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As machines supplant people in every field from production to the arts, there are still some things that are simply better done with a human touch. A violin that comes off a factory line just can’t compare with one crafted in a workshop. Shot at the the Chicago School of Violin Making, this meditative and pleasingly resonant short documentary traces the meticulous, months-long process of creating a musical instrument almost entirely by hand.
Director: Brendan Leahy
Editor: Chris Zuker
Website: Studio Skylight
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Human rights and justice
Surreal, dazzling visuals form an Iranian expat’s tribute to defiance back home
10 minutes
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Language and linguistics
Do button-pushing dogs have something new to say about language?
9 minutes
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Art
When East met West in the images of an overlooked, original photographer
9 minutes
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Values and beliefs
Why a single tree, uprooted in a typhoon, means so much to one man in Hanoi
7 minutes
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Consciousness and altered states
‘I want me back’ – after a head injury, Nick struggles with his altered reality
7 minutes
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Making
On the Norwegian coast, a tree is transformed into a boat the old-fashioned way
6 minutes
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Animals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
14 minutes
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Computing and artificial intelligence
A future in which ‘artificial scientists’ make discoveries may not be far away
9 minutes
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History
Hags, seductresses, feminist icons – how gender dynamics manifest in witches
13 minutes