Olongapo City in the Philippines is bounded on one end by the US naval base on Subic Bay, and on the other by a line of massage parlours, bars, discos, pool-halls, and short-time hotels where 15,000 young and pretty Filipinas cater to the base's 'rest and recreation' needs. Rose is one of the bar-girls who dreams of marrying an American sailor. The dream comes true for over 1,000 Filipinas every year, but for many the way they earn their living has disastrous consequences. 1/10.

The Palio di Siena is the most dangerous horse race in the world. It is the culmination of the Sienese year, where ancient rivalries between districts come to a head. This film goes behind the scenes to show the lives of two enemy districts as they try to make their dream come true.

Once feared by explorers as fierce cannibals, the Mangbetu tribe inhabit the edge of the Zaire rainforest in the heart of Africa. Although they don't eat people any more, they still cling to their traditions of hallucinogenic rituals and retain a deep faith in magic and sorcery, despite the efforts of missionaries to change them.

In the rice village of Kurokawa, the contradictions of rural life in Japan are particularly evident. Tradition appears strong, but this close-knit community is living through a time of enormous change. Today, Gonjiro, the grandson of a prosperous farmer and master of the Noh theatre, keeps his house and land by dividing his time between farming, construction work and the Tokyo railway. His predicament is to find a balance between the practical and the ideal.

The pilgrimage to Kumbh Mela is the largest gathering of people in the world. Every 12 years, millions come to the holiest place in India - where two great rivers meet. Discover how and why it happens through the eyes of three people: one of Hinduism's five pontiffs, a rupee billionaire pilgrim, and the man who organises this mega-event.

For centuries, semi-nomadic Arabs have brought camels along the '40-day road' from central Sudan to the camel markets of Egypt. Follow one group as they make the arduous 800-mile trip across great stretches of desert, evading thieves and battling sandstorms to reach the Nile.

In a world where there are no hospitals or doctors, the medicine man or shaman cures the sick using purely supernatural powers. Jose is a master shaman of the Yaminahua tribe in the Peruvian Amazon. His young apprentice Curaka only came into contact with the outside world five years ago, when his group of Yaminahua were decimated by a flu epidemic. Does Curaka have the strength and determination to learn how to cure?

An intimate and moving portrait of a young Filipino couple trying to survive in the slums of Manila. Celso and Cora are sharply aware of the injustices they have to suffer, but there is no self pity as they describe the problems they face bringing up two young children on what little they make selling cigarettes outside hotels and discos. They provide a glimpse of a side of Manila tourists rarely see, navigating extreme poverty with dignity and humour. (TV edit of feature film)

Estonia is in the forefront of Soviet nationalist movements awakened by glasnost. As Estonian Jews celebrate their new freedom, they remain fearful and contemplate emigration. The film focuses on a four-generation family as they go about their daily lives and try to act as if the new freedoms in the Soviet Union are here to stay.

General Pinochet's violent military coup ended a long tradition of democracy in Chile. For the Santiago shanty town of La Victoria this has meant years of brutal repression, husbands slaughtered, and women taking the lead in organising the community. This is the story of one such brave woman, her fears for the future and her struggle to survive and bring up her son.

The Mehinaku, one of several Indian groups living in the Xingu National Park, have evolved elaborate rituals to help them keep the peace. Wrestling matches and mock arrow duels help release tensions, while shared feasting ensures contented neighbours. How long can this idyllic way of life survive?

The story of millions of white people who have flooded into Amazonia over the last decades in search of fortune. For many, the reality turned out to be abject poverty and broken dreams.

Rock star Sting and his partner Trudie Styler and Anita Roddick (of The Body Shop) show how the West can help the Kayapo and Yanomami Indians and thus save the rainforests.

The Hamar people live in the remote southwest of Ethiopia, far from famine and war. Their women are proud, humorous, and outspoken. Birinda, Duka, and Hilanda live differently from us, yet share many of our concerns - teenage pregnancy, marriage, problems with men, and growing old.

Is it possible for Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace? Two Moroccan Israelis and two Palestinians have much in common; born as Arabic speakers in the Arab world, their histories and cultures overlap. But for now they are engaged in a bitter and dangerous conflict which is by no means a simple struggle for supremacy between Arabs and Jews.

