space

Space Hero: China\'s First Man In Space

China’s manned space programme was launched in 1992. Only two countries, the Soviet Union and the United States, had successfully launched a man into space, and China was determined to be the third. The space programme was conducted in secrecy. So great was the secrecy that the name of the first astronaut wasn’t made public until after he was in orbit. Yang Liwei stepped into the capsule as an unknown pilot. When he came back to Earth 14 orbits later he had become China’s first space hero.

Duration : 1h 11m
Maturity Level : all

Out Of Africa: Frogs In Demand

Out Of Africa: Frogs In Demand

In recent times, frogs from every continent around the world have suffered from unexplained high death rates, resulting in various species’ extinctions. Join Professor Louis du Preez and Marius Burger as they discover the reason for the decline of amphibians.

Duration : 50m
Maturity Level : all

Evil Unmasked: Silence Of The Bones

Evil Unmasked: Silence Of The Bones

Swaziland 2001, about 35 women and five children are found dead in the Malkerns forest. Their decomposing bodies can only be identified by the clothes lying near their remains. David Simelane allegedly confesses to the slayings and leads the police on a gruesome discovery of all the bodies. Seven years later he is still on trial. A trial dogged by controversy, ill witnesses and even a suicide attempt by Simelane himself. It is by far the longest trial in Swazi history.

Duration : 24m
Maturity Level : all

On The Edge: Search And Rescue On Table Mountain

On The Edge: Search And Rescue On Table Mountain

Cape Town’s Table Mountain looks an easy climb. Droves of people chance their luck every day, but inexperience and unfamiliarity take their toll. Seasoned climbers are caught out by the Cape’s notoriously fickle weather. ‘On The Edge’ is a documentary about the volunteers who make up the search and rescue team that responds to the emergency calls. They’re a tight-knit group of people - expert mountaineers whose day-to-day lives are continually disrupted by the high drama of mountain rescue.

Duration : 54m
Maturity Level : all

Mountain Rivals

Mountain Rivals

In the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa, the black eagle rules the skies. When an early spring brings the promise of abundance, a pair of black eagles takes a gamble. With a two month-old eaglet still on the nest, Emoyeni and Quatele mate again. For the first time ever recorded, black eagles attempt to breed twice in one season. Our pair of eagles is on the nest with not two but three newly hatched chicks. They were the first black eagles known to attempt double-brooding.

Duration : 57m
Maturity Level : all

Rat Roads

Rat Roads

Rat Roads chronicles the unforgettable journey of a Rwandan orphan from his birth in a refugee camp in 1972 to him taking the podium at the University of Pretoria in 2011 to receive a masters degree in law - an extraordinary achievement for someone who had survived genocide, committed atrocities in Africa\'s bloodiest civil war and walked to South Africa where he slept in parks and lived as a street child.

Duration : 50m
Maturity Level : all

Streetwise

Streetwise

Some 7,000 herons permanently live in Amsterdam. They belong to three large colonies spread across the city: Frankendael Park in the east, Beatrix Park in the south, and at the city\'s zoo, directly above the pelican pond. Most people like these peculiar long-legged thieves, but if you run a fast-food restaurant or live next door to the lady who feeds them twice a day, then these birds can become quite a nuisance.

Duration : 52m
Maturity Level : all

Sumatra\'s Last Tigers

Sumatra\'s Last Tigers

In 2009 a resin tapper was killed in the forests of Sumatra’s Jambi Province. In the following months there were seven more killed by the 200lb tiger. With few left in the wild, time is running out to save them. Humans are not normally on the menu for these tigers but the destruction of their habitat and prey means this majestic has been left with no choice. Hope lies with a small group of dedicated individuals. Specially trained forest rangers must find the tiger before local hunters do.

Duration : 50m
Maturity Level : all

A Kingdom For The Dzanga Gorillas

A Kingdom For The Dzanga Gorillas

Deep in the equatorial heart of the Congo Basin lives a tiny colony of gorillas. These are the last survivors of earth\'s largest primate species. Until now, they lived a quiet, secret life away from people. But with human development on the horizon, the race is now on to ensure that Congo’s gorillas have a permanent home in the future. This is the extraordinary tale of Chloe Cipoletta\'s struggle to help them acclimate to eco-tourism in a last-bid attempt to preserve their kind.

Duration : 52m
Maturity Level : all

All The President’s Elephants

All The President’s Elephants

Sharon Pincott, from Queensland, Australia, ditches her sports car, friends and material possessions to pursue a dangerous life in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe – as self-appointed caretaker of the ‘presidential herd’ of elephants. Sharon has formed one of the most remarkable relationships between humans and wild elephants ever documented, and now you can share the experience with her!

Duration : 52m
Maturity Level : all

Green Tree Ants: Friend Or Foe?

Green Tree Ants: Friend Or Foe?

