In a supposedly rich industrial country of Germany, one in five children lives in poverty. In areas like Duisburg-Hochfeld it is more than very second minor. During the pandemic especially young people from socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods suffered from the lockdown measures. This is a long-term documentary about teenage life, social injustice and questions about own identity and belonging. While kids often neither know their parents‘ home country nor feel accepted in Germany, they use the digits 053 of the postcode of Duisburg-Hochfeld for identification. It‘s the only place they really feel belonging to. These are the 053kids.

27-year-old Zarifa Ghafari is one of two female mayors of Afghanistan. She has been in office for one and a half years in the city of Maidan Shar, on the border with Taliban territory. She is celebrated abroad, but by local population she is rejected – not only because she is a woman.

They come in plastic sandals, without luggage, with open wounds, bone infections. And yet, these children are lucky: they were selected to undergo surgery in Germany. The peace village Oberhausen helps the youngest victims of the war. Part III follows Sonita and other children from Afghanistan from their arrival in Germany to the hospital, their rehab at the children’s village and on their way back home to their families.

Northern Ireland will have to leave the European Union due to UK’s Brexit referendum in 2016 although a majority of its citizens voted to remain. While the local Protestant Unionists voted to leave, the Catholic Irish Nationalists wanted to remain in the EU. After more than 30 years of bloody conflict during the so called “Troubles” a fundamental condition of the 1998 Peace Agreement is the open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The young are the future. But young people suffer higher rates in unemployment, injustice and violence than all other groups in their society. Especially deprived neighbourhoods of former industrial cities within the UK had huge problems with drug abuse, gang fights and teenage pregnancies at a disproportionately high level compared to the rest of Europe.

The Silva sisters Raquel and Rafaela grew up in a poor neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro. As kids they started Judo because there were no other sports available in their area and it was helpful to protect themselves from the dangers in the streets of Rio. The talented girls quickly became successful and made it into the Brazilian national team.

Hobby biologists support a research project with their holidays. Organizer is the sustainable travel provider Biosphere. For the price of a luxury trip, nature lovers take part in a two-week expedition and are provided with food and impressions.

Refugees and wars forcing people to leave their home countries have been a main topic of international media within the last two years. It almost gets into oblivion that there always have been wars and a majority of the people just doesn’t have the chance to flee because they are too poor, too old, too weak or just too young. And therefore stood invisible in Europe for a long time.

While most of the world is trying to diminish child labour, Bolivia has become the first nation to legalize it from age 10 last summer. Supporters of the legislation said that the law guarantees legal protections and fair wages for children, who have been working regardless of laws against it.

The mineral trade in Eastern Congo has been singled out as a source of finance for armed conflict. An initiative, proposed by the industry, NGOs and national and international government organisations, has launched a pilot project intended to break that link.

Documentary about the whole season 2012/13 of German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. Having a look behind the scenes on the pitch. Being close to the team, the supporters and the staff. The work is part of the trilogy that has been published by Piper.

For many young victims of war and crisis situations, medical treatment in Europe is often their last chance for survival. German NGO „Peace Village International“ provides medical treatment to sick and wounded children who can no longer be cared for in their native countries.

Evangelical pastors are helping to create a terrible new campaign of violence against young Nigerians. Children branded as evil are being abused, abandoned and even murdered while the preachers make money out of the fear of their parents and their communities.

The most traditional food of Korea is the rice meal Bibimbap. You can get it in a shabby street kitchen as well as in a top class  restaurant. “Bibim” means to mix and “Bap” rice and every Bibimbap should contain all five colours black, yellow, green, blue and red.

Right in the city center of Bolivia’s capital La Paz, there is a wall with a height of 12 meters engulfing one whole block – the San Pedro prison. Locals and tourists can be seen on the plaza in front of the main gate. Kiosks selling mainly alcoholic beverages are crimped at the wall. The gate is heavily guarded by policemen.

“You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream.” – Psalm 90,5

Maternal Mortality is one of the biggest problems in Africa – for a woman it‘s even more dangerous to get a baby than suffering from diseases or war. Sierra Leone counts among the countries with the highest maternal mortality rate worldwide, which is partly owed to the many years enduring civil war. In the country one in eight women risk dying during pregnancy or childbirth compared to a one in 76 average in the rest of the developing world and one in 8.000 in the developed world.

Despite many left wing governments in Latin American countries the gulf between rich and poor seems to have widened within the past few decades and poverty has become accepted accepted as “normal” by many Argentinians. Janina, who lives a hand to mouth existence in the streets of Buenos Aires with her three siblings and her parents Roque and Hilda, faces much discrimination and persecution.

Roma people in Hungary don‘t only suffer from poverty and social exclusion since the right-wing extremists party Jobbik entered the Hungarian government as Coalitionist of Prime Minister Viktor Orbáns Fidesz party this April. And even violent attacks have been reported before. But Jobbik croped the seed of underlying racism sowed by Fidesz and carried it into the centre of Hungarian society, and daily life will definitely not become easier for 700.000 Roma people in the country.

The woods of Walbrzych are drawn through Biedaszyby, the “drifts of the poor”, how the self digged holes for coal mining are called. The people started this activity in the 90s when the compensation for miners has been exhausted and chances for a legal job rarely existed in this region close to the border of Czech Republic.

Many contrast of politics, culture and religion clash in Azerbaijan. So it’s no surprise that the two worlds of black oil, which is produced with old Soviet technology on the fields of Bibi-Eibat  and the white salt which is quarried on lake Masazyrgol are just 18 kilometers apart.

Worldwide, more than 175,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year. Today most cases of childhood cancer can be cured. However, in about 20 percent of cases children suffer a recurrence of the cancer following therapy and they ultimately succumb to the disease. Reportage about Josies daily life at the University Children’s Hospital Tübingen.

Malawi counts among the poorest economies of the world, and thus occupies almost inevitably the first place in the sad statistics of maternal mortality among all countries not involved in wars. In the capital of Lilongwe, three obstetricians care for four million women and yearly help 12,000 children into this world.

Estación Constitución is one of the three big train stations of Argentina’s Capital Buenos Aires, located in the South of the City and probably one of the most interesting train stations in Latin America. Commuters from the poor Southern suburbs mingle with beggars, prostitutes, street vendors, workers, homeless and business people.

Documentary about the social influence of Football on the whole Scottish nation throughout all religious groups or social layers. Although Scottish Football was never really successful internationally everybody seems to be addicted to the game, that is often more than that.

Portraits on the streets of New York City in the tradition of American street photography.