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There are some 64,000 wild horses running free on public lands in the Western United States. However, these horses, and the 28 million protected acres on which they roam, are increasingly under threat from public and private interests seeking to reduce their numbers in favour of livestock. The Fate of the Wild tracks the life and activism of Laura Leigh, who has devoted herself to fighting to protect the country’s wild horse population. Through interviews with Leigh and aerial footage of the helicopter roundups that drive the horses off the land and into into lifelong confinement, the US filmmaker Andrew Michael Ellis draws parallels with Leigh’s own experience of domestic abuse and homelessness. The resulting film celebrates her resourcefulness and grit, as well as the magnificent sight she’s fought so hard to protect: of horse herds running through wide open lands.
Director: Andrew Michael Ellis
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The ancient world
What wine vessels reveal about politics and luxury in ancient Athens and Persia
16 minutes
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Art
David Goldblatt captured the contradictions of apartheid in stark black and white
15 minutes
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Love and friendship
When drawing your muse hundreds of times becomes an exercise in love
7 minutes
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Thinkers and theories
Is simulation theory a way to shirk responsibility for the world we’ve created?
13 minutes
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Biology
A dazzling slice-by-slice exploration of wood exposes hidden patterns and hues
2 minutes
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Family life
In Rwanda, Sébastien finds traces of personal history in the wake of national tragedy
21 minutes
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Dance and theatre
Leaf through Shakespeare’s First Folio for a riveting journey into theatre history
13 minutes
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Architecture
Modern architecture should embrace – not ignore or repel – the nonhuman world
8 minutes
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Nations and empires
The strange tale of how mangoes became hallowed objects in Maoist China
6 minutes