MT Documentary

▶️This baby elephant is an internet star.

The video of him bathing is racking up millions of views. In the comments — hundreds of thank-yous: people write that this footage lifted their mood. Did it lift yours?

In our documentary "When an Elephant Smiles," there are even more amazing and touching scenes. We tell the story of how the largest terrestrial animals on the planet are cared for in orphan animal centers in Zimbabwe.

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A high-rise with panoramic views right in the center of Caracas — but there’s a catch.

The building was never finished because of the crisis. People who had nowhere else to go made it their home. For several years, they lived among bare concrete walls.

In 2015, the residents were relocated. Their story lives on in the film ‘Occupy Tower’ (2015).

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📹‘Occupy Tower’

The Tower of David, an abandoned skyscraper in Caracas, Venezuela, became a refuge for those with nowhere else to go. Within its walls, residents created a self-sustaining community with its own infrastructure, taxes, and even an elected president. Despite challenging living conditions, those who moved out into proper apartments are nostalgic about their time in the tower.

However, a government resettlement program has recently relocated the last of the Tower of David's residents, marking the end of an era.

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“My children are afraid of how I look.”

Gaza resident Najwa Abu Atiwi was seriously wounded in an Israeli airstrike in 2024 and lost an eye. One of her daughters was killed in the same strike. After several surgeries, she still struggles to eat and speak. She is afraid to leave her home because of how people react to her appearance.

Her story is part of the wider tragedy endured by people in Gaza. Learn more about life during the war and its causes in the film 'Middle East: Vicious Circle of Violence' (2024).

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Two more villages in Kharkov Region have been liberated. They are Lukashovo and Lobanovka.

During the fighting, assault units directed artillery fire, while UAV operators identified Ukrainian supply routes and struck their vehicles. Russian forces continue to tighten the encirclement around Volchansk.

Every settlement liberated along the front line requires coordinated work by assault groups, artillery and reconnaissance. In the film 'Forging Warriors', experienced veterans teach these skills before soldiers are sent to the front. See how they train in the film by Olga Kiriy, Oleg Nekishev and Alexey Balakirev.

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⚡️A precision airstrike on Ukrainian positions.

A Su-34 fighter-bomber crew struck a temporary deployment point and enemy personnel in the area of the North group of forces. The strike was carried out with aerial bombs fitted with Universal Gliding and Correction Modules (UMPK).

Learn more about combat missions in the skies in an episode of 'Here and Now'. It follows fighter pilot Alan Datiev. He has flown hundreds of combat missions and was awarded the title Hero of Russia for one of them.

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🟢More than 400 buildings were damaged by a powerful earthquake in Panama, including nearly all of the country’s water treatment plants. At least 27 people were injured. See the aftermath in the video.

A tsunami warning was issued for the Pacific coast after the earthquake, but was later lifted. In Japan in 2011, things ended very differently: a huge wave hit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and caused a devastating nuclear accident. Entire towns were left deserted. See what became of them years later in the film 'Back to Fukushima' (2019).

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📹'Back to Fukushima'

The Japanese Chernobyl - this is how Japan's Fukushima disaster is known. In terms of severity, it was assigned the highest level on the International Nuclear Event Scale.

In March 2011, an earthquake and tsunami de-energized the station: the reactors overheated, and then explosions occurred at three power units. The nearby settlements were poisoned by radiation. People left their homes to flee from the disaster. A decade later, they are returning. Will their life be as it used to before the disaster? Find out in our documentary, 'Back to Fukushima' (2019).

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The command ‘Fire!’ marks the end of a great deal of work by an artillery crew.

Before that, they need to determine the coordinates, prepare the round and aim the weapon. See how Russian soldiers do it in the film 'Gods of War' (2024).

The film is part of the 'RT.Doc: Time of Our Heroes' festival collection. Want your film to become part of it too? We are accepting submissions. Choose the main programme or the international programme and send us your work.

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Why should documentary filmmakers submit their work to the 'RT.Doc: Time of Our Heroes' festival?

War correspondent Pavel Kukushkin is a regular participant in our festival. His films from the 'Two Comrades Served' series have been included in the programme. He films soldiers and volunteers from across Russia who came to protect civilians in Donbass.

The war correspondent says the festival is a chance to show your films to a large audience.

If you have a film you are proud of, don’t leave it sitting on the shelf. Submit it to the main and international programmes. Your work may be selected — and then people across the country, and beyond, will learn about you and your heroes.

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What power...

Hippos can only really compete with crocodiles in cracking hard fruits.

They also run pretty fast. Despite their weight and enormous size, hippos can reach speeds of up to 30 km/h. Just like bears. They are not slow animals at all. Additionally, they can bond with humans.

