On the new documentary Maidan Dreaming, DW gives the world a unique look beneath the surface of life in Kyiv through the eyes of young people who are driving the fashion and electronic music scene. By exploring art, music and culture, the documentary provides a close-up look at the Maidan generation.

Life in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv is symbolized by contrasts – whether it is between rich and poor, tensions between Russia and the West, or between the past and the future. The uprising in 2014 permanently changed life in Ukraine. How is life progressing after  more than a year of transformation and conflict?

The film follows the organizers of Cxema, an electronic music rave in Kyiv. Through the lens of Cxema rave, the documentary exposes the thoughts and feelings young people in Ukraine have about their country and their expectations for the future.

The result is a unique perspective on the dynamics that are driving divisions in Ukrainian society and a personal look at what it means to be young in Kyiv. Electronic music, art and a sense of community are all something that bring young people together amidst the tension and turmoil that is shaping their lives. Also featured in the film is a Ukrainian fashion label, Syndicate, which is a growing trend among creative people in Kyiv and is growing in popularity around Europe and Russia.

These young people are pursuing their dreams in a society that has been shaken to its core and is being pulled by geopolitical tension. With each other and through art, music and culture, they are finding a way to make their dreams a reality.

Maidan Dreaming is another example of DW sharing important stories with people around the world. The film was shot last summer by a DW crew in Kyiv and is being broadcast on DW starting on Saturday, November 19. It is available online in English, German, Spanish, Arabic, Ukrainian and Russian.

 

North America

DW’s global English-language channel is now available in HD quality across North America. Partners in the USA and Canada can directly receive the channel on the SES-3 satellite. Numerous DW programs like Focus on Europe, Global 3000 and DW News will also soon be available in HD on the US public broadcasting network, PBS.

Africa

The Ghanaian broadcaster ABN TV is a new DW partner. Launching in 2013, the broadcaster reaches 10 million households in Africa and Europe via satellite. ABN TV is now broadcasting World Stories, Global 3000, Kick Off! Countdown, Kick Off! Bundesliga Highlights, Documentaries and Reports, In Good Shape and Conflict Zone.

Télé-Chad is now broadcasting a selection of programming from DW (Arabia). Kick Off!, Drive It and Tomorrow Today will now be broadcast both terrestrially and on NILESAT 201.

Asia

The Karachi-based broadband internet provider Connect Communications is a new DW partner in Pakistan. Offering a wide-range of broadband services, their television subsidiary dedear.com is broadcasting DW’s English-language channel to 70,000 households.

DW mobile content is now available to 5 million subscribers of Reliance JIO. Reliance is one of India’s fastest-growing providers of high-speed mobile connectivity.

Australia

DW’s Conflict Zone is now being broadcast on ABC News 24. The flagship news channel from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reaches a potential 8.6 million households nationwide.

An important part of understanding modern Germany is understanding reunification – the pivotal sequence of events that brought together the east and west after decades of separation. As Germany’s international broadcaster, DW has an important role in explaining the significance of these events to people around the world. For the 25th anniversary of reunification, DW is producing several insightful features that go beyond the history with a unique personal perspective.

One of these features is a production from DW’s Documentaries and Reports portraying German unification through the eyes of immigrants. The Scent of Home reveals that the transformation brought a range of reactions from the protagonists. The end of communism meant freedom and self-determination, but that was coupled with the fear of being marginalized, instability and even the loss of social status they had previously enjoyed as the transformation of unification also affected the cultural perception of immigrants. The film demonstrates, however, that unification helps converge  diversity creating a healthier more dynamic society for both Germans and immigrants.

On the other side of history are young people who were born after unification and have only experienced a divided Germany in history books. In general, this cohort has different perceptions and values than previous generations. DW takes a personal look at young people born during the transition time between 1989 and 1990 in the multimedia feature Generation 25 – Children of German Unification. Young people from east and west, the city and the country share their dreams, thoughts and perceptions of society in a clear and intimate fashion. What emerges is a patchwork of personalities and pathways that represents a generation born into choice and looking toward the future.

 

Europe is currently confronted by a refugee crisis on a scale not seen since World War II and a refugee center located in Lower Saxony is being reminded of when it opened its doors over 70 years ago. At that time, there was massive migration of ethnic Germans from the east and the British Military Government opened Transit Camp Friedland to process the influx of people who had nowhere else to go.

A new DW documentary, Transit Camp Friedland, produced in cooperation with NDR focuses in on the ongoing situation today in Germany where an estimated 800,000 refugees are expected this year alone. The documentary adds depth to the current acute refugee crisis – portraying a time when Germans themselves were refugees.

Germany is seen as a place of opportunity for those seeking a new life and whose home have been destroyed. Some risk everything to make it and Friedland is for many the first place where they will feel secure and the first place where many will begin their new lives. It is a place where hope and disappointment come together as the future remains uncertain.

DW has a special role as Germany’s representative in the international media landscape to tell stories that show this country’s unique relationship with history and explain a different narrative than you may find on the surface. DW is also doing its best to show all sides of the latest refugee crisis with its special Refugees’ Hopes – Europe’s Challenge.