A three-part documentary series presented by Alastair Sooke, taking an in-depth look at the art of the Roman Empire. In the documentary Sooke sets out to "debunk the myth that Romans didn't do art and were unoriginal". This is based on the view that Romans heavily incorporated Greek style in their art, and hence produced nothing new or original. 

Episode 2: Pomp and Perversion (59 min) | Click here to watch
Director: Tim Dunn

Alastair Sooke follows in the footsteps of Rome's mad, bad and dangerous emperors in the second part of his celebration of Roman art. He explores the underwater remains of the Emperor Claudius's pleasure palace and ventures into the cave where Tiberius held wild parties. 

The other side of the coin was the bombastic art the Romans are best remembered for - monumental arches and columns that boast about their conquests. Trajan's Column in Rome reads like the storyboard of a modern-day propaganda film. Sooke concludes with the remarkable legacy of the Emperor Hadrian. 

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x74ix17
 

(105 min; 1994; English)
Director: Freida Lee Mock

Recipient of the Oscar Award for Best Documentary, Features, Academy Awards 2015

This award-winning documentary is a portrait of the Chinese American sculptor who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial while an undergraduate student at Yale University. The film tells the gripping story behind the memorial and explores a decade of Maya Lin’s creative works, including the Civil Rights Memorial, revealing her ability to address major issues of our time through the power of art.
 

The Crisis of Civilization (UK) | Click here to watch
(82 min; 2011; English)
Director: Dean Puckett

The Crisis of Civilization is a documentary feature film investigating how global crises like ecological disaster, financial meltdown, dwindling oil reserves, terrorism and food shortages are converging symptoms of a single, failed global system.

https://vimeo.com/34752785
 

Honey at the Top (UK) | Click here to watch
(55 min; 2015; Kikuyu/English and with subtitles)
Director: Dean Puckett

Honey at the Top is a film about the Sengwer forest people of the Cherangani Hills, Kenya, being evicted from their ancestral land in the name of conservation. Facing international pressure from organisations like the World Bank, a corrupt Kenya Forest Service who are burning their houses, and attempts to turn the forest into a commodity through carbon offsetting schemes, the Sengwer fight to hold onto their culture and resist the evictions.

https://vimeo.com/132069480

The Joy of Rachmaninoff (UK)
(60 min; 2016; English)
Director: Benjamin Whalley
A BBC Four production

Tom Service takes a cinematic journey through Russia on the trail of the wondrous yet melancholic melodies of Russian giant Sergei Rachmaninoff. A celebration of a composer's musical triumph over critical adversity and Soviet terror, with performances and contributions from Vladimir Ashkenazy, Denis Matsuev, Steven Isserlis, Stephen Hough, Vladimir Jurowski, Lucy Parham and James Rhodes.

(47 min; 2016; English)
Director: Ian Denyer

Actress Patricia Routledge takes viewers through the life of one of the most well-known children's authors ever, Beatrix Potter, creator of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and Jeremy Fisher.

Routledge, who portrayed Potter in 1998 in the stage play Beatrix and is the writer and presenter of this documentary, and its story is as lovely, colourful, and engaging as any of Beatrix Potter’s illustrated tales. Born in 1866 into a wealthy family in Kensington, London, “artistic talent was in Beatrix’s genes,” says Routledge, who gives viewers of this programme a glimpse of Potter’s childhood art, housed in the archives of the Victoria & Albert Museum. In its collection are many of Potter’s early paintings, including wonderful ones she made in a sketchbook when she was only nine years old.

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME
 

Film: 'The Salt Stories'
(84 min; 2008; b/w & colour; Hindi/English/Gujarati and with English subtitles)
Director: Lalit Vachani

Recipient of the Best Documentary Award, MIAAC 2009; and 2nd Prize, Film South Asia, Kathmandu 2009

In 1930, a group of Indians led by a frail, elderly man marched a distance of 241 miles. They marched for salt. Mahatma Gandhi was able to craft an anti-colonial, nationalist movement around the most basic issue of livelihood: the right of Indians to make and consume their own salt. Set against the backdrop of Gandhi’s original journey, this documentary is a road-movie about issues of livelihood in a modern, globalising India. It is a documentary about ‘the salt stories’ of our times.

Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive  
(120 min; 2006; English) 
Director: Ross Wilson

Stephen Fry presents this documentary exploring the disease of manic depression; a little understood but potentially devastating condition affecting an estimated two percent of the population. Stephen embarks on an emotional journey to meet fellow sufferers, and discuss the literal highs and lows of being bi-polar. Celebrities such as Carrie Fisher and Richard Dreyfuss invite the comedian into their home to relate their stories. Plus Stephen looks into the lives of ordinary people trying to deal with the illness at work and home, and of course to the people studying manic depression in an effort to better control it. A fascinating, moving and ultimately very entertaining Emmy Award-winning program.

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

Coordinator: Maj. Gen. (retd.) Ashok K. Mehta

Two Years after the Chinese PLA Aggression in East Ladakh: How to Break the Stalemate

Panelists: Shri Sushant Singh, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research and former Lecturer in Political Science, Yale University (Fall 2019) and Deputy Editor, The Indian Express; Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Rakesh Sharma, former Commander, 14 Corp and Distinguished Fellow, Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) and Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) and Ambassador Ashok K. Kantha, Director, Institute of Chinese Studies and former Indian Ambassador to China

Chair: Maj. Gen. Ashok Mehta

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

By Nitya Nanda (Routledge India: 2021)

Launch of the book followed by a panel discussion

Launch of the book by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, former Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, New Delhi

Moderator: Dr. Nagesh Kumar, Director, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, New Delhi

Panelists: Prof. Muchkund Dubey, President, Council for Social Development; Prof. Deepak Nayyar, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Prof. R. Nagaraj, Visiting Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram; and Dr. Nitya Nanda, Director, Council for Social Development

(Collaboration: Council for Social Development)