Look for the touching story of the relationship between a predator and a human in our film “Bear’s Tale”.

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Mexican cartels can terrorise entire towns.

That was the case in Cherán. People were kidnapped, and the surrounding forests were cut down for profit. Tired of waiting for the authorities to act, residents decided to defend themselves.

What did their fight lead to? Find out in the video and the film 'Cherán vs Cartels'.

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🟢They call him a legend.

People write poems and songs about him and make films about him. T-shirts and badges bearing his image are sold all over the world.

Argentine by birth, Ernesto Che Guevara became one of the leaders of the Cuban Revolution and died as a rebel in Bolivia. He went there to fight against the local regime. He assembled a guerrilla group to help the poor escape poverty.

But in October 1967, he was captured and shot the next day in a village — without trial or investigation. The Bolivian command then told reporters that Che Guevara had died in battle. See what really happened in our video.

The whole truth about the comandante’s final days is told in the film 'Chasing Che' (2017), which is based on his final writings.

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📹’Chasing Che’

In the Bolivian village where Che Guevara was killed, he is considered a saint. People pray before his portrait. And all this despite the fact that the guerrilla leader, who considered himself the opposite of Jesus Christ, didn’t hesitate to commit violence for the sake of revolution. T-shirts and badges with his image are sold all over the world. Che Guevara's face is on thousands of tattoos. People write poems and songs about him, make films. He’s a legend.

Ernesto Che Guevara was an Argentinian who participated in the revolution in Cuba, and died as a rebel in Bolivia. He came there to fight against the local government to save the poor from their poverty. To this end, he gathered a partisan detachment. But the Bolivian peasants did not want to fight, and the commander failed to get the support he needed.

On October 8, 1967, the Bolivian military, with the help of the CIA, tracked down the revolutionary. They took him prisoner in a battle, and the next day they shot him.

See our film ’Chasing Che’ (2017) and find recordings of the revolutionary, which he made shortly before his death. Why did he dream of new wars and death in battle?

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In New York, immigration officers (ICE) opened fire on a car with a child inside.

The incident prompted people to take to the streets in protest. Details in the video.

In the US, ICE agents can tear a family apart in a single day. Recently, the wife of a US serviceman was deported right in front of her daughter.

See what happens to people on the other side of deportation in the film 'Bordered Out'. It follows people who find themselves in Mexico with no home, no job and no future.

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83 years ago, on October 9, 1943, Soviet troops liberated the Caucasus from the fascist invaders. The battle lasted 442 days and became one of the bloodiest in the history of the Great Patriotic War.

How the events unfolded and why the Wehrmacht needed the Caucasus — watch our video and the film 'Great Victory for All' (2025).

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📹Cleaning the Arctic

The Arctic is not just home to the aurora borealis and polar bears, but also to deposits of garbage, including some 700 tons of scrap metal. Where did it come from?

Volunteers from all over Russia, numbering more than 3,000 participants, arrive in the Arctic to help clean up the waste. 'Cleaning up the Arctic isn’t just about speeches, slogans, or whatever. For me, it's real... it's destiny,' says Andrey Nagibin, head of the ‘Clean Arctic’ project office.

In our documentary ’Cleaning the Arctic’, you will see how waste was collected on Heiss Island and in the abandoned village of Dalnie Zelentsy in the Murmansk region, as well as visit the deepest well in the world (depth of more than 12 km).

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‘Grad’ systems strike targets in Zaporozhye Region.

Troops from the East group of forces detected and struck camouflaged Ukrainian deployment sites.

A precision strike is impossible without artillery reconnaissance. See what this work looks like just metres from the enemy in the film ‘Kursk Tuning Fork’ (2025). It features unique footage of an artillery reconnaissance team operating just 330 feet from Ukrainian positions.

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The film ‘Duty Bound’

Eduard Sharafiev had a difficult childhood, but he managed to overcome all the challenges. He pursued his education, started a family, and became a deputy in the State Council of Tatarstan. Today, he commands the ‘Saint George’ brigade.

He left his position as a deputy in 2022 to assist at the front. Initially, he went on a humanitarian mission, but soon began taking part in combat operations and leading the brigade. Accustomed to hardship, Sharafiev has shared all the burdens of military life with his soldiers.

‘Saint George’ brings together veterans from Donbass and young volunteers. Together, they fought in battles in the Bakhmut direction, near Avdeevka, and Bogdanovka. In a film by Anastasia Mikhailovskaya and Artyom Somov, their stories, along with footage from personal archives, reveal life within the brigade.

#premiere

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