Perspective

A Ukrainian NGO is aiming to shine a light on the conditions for Ukrainians living in areas that have been occupied by Russia. It has documented thousands of cases, including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and denial of any kind of fair trial. These human rights violations are faced not by captured soldiers, but by ordinary people living in Crimea and the east of Ukraine. In Perspective, we spoke to Lyubov Smachylo from the NGO Media Initiative for Human Rights.

A Russian-American filmmaker has spoken to FRANCE 24 about how her new film captures the last days of resistance to the regime in Russia before the invasion of Ukraine. Julia Loktev, who was born in what was then Leningrad, grew up in the United States. Her film "My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow" follows the staff of the television channel TV Rain, which aims to tell the truth about the Russian regime. Since the documentary was filmed, TV Rain has been forced to close in Russia and has set up home in Amsterdam, from where it now broadcasts. She spoke to us in Perspective.

In Perspective, Oliver Farry speaks to American author Alice Austen about her new novel "33 Place Brugmann". The book tells the stories of 14 characters in a Brussels apartment building on the eve of World War II, a building that Austen herself once lived in.

Oliver Farry speaks to Juliette Démas, London correspondent for the French daily Libération, who is the author of a new book, "Les affamés du Royaume" ("The Famished of the Kingdom"). It looks at the poverty crisis in the UK, which has seen an increasing number of people relying on food banks and has been exacerbated by years of austerity measures, Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation.

Oliver Farry speaks to investigative journalist Mat Youkee whose new book, "Forty Days in the Jungle: Behind the Extraordinary Survival and Rescue of Four Children Lost in the Amazon", tells the incredible story of the four siblings who were discovered in the Colombian jungle in June 2023, 40 days after being the only survivors of a plane crash.

Just under two years ago, fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces broke out in Sudan, sparking a civil war that continues to rage. At least 150,000 people are believed to have died in the fighting, with more than 8.2 million displaced. The United Nations calls it the world's most devastating humanitarian situation. In addition to famine, vulnerable populations face sexual abuse. Earlier this month, UNICEF reported that armed fighters had raped hundreds of children, both boys and girls. This follows a report last year that gender-based violence, by both sides, including sexual slavery, was rampant in areas where the war was being waged. Oliver Farry speaks to Kamel Al Sharif, Area Programme Manager at the Norwegian Refugee Council about the revelations.

It is a film that really pulls at your heartstrings, showing the life of an incredible woman, with a fascinating history as she struggles to leave her home in Brazil to head to a new life in Portugal. The film, shot and produced by her granddaughter – Carolina Sá, a Portuguese-Brazilian journalist and podcast director. The film, her first, translates in English as “To Say Goodbye”, or “Dizer Adeus” in Portuguese, a very intimate portrait off her grandmother’s farewell to her life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The material gathered was also crafted into a new narrative as well, this time in the form of a radio documentary or podcast. She spoke to us in Perspective.

It's a book that tells the astonishing story of the books that were smuggled across the Iron curtain during and after the Second World War. Described by the Observer as a “gripping account of an intriguing and little-known Cold War moment”, "The CIA book Club – the best kept secret of the cold war" recounts the tale of how millions of books made it across the longest and most heavily guarded border on earth. In Perspective, we spoke to author Charlie English.

A Parisian artist has spoken to FRANCE 24 about how artists need to use their art as a form of self-expression. Jessie Kanelos Weiner encourages people in her new book – “Thinking in Watercolor: A Daily Practice to Unlock Your Creativity & Discover Your Inner Artist” – to adapt their techniques to share their personal experiences. Weiner says that anyone can take up art, adding: “at the end of the day, if you trust the process and you like doing it enough … why not do it?”

This weekend sees International Women’s Day with messages on women's rights, equality and empowerment. On March 8, women are encouraged to shout out “women’s rights are human rights!” But what roles can men play on all this? In Perspective, we spoke to Daniel Guinness, co-founder and managing director of Beyond Equality, an organisation based in London that aims to engage men into rethinking what “being a man” means.