Documentary Production and Distribution News

Announcing Documentary Premieres: TVO's December 2011 Programming Lineup

By StudentFilmmakers.com
posted Nov 18, 2011, 09:41

(Toronto) TVO's December 2011 programming lineup features thought-provoking new documentaries.

Documentary Premieres:

The Market - World Broadcast Premiere
Wednesday December 7, 2011 at 9 pm ET; encore December 11 at 11 pm ET
60 minutes
Directed by Rama Rau
Produced for Storyline Entertainment in association with TVO

The Market is a compelling new documentary from Toronto filmmaker Rama Rau about the international human organ trade and the ethics around buying and selling a kidney. The film centers on two very different people. In Canada, 40-year-old Sandra Bore's kidneys are failing and she has been on a donor waiting list for five years. The statistics are not on her side - every three days a Canadian dies waiting for a new kidney. In India, Hema, a young mother of two, wants to sell her kidney for $2500 so she can pay off the crippling debts of her family. If she sells she will be the fifth member of her family to sell a kidney for an amount that represents several years' wages. Two different people. Two journeys. With one end. To find a kidney, someone has to lose one.

Monty Don's Italian Gardens - North American Premiere
Fridays December 2 to 23, 2011 at 7 pm ET
4 / 60 minutes
Produced by Blink Films

Gardener and TV presenter Monty Don (Gardener's World) journeys from the south of Italy to the north, taking us on a trip around Italy's most beautiful, impressive and historically significant gardens. It's not just a feast for the eyes but an insight into gardens from the early Renaissance, through the Baroque and the Romantic Movement, to the great Italian garden revival of the early twentieth century.

Martin Clunes: Horsepower - North American Premiere
Thursdays December 8 and 15, 2011 at 10 pm ET; encores December 11 and 18 at 7 pm
2 / 50 minutes
Produced by ITV Global and Buffalo Pictures

Actor and horse lover Martin Clunes (Doc Martin, Goodbye Mr. Chips) travels the world to unlock the secrets of a partnership which shaped the world. From remotest Mongolia to the deserts of Arabia, and from the Mustangs of Nevada to the Windsor Greys of Buckingham Palace, the two-part series explores why the horse evolved to be the way it is, why it was possible for humans to connect with it and turn it to our advantage, how horses changed the human world, and what jobs horses used to do for us and what they do today.

In Search of Beethoven - TVO Premiere
Tuesday to Thursday December 13 to 15, 2011 at 9 pm ET
3 / 50 minutes
Produced by Seventh Art Productions

Narrated by Juliet Stevenson, this in-depth and thought-provoking three-part documentary explores the life of Ludwig Van Beethoven and is told through performances and interviews from today's most admired classical musicians. The film explores the truth behind the many layers of myth and legend surrounding a man hailed not only as the world's first truly independent composer, but also the greatest of all time and one whose life story is still shrouded in myth and misunderstanding.

The Wildest Dream: The Conquest of Everest - North American Broadcast Premiere
Sunday December 18, 2011 at 9 pm ET
90 minutes
Produced by Altitude Films and Atlantic Production

Director Anthony Geffen's stunning feature documentary examines whether British explorer George Mallory became the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest during his ill-fated expedition in 1924. Mountaineer Conrad Anker, who discovered Mallory's frozen body in 1999, returns to Everest to retrace Mallory's steps in an effort to solve the enduring mystery of what happened. Narrated by Liam Neeson and featuring the voices of Natasha Richardson, Ralph Fiennes, Hugh Dancy, and Alan Rickman.

 

Resources:

http://www.tvo.org/