Bangkok is a city of superlatives. This film reveals the best spots in Thailand's largest city: well-known places, and those that are known mostly to insiders. Our report provides a unique guide to Asia's most exciting city. For transportation, visitors and local residents alike can choose from motorized rickshaws, taxis, subways, or the skytrain. There are also express boats that ply the Chao Phraya River -- plus long-tail boats, and vessels that make their way through the city's khlongs, or canals. This journey of discovery takes us to the places where Bangkok residents go to rest and relax -- like the island of Ko Samet in the Gulf of Thailand. This is the capital's version of Wannsee Lake in Berlin. You can book a river cruise, or visit one of the trendy open-air bars perched atop high-rise buildings. A lot of younger Bangkok residents have taken up a bold challenge in this car-friendly city: they've switched to bicycles. Many locals enjoy making a bike visit to the village-like central district, near a big bend in the river -- even when the temperature rises above 30-degrees centigrade. On the islands off the coast, there's plenty of sunshine, beautiful beaches, and clear, warm water -- a mix that attracts crowds of Bangkok residents on weekends.
Eva Braun was Adolf Hitler's secret mistress for more than 13 years. To this day she is viewed as a naïve, apolitical appendage to the dictator and mass murderer. She only became publicly known after her death in 1945, when she and Hitler committed suicide in a bunker in Berlin. This two-part documentary calls into question the image of the vapid young woman at the Führer's side. Eva Braun met Hitler in 1929 and became his lover when she was just 17 years old. During the years of their relationship, she evolved from an average middle class girl to the uncompromising partner of the mass murderer. She remained true to Hitler until death. On 30 April 1945 Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide in the bunker beneath the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. A day earlier, the dictator had married her. But who was this 'bride of evil' really? Hitler's architect Albert Speer referred to her after the war as one of the "disappointments of history". Kept out of the public eye, she spent most of her time in Munich or at Hitler's Berghof residence in the Alps. There she lived officially as the dictator's private secretary. Historian Heike Görtemaker has tracked down and assembled the puzzle pieces of Eva Braun's life in a groundbreaking biography. Behind the assumed gaiety, the author finds a resolute woman who pursued her goals with tremendous toughness right up to her death. For this documentary, filmmaker Michael Kloft conducted detailed interviews with Görtemaker and evaluated the many private films made by Eva Braun as well as the countless photo albums she compiled.
Many stressed urbanites would love to find a way to decelerate their lives. Jan did, and it's harder than it looks. Some consider him a freeloader; others think he's living the dream. Jan built an extraordinary life for himself, free from social constraints like income taxes, pesky mail ... or running water. He's made an island in the Atlantic his second home. He doesn't want people to know his real name or the whereabouts of his little paradise. But exiting the fast lane of life comes at a cost. Jan was willing to pay the price, and has never seemed happier.
The Place Stanislas in the French city of Nancy is one of the most beautiful urban spaces in Europe. Built in the middle of the 18th century, the architectural ensemble includes the Place de la Carrière and the Place de l' Hémicycle, masterpieces of the baroque.