大象传媒

Judith: Going Back To Congo

Twenty-three-year-old Judith Wanga grew up in London and is proud to be British. But聽Judith was born thousands of miles away in the Democratic Republic Of Congo. She was聽sent聽to live in聽Britain聽by her parents聽when she was just three-years-old.

Twenty years聽later, Judith is going back to聽Congo to meet her parents for the first time. She wants to聽understand the childhood聽she missed聽and find the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle聽of her life.

After聽the reunion with her parents, Judith visits an area聽of the country聽devastated by the conflict, where rape has become聽a weapon of war.聽Judith meets survivors, women and children as well聽as聽perpetrators, and finds out what is driving this brutality.

Discovering聽the聽harsh realities of her homeland, she develops a better understanding of why her parents聽sent her away all those years ago.聽

The film is narrated by Thandie Newton, who is involved in the work of campaign groups in the UK to stop violence against women in the Democratic Republic Of Congo.

LZ

大象传媒 Productions

Nel: From Camden To Kabul

Nel has lived in Camden, London, since she was six, after her family fled the war in Afghanistan. Now 21, Nel longs to know what her life would have been like if she'd grown up there.

On returning to Kabul, Nel learns what life for women was like under the Taliban and sees at first hand how some things have changed for the better. But Nel also finds a world alien to her and discovers some of the heartbreaking restrictions that women still face.聽

She meets girls who face being attacked just for going to school; visits women who have been imprisoned for "morality crimes"; and, behind the closed doors of women's shelters and hospital wards, discovers a world of extreme violence. Nel also meets a relative who is sympathetic towards the Taliban.

Nel: From Camden To Kabul is a humbling tale of one young woman鈥檚 journey to her country of birth. It鈥檚 a journey which gives her a new perspective on her mother鈥檚 decision to leave Afghanistan. 聽

LZ

大象传媒 Productions

Girls On The Frontline

On a tour of duty that none of them will forget, four extraordinary young female soldiers are pushed to their limits as they serve in the British Army on the frontline of the conflict in Afghanistan. Granted unique access, this documentary follows these Girls On The Frontline, and their families back home, through the most challenging time of their lives.

Fiona (an officer), Adele (a bombardier), Zanna (a lance-bombardier) and Holly (a medic) are based just north of Sangin in Helmand province at a forward operating base (FOB) called Inkerman. It has been fired on so many times that it has been nicknamed 鈥淔OB incoming鈥�.

Filmed over six months, this documentary explores how these young women, all in their twenties, face the challenges of some of the most violent months in Afghanistan for British forces so far.

FS

大象传媒 Productions, Northern Ireland

Dangerous Pleasures Season

大象传媒 Current Affairs presents a series of five documentaries, exploring the darker sides of what some people will do for fun.

Sun, Sex & Holiday Madness

The exploits of young Britons聽abroad often hit the headlines, but are holidaymakers聽risking more than just their reputations?聽

In Sun, Sex & Holiday Madness, 大象传媒 Radio聽1 DJ Greg James聽joins British tourists聽heading to party capital Magaluf on the Spanish island of Mallorca, to聽examine the risks聽that many seem all too willing to聽take with their mind, body and soul.

With聽access to ambulance units and hospitals,聽Greg meets the Brits who openly admit to putting their聽health at risk聽in search of a good time, even if it means knocking years off their life. He also follows the stories of the tourists who are forced to swap a sun lounger by the pool for a hospital ward.

In a unique experiment putting this non-stop party lifestyle to the test, three young Britons allow Greg and Magaluf hospital staff to give them a check-up before and after four days of partying to see what impact it has on their health.

大象传媒 Front Desk Publicity

大象传媒 Productions, Manchester

Dangerous Pleasures Season

大象传媒 Current Affairs presents a series of five documentaries, exploring the darker sides of what some people will do for fun.

Stag Weekends 鈥� The Dirty Secrets

The聽British stag party has聽changed聽in the聽last ten years. In many cases a drink聽down the pub with dad has been replaced by three or four nights聽in a聽foreign聽city far from prying eyes and geared to meet the stag party鈥檚 every desire.

