The Jupiter Menace

Accidental Climber

Jim Geiger, a retired forest ranger and amateur mountaineer, attempts to become the oldest American and first great grandfather to summit Mt. Everest, aged 68. His transformation from a weekend hiker to attempting one of the most extreme and physically demanding feats known to man is driven by a desire to prove that age is just a number. What ensued, however, forever changed Jim's life.

The Great San Francisco Earthquake

An account of the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the subsequent effort to rebuild.

Siberian Apocalypse

This astounding documentary delves into the mysteries of the Tunguska event – one of the largest cosmic disasters in the history of civilisation. At 7.15 am, on 30th June 1908, a giant fireball, as bright the sun, exploded in the sky over Tunguska in central Siberia. Its force was equivalent to twenty million tonnes of TNT, and a thousand times greater than that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. An estimated sixty million trees were felled over an area of over two thousand square kilometres - an area over half the size of Rhode Island. If the explosion had occurred over London or Paris, hundreds of thousands of people would have been killed.

Fire Front

Leading Australian documentarian Eddie Martin puts viewers on the frontlines of the deadly 2019–2020 bushfires, capturing the catastrophe with a perspective and scale never before seen. 24 million hectares were burnt, 3000 homes were destroyed, 33 people died, and nearly three billion animals perished or were displaced. Fire Front is a powerful account of that calamitous antipodean summer, told from the ground where climate change took on the face of hell.

The Blizzard of '49

This one-hour documentary film tells the story of "Storm of the Century: The Blizzard of '49" - the worst series of storms in Wyoming's history. But for all the tragedy and loss, suffering and death, there was also hope and heroism, unselfish sacrifice and generosity. The blizzard brought out the best in people. Wyoming citizens from all walks of life cooperated together and demonstrated exceptional ingenuity in the face of dire circumstances. There were extraordinary acts of kindness, with people generously giving their time and resources. The public worked together to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles and ultimately won in the end.

Blood and Water

When the 2004 tsunami hit the coast of Sri Lanka, 65-year-old Anton Ambrose's wife and daughter were killed. "In five minutes," he says, "I lost everything." A year later, Anton returns to Sri Lanka. With him is his nephew, award-winning filmmaker Rohan Fernando. A Tamil, Anton moved to California in the 1970s and became a very successful gynecologist. His daughter, Orlantha, made the opposite journey, returning to Sri Lanka where she ran a non-profit group that gave underprivileged children free violin lessons. Blood and Water is the story of one man's search for meaning in the face of overwhelming loss, but it is also filled with improbable characters, unintentional comedy and situational ironies.

A Global Warning?

Global warming in context. What the climate of the past tells us about the climate of the future.

Cooked: Survival by Zip Code

Filmmaker Judith Helfand's searing investigation into the politics of “disaster” – by way of the deadly 1995 Chicago heat wave, in which 739 residents perished (mostly Black and living in the city’s poorest neighborhoods).

The Great Famine

When a devastating famine descended on Soviet Russia in 1921, it was the worst natural disaster in Europe since the Black Plague in the Middle Ages. Examine Herbert Hoover’s American Relief Administration—an operation hailed for its efficiency, grit and generosity. By the summer of 1922, American kitchens were feeding nearly 11 million Soviet citizens a day.

Dream of San Juan

The last representatives of Mixteco culture inhabit a village in the Sierra Madre. Deprived of their identity by modern civilization, they are facing an even bigger threat: a landslide that may destroy the village during the next torrential rains. The mayor tries to prevent the disaster. He wants to invite a geologist, so that the approaching danger can be officially confirmed. But no help is coming and the inhabitants must simply wait for the disaster.

The 11th Hour

A look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet's ecosystems. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolse

Vecinos del volcán

The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari

A close examination of the Whakaari / White Island volcanic eruption of 2019 in which 22 lives were lost, the film viscerally recounts a day when ordinary people were called upon to do extraordinary things, placing this tragic event within the larger context of nature, resilience, and the power of our shared humanity.

Trouble the Water

"Trouble the Water" takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. The film opens the day before the storm makes landfall--just blocks away from the French Quarter but far from the New Orleans that most tourists knew. Kimberly Rivers Roberts, an aspiring rap artist, is turning her new video camera on herself and her Ninth Ward neighbors trapped in the city. Weaving an insider's view of Katrina with a mix of verité and in-your-face filmmaking, it is a redemptive tale of self-described street hustlers who become heroes--two unforgettable people who survive the storm and then seize a chance for a new beginning.

Metamorfosi

Machines relentlessly working under the scorching sun. Pumps, reels, and unbearable horizons behind corrugated metal sheets that spark at the touch. Eleven months after the devestated floods of 2023, the rural greek settlement of Metamorfosi, awaits the end of a suffocating August and its inevitable transformation.

Filomena

The Filomena snowstorm in central Spain was undoubtedly exceptional. Its return period in many places exceeded half a century, particularly in Madrid. Despite accurate weather forecasts, Filomena brought roads, public transport, health centers, and other basic services in Madrid to a standstill. What went wrong in the management of this weather event?

The Girl and The Tsunami

February 2010. On a remote island in the Pacific Ocean called Juan Fernández, everyone slept in town. But a 12-year-old girl felt a tremor and warned of imminent danger.

Encounter with Disaster

Depicts assorted natural and human disasters, including the crash of the Hindenburg (1937), earthquakes in Alaska (1964) and Long Beach (1933), the LeMans auto racing crash at which 82 people were killed (1955), Hurrican Camille (1964), the eruption of the Mt. Etna volcano (1971), a tornado (1974), the collapse of Idaho's Teton Dam (1976), the sinking of the Andrea Doria (1956) and the Texas City explosion which devastated Galveston (1947).

Life After People

In this special documentary that inspired a two-season television series, scientists and other experts speculate about what the Earth, animal life, and plant life might be like if, suddenly, humanity no longer existed, as well as the effect humanity's disappearance might have on the artificial aspects of civilization.

Tsunami: 20 Years On

Acclaimed Australian journalist Ray Martin and remarkable Australians return to the epicentre of the tragedy, uncovering incredible stories of hope and resilience.