In March 2020, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a strict lockdown in the capital, Manila, and surrounding areas. For Lito, his family, and millions of other urban slum dwellers across the city, a hard lockdown means no work. No work means no food. Hungry citizens take to the streets in protest. The president orders the police and military to shoot anyone making trouble. Curfews are imposed and arrests are made. Aid arrives but it is not enough. As the restrictions continue throughout 2020, Lito navigates a daily struggle to save his family - from hunger and the pandemic.

Witness

Manila Lockdown: One of the longest COVID lockdowns in the world | Witness

After the fall of President Omar al-Bashir, Ali and his friends camp out at the sit-in in Khartoum, joining hundreds of thousands demanding civilian rule and justice for the protesters who had been killed. To pass the time, they repurpose a cardboard box and water bottles into a video camera. They go around the sprawling camp “interviewing” protesters. Their act, which they dub “Suddenly TV”, allows them to meet people from all over Sudan - musicians, artists, tea ladies, and volunteer guards. After one month, authorities break up the protest under a barrage of gunfire and Ali escapes to Cairo.

Dispatches from Sudan's Revolution: Suddenly TV | Witness

Wuhan was the first city in the world to emerge from a total COVID lockdown. Chinese filmmaker Vincent Du drives into Wuhan one day after restrictions are lifted and befriends a journalist who is trying to get back to Beijing. But Vincent turns the camera on himself as he discovers the city’s residents battling with collective signs of severe depression and trauma in the immediate aftermath. He wonders if Wuhan - and China - will ever truly come to terms with the psychological damage brought about by total lockdown.

Wuhan’s Hidden Trauma: After the COVID lockdown | Witness

When NATO forces first started withdrawing from Afghanistan in 2014, the Afghan National Army were left to defend the extremely dangerous Helmand province from increasingly bold Taliban offensives. This film follows a unit of the Afghan National Army during 2013/2014, their first year fighting the Taliban in Helmand without NATO support. For the young soldiers, war meant a steady job even if they were paid irregularly and had to get by with insufficient supplies and substandard equipment. This was the war in Afghanistan through the eyes of Afghan soldiers.

Afghanistan's Own Battle: On the front line | Witness

Darwin’s notorious "Laksa Queen" Amye Un is a local personality with a cult following. In a video that goes viral, she chastises the Darwin council for lack of greenery and embarrasses them into immediate action. Buoyed by her popularity, Amye decides to run as an independent in the Northern Territory 2020 elections. Not your typical aspiring politician - a self-made woman from a tough childhood in war-torn Timor - Amye must learn how to navigate the cowboy world of Territory politics.

Democracy Darling! Amye Un’s independent run for elections | Witness

Can comedy help ease tensions between Israelis and Palestinians? Israeli comedian Noam Shuster thinks it is worth a shot. Noam is a peace builder-turned-comedian whose political satire makes headlines across the Middle East. She was about to launch her one-woman US comedy tour when the first coronavirus wave hit. She returns to Israel and soon finds herself recovering from COVID-19 in a government-assigned hotel. Even more surprising to Noam is a dream come true: Palestinians and Israelis laughing together at her jokes - even if they are in forced quarantine. But, as the pandemic sends the world into a tailspin, exposing racial and economic injustice, Noam is reminded how much work needs to be done in Israel. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Reckoning with Laughter: Noam Shuster returns to Israel | Witness

Javad is a civil engineer in charge of a large construction project - to build an extension to an old hospital in one of Tehran’s most impoverished areas. As the coronavirus pandemic surges through Iran, death tolls soar and hospitals start to run out of capacity. To accommodate the growing number of COVID-19 patients, Javad is given the almost impossible task of preparing two floors of an unfinished building in just 20 days - work that would require three months under normal circumstances. This life-saving ward is called the "Shelter". - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Shelter: Iran's race to build a life-saving COVID ward | Witness

In "India’s Silicon Valley", the taps are running dry. Bangalore's once-famous city lakes have become a dumping ground for toxic waste and clean drinking water is growing scarce for many of the city’s 12 million residents. Anand Malligavad is an engineer-turned-water conservationist. He is on a herculean mission to clean up his city's lakes. But demanding supporters, angry locals and a derelict temple stand in his way. Anand must convince everyone that he can transform the lakes for a future with clean drinking water. - - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Catching the rain in India: Dead Lakes Alive | Witness