But stag weekends hide some dirty secrets. 大象传媒 reporter Simon Boazman investigates the impact that the聽拢500m聽a聽year聽stag industry is having on the sex trade聽in Europe and shows how stags聽that go abroad聽are fuelling the illegal trafficking of women.

Journeying across Europe, Simon visits the desperately poor areas from which the victims of the traffickers are drawn.聽One woman tells how she was tricked into leaving her family聽with聽promises of a better聽life. Once she got to Amsterdam, a favourite stag destination,聽she was repeatedly raped and forced into prostitution.

大象传媒 Front Desk Publicity

大象传媒 Productions

Dangerous Pleasures Season

大象传媒 Current Affairs presents a series of five documentaries, exploring the darker sides of what some people will do for fun.

Cannabis: Britain's Secret Farms

Cannabis: Britain's Secret Farms unravels the boom in home grown cannabis and looks into the issues facing the police, from the DIY set ups of smokers in their own homes to sophisticated farms run by international organised gangs, often with links to human trafficking and terrorism.

Presenter Rickie Haywood-Williams (大象传媒 Three's My Weapon Is A Dog), sets out to discover the true impact of the UK鈥檚 skunk-smoking habit. Rickie accompanies Avon And Somerset Police on raids, rides in a heat-seeking helicopter as it uncovers cannabis farms with thermal imaging equipment, and meets some of the landlords and homeowners horrified to find their 鈥渢enants鈥� are really criminals who have ripped their property apart.

Rickie also journeys to Amsterdam to check out cannabis culture, and meets some of the UK鈥檚 3 million smokers, from those who fiercely defend their habit, to others who regret the effect it has had on their lives.

大象传媒 Front Desk Publicity

A Century Films production

Dangerous Pleasures Season

大象传媒 Current Affairs presents a series of five documentaries, exploring the darker sides of what some people will do for fun.

What Would You Do For A Tan?

Since shooting to fame in 2002 in one of Britain鈥檚 greatest girl groups, Girls Aloud, Nicola Roberts has had to deal with life in the spotlight. Everyone seems to have an opinion on her clothes, hair and naturally pale complexion.

In this one-off documentary, Nicola takes a personal journey around the UK to explore the culture of tanning among young people, and the extremes to which some will go to achieve the perfect tan.

Nicola meets young women whose love of tanning has become an addiction, using sun beds four or five times a week. She also meets girls in their early teens who, like Nicola when she was young, come under peer-pressure to conform.聽Nicola reveals how she gradually overcame her early reliance on fake tan to become more confident in her own skin.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in under-35s in the UK and Nicola visits the hospital wards where some of the estimated 120 under-40s who die from skin cancer each year are treated. In What Would You Do For A Tan? top dermatologists and cancer experts explain the risks to which young many people are exposing themselves.

Nicola also meets the families of some of those who have died from melanoma 鈥� and who are now pushing for a change in the law to protect the young from the tanning industry.

IV

Ricochet - Globe Productions

Dangerous Pleasures Season

大象传媒 Current Affairs presents a series of five documentaries, exploring the darker sides of what some people will do for fun.

Only Stwpd Cowz Txt N Drive - (a.k.a. "COW")

A graphic film highlighting the dangers of texting while driving, produced for the Gwent police force with Brynmawr film-maker Peter Watkins Hughes, has become an internet hit across the globe.

Although people are aware of the laws against driving while using a mobile phone, many still aren't aware of the dangers of texting while driving, an offence in Britain since 2006. The film seeks to highlight this to dramatic effect as it follows fictional schoolgirl girl Cassie Cowan, nicknamed Cow. She and her friends are involved in a horrific car crash after she loses concentration behind the wheel while texting.

A four-minute taster clip of the film, generally known as COW, has been seen by millions of viewers on YouTube, and has gained global attention. American media including Fox News, NBC News, and The New York Times have picked it up, highlighting that the issue hits home worldwide.

Gwent Chief Constable Mick Giannasi has said he is astonished but encouraged by the way news of the film has spread, and that he has received calls and emails from people across the saying how moved they were by the film.

"Young people think they can text in autopilot because they do it so instinctively," he says. "For that reason we need to use strong imagery to make them to sit up and take notice."

MO