The elaborate rituals and timeless pageantry of Bali make the island unforgettable for visitors, yet few really understand what lies behind the dances, the costumes, and the ceremonies. With gorgeous, high-definition footage this program delves into the spiritual beliefs at the heart of Balinese traditions. Viewers observe the powerful Barong dance, in which participants fall into a trance and are later revived by mantras, and witness a frenetic invocation...

A look into a time gone by in Indonesia. A 1977 filmed visit with a Prince of Bali, and his feudal court of Chokorda Agung in Ubud, a principality of Bali, by Asian arts expert Faubion Bowers, who lived there in the late 40s. The visit includes the palace grounds, a skit composed by the Prince, and a popular Balinese dance (Truna Jaya, in which a teenage girl dances the part of a young man.) Also: an interview with Rudolph Bonnet, an elderly Dutch...

The Sumatra-Andaman earthquake of 2004 is estimated to have released the energy of 23,000 atomic bombs, inundating coastal communities with tsunami waves up to 100 feet high. This program explains the undersea geologic forces that create tsunamis - and considers the possible consequences if a landslide-generated mega-tsunami were to strike the East Coast.

Evacuation of Dutch women and children from danger area of Sourabaya, Indonesia.

During World War II, a number of women in Japanese-occupied countries were forced to become sexual companions in military barracks and encampments. What they endured was kept secret for decades, even by the victims, out of shame. Today, these so-called comfort women are being sought out and given a chance to tell their stories-perhaps finding a degree of healing while raising awareness of one of the great horrors of warfare. This film represents just...

This World War II-era newsreel includes the following segments: 1. General MacArthur supervises a naval bombardment upon Borneo; the Australian 7th Division rolls inland. 2. Firemen battle flames in the Empire State Building after an aircrash. 3. Veterans go to Marseilles for the Pacific theater. 4. Refugees in allied displaced persons camps are routed homeward. 5. Japanese kamikaze planes strike the battleship Nevada and the carrier Ticonderoga.

Australia, a country the size of a continent, is 14 times larger than France but has nearly three times fewer inhabitants. Given the great distances in the country, how can everybody receive medical care and treatment in the event of an emergency? Today, the flying doctor plays a leading role in Australia. Bernard Fontanille sets out to discover one of these organizations, Careflight. Bernard discovers the vast contrasts in Australia through farmers,...