Program

THE STORY OF PLASTIC takes a sweeping look at the man-made crisis of plastic pollution and the worldwide effect it has on the health of our planet and the people who inhabit it.

9-year-old Marwa is a lively, inquisitive child. She and her family live in the world’s largest camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan but hope to return home soon. Weeks turn into years and Marwa blossoms from a cheeky child into a teenager.

When a Mexican school bus was attacked in 2014 by unknown assailants and 43 young people disappeared without a trace, the world was horrified. The waves of random, brutal violence in the troubled country had reached a level that could not be ignored. But the investigations ran aground in loose theories and corruption, while the drug cartels continued ravaging.

What could be more mundane and ordinary than a woman’s period? And yet for many women, periods come with stigma and taboos. WOMENstruate offers an insight into the menstrual experience of seven women across Africa.

In the 1990s, China launched a campaign to extract blood plasma from its citizens. The government paid villagers to donate blood, but most of the equipment was contaminated with HIV. A massive HIV/AIDS crisis ensued.