All over the coastal tropics of northern Australia and south east Asia, local armies of 500,000 soldiers are on standby. They wage a control war on invasive insect species. In their super-sized satellite outposts we investigate their rise to power. They are the green tree ants. This film takes a fascinating, terrifying look at their unique parallel world, and examine how science is using their combative behaviour to influence in better farming and organic production practices.

Duration : 49m
Maturity Level : all

Little Matters: Spiders

Little Matters: Spiders

LIttle Matters: Spiders shows the five most dangerous species for humankind. They are prodigious engineers, surprising hunters and of course they are our main friend to keep insects in balanced numbers. Spiders are crucial for the ecosystems of the world. We will observe the incredible ways tarantulas defend themselves and the very maternal aspects of spider moms breeding their offspring.

Duration : 48m
Maturity Level : all

Coming Of Age: The ANC\'s Hundred Year Of Struggle

Coming Of Age: The ANC\'s Hundred Year Of Struggle

The African National Congress. From its founding in 1912, through the dark days of apartheid to the almost miraculous transition to democracy in the early 1990s, the ANC had been a centre stage in the fight for human rights in South Africa. By talking to liberation leaders who lived through the dramatic episodes of development, this film gauges the party\'s values, ideals and aspirations as it moved painfully towards negotiation and ultimately, liberation.

Duration : 52m
Maturity Level : all

Cool School

Cool School

In 2010, forty young people from around the world went on a Youth Expedition to Antarctica to see firsthand what was really happening to our planet. What they saw and learnt was made into a film which was viewed around the planet. This film created a ripple, people started to question and care about the planet. They became known as The Climate Crusaders that inspired a new generation to change to a more sustainable way of living. THIS IS THEIR STORY.

Duration : 52m
Maturity Level : all

Denis Goldberg: Sentenced With Mandela

Denis Goldberg: Sentenced With Mandela

Denis Goldberg was the only white anti-apartheid activist to be convicted at the 1964 trial in which Nelson Mandela and his comrades were sentenced to life imprisonment. The film opens with Denis returning for the first time to the cell at Pretoria Prison, where he was incarcerated for 22 years. He describes his journey into the shadowy world of underground resistance against apartheid, his dramatic arrest, prison and finally his controversial release, to observe apartheid\'s collapse from exile.

Duration : 51m
Maturity Level : all

Into The Dragon\'s Lair

Into The Dragon\'s Lair

Didier Noirot, a diver with Jacques Cousteau on over 5000 dives, along with South African photographer Roger Horrocks, notorious for his daring shark photography, team up to dive with the giant Nile crocodile - the last predator on earth which views humans as prey. Before meeting Roger, Didier battles overwhelming fear, poor visibility and diving partners too terrified to back them up.

Duration : 52m
Maturity Level : all

Mandela: City

Mandela: City

The formidable racial prejudice that Nelson Mandela encounters on moving to Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city, leads to his rapid politicization and fight to topple apartheid. The programme charts the events that began one of the most legendary civil rights campaigns of the 20th century.

Duration : 56m
Maturity Level : all

Comrade President: The Man From Nkandla

Comrade President: The Man From Nkandla

Born into poverty in apartheid South Africa, Jacob Zuma defies his destiny, by making the difficult journey to the highest office of his newly liberated country. Zuma is a young Zulu herdboy, with no formal education, who is stirred into a political awakening by stories of local rebellions and socialist revolutions in distant corners of the world. But his survival skills, sophisticated legal team, and long-standing connections with intelligence networks, help him survive as President.

Duration : 48m
Maturity Level : all

Ekasi Stars: A Township Story

Ekasi Stars: A Township Story

As the FIFA 2010 World Cup marketing machine gets underway, a small community on the outskirts of Cape Town prepares for its own football competition. The excitement is tempered by poverty and overhanging threat of eviction; a stark reminder of the ongoing disparity in the shadow of Cape Town’s Table Mountain. Wandile Tonqa, a boy from this community feels these challenges. In his final year at school he must find a job to support himself and his sister in their small shack.

Duration : 24m
Maturity Level : all

Mommy, My Killer

Mommy, My Killer

On December 31 2012, a 2-year old Cape Town boy is reported missing by his mother. She joins the two-day search for her son and later confesses to killing him. Police say they are also investigating the deaths of her other two children, initially believed to have died of natural causes. She is found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison for premeditated murder.

Duration : 24m
Maturity Level : all

Dugong & Din

Dugong & Din

On a distant island near Borneo, an 8 year-old boy called Din keeps an incredible secret. He has forged a friendship with one of the rarest and shyest creatures in the ocean, a dugong – or sea cow. Dugong & Din is the heart-warming story of this friendship, of how, in the warm waters of the South China Sea, the bond between a boy and a giant sea mammal grew without limitation. We also expose the plight of the islanders who have lived in harmony with nature for centuries, until now.

Duration : 50m
Maturity Level : all