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Olga Smirnova lives to dance. A leading soloist and star of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, she works from dawn until dusk, barely pausing to rest or eat a quick meal. Even when she isn’t dancing, she is constantly thinking of ballet: she says the music never stops playing in her mind, invading even her dreams. The Prodigy is a rich account of the trials and rewards of professional dance, and a portrait of one young woman’s intense dedication to her art.
Director: Michael Sugrue
Producers: Fyodor Mozgovoy, The Key Productions
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Animals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
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History
Hags, seductresses, feminist icons – how gender dynamics manifest in witches
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Wellbeing
Children of the Rwandan genocide face a unique stigma 30 years later
20 minutes
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Earth science and climate
Images carved into film form a haunting elegy for a disappearing slice of Earth
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Meaning and the good life
Leading 1950s thinkers on the search for happiness in trying times
29 minutes
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Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
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War and peace
Two Ukrainian boys’ summer unfolds just miles from the frontlines
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Nature and landscape
California’s landscapes provide endless inspiration for a woodcut printmaker
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Love and friendship
Never marry a man you love too much, and other views on romance in Sierra Leone
5 minutes