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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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Rituals and celebrations
A whale hunt is an act of prayer for an Inuit community north of the Arctic Circle
8 minutes
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Music
The peculiar beauty of a song caught between composition and improvisation
3 minutes
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Rituals and celebrations
A beginner’s guide to a joyful Persian tradition of spring renewal and rebirth
3 minutes
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Politics and government
How it looked to Afghan women to see the Taliban return to power
33 minutes
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Love and friendship
Love looks a bit different for a chain-smoking couple in a small apartment
11 minutes
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Biography and memoir
Passed over as the first Black astronaut, Ed Dwight carved out an impressive second act
13 minutes
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The ancient world
The six priestesses who kept the flame of ancient Rome alight at risk of death
5 minutes
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Engineering
A close-up look at electronic paper reveals its exquisite patterns – and limitations
9 minutes
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Architecture
West Africa was once an architectural laboratory. Is it time for a revival?
12 minutes