The Hira Gasy is a family of troubadours, who travel the great plateau of Madagascar, earning a living at country fairs, second burials and ancestral spirit ceremonies. In brightly-coloured costumes they perform satirical plays about all aspects of Madagascan life. But their audience are not just human, they perform for the Ancestors too, for the troupe are both popular entertainers and musical intermediaries between the earthbound and the ancestral spirit world.

By the end of the century over half of the villages in rural Japan could be ghost towns. They all suffer from the same problem - an acute shortage of young women. Japanese girls just don't want to marry Japanese farmers any more. The lonely bachelor farmers are contracting international matchmakers like Sakae Shimada to help them find a bride. The programme follows two farmers from Japan and their marriage to two women from the Philippines.

Every year the work force of India's oldest steel plant beseeches their god of 'getting things done' to bless the ageing hydraulic press. So far it's been so good - but not for factory foreman Mr Sinha. Enduring 110 degrees of furnace heat he labours to support a family which prefers that he returns to the land and a meaningful life.

For thousands of years, the Lapp people have lived in harmony with the natural world. On 26 April 1986, radioactive rain fell on northern Sweden from Chernobyl. A single man-made catastrophe has threatened the Lapps' livelihood, but as levels of fall-out continue to rise, reindeer herders Lars-Jon and Lillemor are determined to maintain their way of life. (TV edit of film that won seven international awards)

Kiran was castrated four months ago. His best friend Harish yearns to be a woman but has a wife and two children. Shardabai is the Empress of the Eunuchs. She preserves the courtly traditions of the eunuchs who once guarded the Maharaja's hareems. But today most eunuchs end up in the brothels of Bombay. Eunuchs are both man and woman in one body and granted the power to bless and curse. They have all survived the trauma of gender identity. This film shows how the 'third gender' still has an accepted place in India today.

Palestinian children in Gaza, armed with only stones and slogans, are fighting the Israeli military occupation. A staggering 20,000 children have been injured by live bullets, rubber bullets, and tear gas in the last three years. Over 50 children under 15 years of age have been killed by live ammunition. Palestinian and Israeli parents and children agree to speak out for a generation whose minds are deeply scarred by the violence of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

'When a girl gets married, she goes hunting' say the Hamar of southwest Ethiopia. No Hamar girl would want to remain unmarried, yet her wedding day is the saddest day of her life. Duka and Gardi are betrothed. Soon they must leave their families forever to marry men they've never met. Duka is secretly excited, but her young cousin Gardi dreads the day when she'll leave home to start a new life among strangers.

Divination, sacrifice, spirit possession, and witchcraft all play a part in the preparation for a carnival that has taken place in the northeastern city of Recife in Brazil since the 17th century. Dona Elda is Queen of the Marcatu nation of Porto Rico, and as she explains, Carnival is actually the festival of Exum, the West African trickster god, master of rebellion, chaos, and revelry. The film follows her to victory for the third successive year at Carnival and through the much tougher task ahead.

The real life story of two 'Mariachi' musicians who leave home in search of work. One joins the fight for the poor. The other is smuggled across the USA border through a network of low-life and masked wrestlers. His fate is sealed by the border patrol.

On 20 December 1990, Mardy Colliery was closed, ending over 200 years of coal mining in the Rhondda valley. But the 300 miners have more to adjust to than the loss of their jobs. Since the strike of 1984/85 when miners' wives played a major part, women have become the breadwinners.

Asia's largest and oldest traveling circus winds its way across rural India, bringing fun, fame and fortune. Every few months the circus disbands to allow the players to return to their villages. At home the players and trainers explain why they have chosen life under the Big Top.

The Wodaabe of the southern Sahara consider themselves 'the most beautiful people on earth'. Their slender and graceful young men, many of them seven feet tall, adorn themselves with beads, hats, and blue lipstick as part of a tribal celebration in which the young women choose the most beautiful man among them.

In the backstreets of old Islamic Cairo, marriage can be far from the ideal. Funny and resilient Wiza, a second wife deserted by her husband, is determined to find ideal marriage partners for her own children. When her son meets a potential bride, Wiza takes control.