In January 2018, seven-year-old Zainab Ansari was raped and murdered. Her body was discovered on a rubbish heap in Kasur, Pakistan’s "child abuse capital", sparking national outrage that reverberated across the world. Zainab’s father, Amin, channelled his grief into a fight for justice and demanded systemic change. Two years later, the government of Pakistan passed the "Zainab Alert Bill", a child protection law that mandates changes including faster police response to reports of missing children. But, as the number of reported child abuse cases rises, Amin wonders what justice really means. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Zainab's Legacy: A father's fight for justice in Pakistan | Witness

Filmmaker: Lisa Camillo Max is a film producer in Milan, Italy. At the end of February 2020, his life takes an unexpected turn when Italy becomes the epicentre of the first wave of the novel coronavirus in Europe. When the Italian film industry is forced to close, Max is compelled to resume his voluntary service with the Carabinieri, Italy’s widely respected military-run police force. Every day, Max and other volunteers at the Emergency Response Unit of Milan must field thousands of coronavirus-related phone calls from people across the nation, and all walks of life.

Italy's COVID Hotline: Inside a pandemic call centre | Witness

Andrea and Salsabila, nicknamed Dea and Salsa, are childhood friends from Indonesia. Both have been blind since birth. At five years old, Dea moved with her family to the United States, while Salsa remained in Jakarta. Now in the US, Dea attends a school for visually impaired students. In Indonesia, Salsa lives in a dormitory far from her parents so she can attend one of the few "inclusive schools" that accept visually impaired students. With graduation from high school around the corner, Dea and Salsa support each other as they prepare for adulthood in two very different worlds. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

How Far I'll Go: From Indonesia to the US, a story of friendship | Witness

To cope with the onslaught of coronavirus cases, Italy rushed 10,000 resident doctors into service during the first wave of the global pandemic. Dr Alessandro Galli, 31, is one of them. The young Italian resident volunteered to serve on the front lines of the coronavirus epicentre in Europe, a daunting task. At the renowned Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, Galli joins other physicians looking after COVID-19 patients in critical condition in the intensive care unit. His daily encounters with death and isolation force him to question his actions and the need for control and balance during this time of unprecedented uncertainty. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

The Italian Doctor: Fighting COVID-19, isolation and uncertainty | Witness

Orly manages Eusebio 24hr Funeral Services in Manila, in the Philippines. His relationships with clients reveal both the empathy and contempt he holds for the country's "drug war" victims who have lost their loved ones in police killings and are now, like him, struggling to survive. When Angelita, who lost her son in a suspected drug-related police killing, arrives at Eusebio 24hr Funeral Services, she realises she cannot afford her son's funeral. Angelita sets out to raise the money, battling the odds to raise more than twice the money it takes to care for her family in one year. Welcome to life behind the headlines of President Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs". - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

The Mortician of Manila: Inside the Philippines' 'war on drugs' | Witness

Ahmad gave up what he felt was the "perfect life" in the United Kingdom, where he studied and worked as an architect, to return to Nigeria and help rebuild his home city of Maiduguri. Maiduguri has been devastated by the armed group Boko Haram, whose name translates to mean "Western education is forbidden". Drug addiction and unemployment are also rife across the city. Undeterred, Ahmad is building boarding schools for orphans of the conflict. He is also determined to win over jobless young men by employing them on his construction sites. Together, they set out to build 24 schools and 14 mosques. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Ahmad the Architect: Rebuilding Schools in Northeast Nigeria | Witness

An Indigenous woman embarks on a journey to Machu Picchu that will force her to confront horrors from her past.   Maxi Manuttupa is a single mother in Cusco, Peru. Haunted by past traumas, she is anxious to find a safer home for her daughter. She decides to earn more money by becoming a porter. In Peru, two in three women have experienced some form of violence from a spouse or partner. Dead Woman's Pass follows Maxi as she fights to overcome decades of abuse. Only by returning to her roots can she finally be free. -- Una mujer andina se embarca en un viaje a Machu Picchu que la obligará a confrontar los horrores de su pasado. Maxi Manuttupa es una madre soltera de Cusco. Atormentada por el trauma de su pasado, ella está ansiosa por encontrar un hogar seguro para su hija. Maxi decide ganar más dinero trabajando como porteadora. En Perú, dos de cada tres mujeres han sufrido alguna forma de violencia por parte de su cónyuge o pareja. Warmiwañusqa sigue a Maxi mientras lucha por superar décadas de abuso. Solo retornando a sus raíces ella será libre. - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Dead Woman's Pass: A Ni Una Menos Story on the Inca Trail | Witness

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