May 23, 2026 | Nations once considered beacons of democracy are under attack. Many countries around the world are moving toward authoritarianism and jeopardizing once staunchly protected democratic values. Among them: the USA.
The new DW documentary series, "Democracy Under Attack," is an urgent look into the heart of these conflicts. It puts a spotlight on countries where democratic values have long been taken for granted.
In an ever-increasingly fractured world, how resilient are today's democracies? Making sense of these questions is Turkish investigative journalist Can Dündar, who has lived in exile in Germany since 2016.
In the DW Documentary original series, "Guardians of Truth," he brought stories from Mexico, Belarus, and his home country, Turkey. He met people who, like him, faced the brutal consequences of corrupt institutions and the suppression of a free press.
Having lived the realities of increasing authoritarianism first-hand, Dündar believes it's time to sound the alarm that more and more democracies are under attack.
The premiere episode of "Democracy Under Attack: Can Dündar and Trump's America" takes viewers to the United States. In 2026, the USA will celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding. The country, which has often been called the cradle of modern democracy, is under enormous pressure: The political camps are almost irreconcilably opposed to each other.
For many observers, President Donald Trump is governing in an increasingly authoritarian manner, and he and his supporters fiercely attack their critics.
In the film, directors Can Dündar and Demid Sheronkin meet one such person who has become a target. Mark Bray, a Rutgers professor, was denounced as "Dr. Antifa" and later received death threats after members from the right-wing youth organization Turning Point USA launched a petition to get him fired from the university. He and his family fled the country for Spain.
Moving between US college campuses and a political convention, talking to student activists, Turning Point USA members, and professors, the documentary presents a tense collision of competing visions of democracy.
What is the state of freedom of expression and democracy in the United States of America? Is US democracy really in danger?
Jan 20, 2026 | Greenland should become part of the United States — at least, that’s the opinion of US President Donald Trump. Talk of the US acquiring, or perhaps even seizing, the world's largest island with its vast mineral wealth has been causing concern not only among Greenlanders. Denmark is outraged, as Greenland — a former colony — is still a semi-autonomous territory of the Danish Realm. But for how long?
Many Greenlanders want to take control of their own future. Nukannguaq Zeeb was born on the island and feels deeply connected to the island’s cultural traditions of hunting and fishing. He also coaches Greenland’s national soccer team, a sport introduced by Danish colonialists. He’s critical of Denmark’s ongoing influence. "To be honest, we are currently under Danish rule and not an independent country,” he says. Trump's neocolonial ambitions came as a shock to him.
Greenland did not gain any autonomy until 1953, when it became a Danish district. To this day, it remains closely associated with Denmark, both politically and economically.
Many Greenlanders are pinning their hopes on the rich natural resources still hidden beneath the ice. As global warming accelerates, they could soon become accessible — drawing attention not only from the US administration.
The White Mountain mine lies north of the capital Nuuk and can only be reached by boat or helicopter. International investors are extracting anorthosite, a mineral used to produce insulation material and glass fiber, among other things.
Niels Ole is one of the few Greenlandic foremen in the mine — many skilled workers here come from abroad. Greenland’s weak education system means that many young people drop out before graduating. Social worker Ane Pipaluk looks after them. They live in shared housing and often come from families struggling with unemployment and alcoholism. Negotiating a path between old and new dependencies poses a major challenge for Greenland. Niels Ole dreams of more autonomy for his homeland. He says, "It's the dream of many Greenlanders.
Dec 31, 2024 | While the German economy navigates troubled waters, the lives of the rich continue on unaffected. This film takes a look into the largely closed-off world of the country's millionaires and billionaires - and at how the wealthy see themselves and their privileged lifestyles.
We talk to the CEO of a luxury watchmaker who says German industry suffers from overregulation, with insufficient rewards for taking risks. A well-off building contractor from Dusseldorf, on the other hand, explains how most of the country's millionaires acquire their wealth not from entrepreneurship, but from inheritance. He wants to see a drastic rise in tax rates for the rich, and the proceeds invested where they're needed, e.g. in infrastructure and education.
This documentary also shows life at the Salem boarding school, where the wealthy pay tens of thousands of euros a year to send their children to school. For many, their education includes learning to take on the responsibility involved in later running their family-run businesses.
The superrich live longer and enjoy special tax benefits. The suspension of a wealth tax in 1997 has reportedly cost the German state €380 billion in lost revenues. With the country facing a financial crisis, will its most prosperous individuals live up to their responsibilities that come with privileged financial power?
Jul 11, 2021 • What is life like for Jews in Europe today? What are their stories? How do they combine traditional and modern life? And how do they deal with marginalization and threats?
"There is an everyday Jewish life in Europe that rarely gets shown. Debates about politics, the Middle East and anti-Semitism overshadow the diversity of Jewish life. That's why it was important for us to be able to capture it, just by spontaneously going there and seeing what was happening." This was the mission statement that led Swiss writer Yves Kugelmann and German film producer Alice Brauner, both Jewish, on a journey across Europe.
The second part of this two-part documentary takes Brauner and Kugelmann to Budapest, Warsaw and Venice. In the Hungarian capital, they talk with philosopher Agnes Heller about the anti-Jewish climate that has developed under the Orban government. In Warsaw, they visit the graves of resistance fighters from the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising. In Venice, Italian writer and vice president of the local Jewish community Riccardo Calimani talks about everyday Jewish life in what he calls the "land of disorder".
