Perspective

Ukrainian war correspondent Mstyslav Chernov has been described as one of the best documentary filmmakers of our time. He risked his life to film the lives of others during the Russian siege of Mariupol in 2022. His award-winning documentary "20 days in Mariupol" has just been nominated for an Oscar. He spoke to FRANCE 24's Gavin Lee about what the nomination means to him, the importance of making a lasting record of the tragedy of Mariupol and how journalists' work has become so dangerous.

Baluchistan is one of the least reported regions in the world. It's a borderland between Pakistan and Iran and is now at the centre of renewed tensions after both countries carried out deadly air strikes on each other's territory in recent days. The violence comes at a time when much of the world's focus is on events in Gaza and the Middle East. In Perspective, we delve into exactly what's going on in the region. Kabir Taneja is an expert on Baluchistan from the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank. He spoke to FRANCE 24's Gavin Lee.

Two decades after horrific ethnic violence in the Darfur region that killed hundreds of thousands of people, Sudan is once again in crisis. Since the start of the brutal power struggle between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in April, there have been alarming reports of ethnic killings in Darfur. Alyona Synenko, the regional spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross, says the horrors of the early 2000s in Darfur are very much alive in Sudan's collective memory, but this time the conflict isn't getting the same attention. She joined us for Perspective to discuss the situation in Darfur and across Sudan, where "daily life is becoming more and more dire".

UNICEF spokeswoman Tess Ingram has just returned from working in Gaza. In Perspective, she detailed the reality for children trying to survive during Israel’s military offensive. Calling the situation in Gaza "appalling", with many people living in makeshift shelters amid the cold and rain, she warned that a lack of food is leading to malnutrition in children. She also explained the war's impact on youngsters' mental health, saying that with people unable to flee the beleaguered territory, children face "repeated trauma" day after day. She spoke to FRANCE 24's Gavin Lee.

It sounds like the plot of a thriller movie: unfamiliar men forcibly remove you from your home and put you on a plane without explanation. Before you know it, you're in a remote camp that's supposed to help you recover from behavioural or mental illness. Hundreds of thousands of American teenagers have in fact been to these "wilderness therapy camps". Director Liza Williams' documentary "Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare" explores the history and ideas behind them. She joined us on Perspective.

How best to beat the winter blues? Embrace them! That's the view of a health psychologist and the author of the forthcoming book "How to Winter". Kari Leibowitz says we need to think of the positive aspects of the shorter days and colder temperatures. That means we need to get cosy, light a fire or candle and admit that perhaps we don't feel like doing the same things as when the weather is better. She spoke to us in Perspective.

A booker prize nominated author has told FRANCE 24 that he wakes up every day grateful that he’s able to reflect on his own life in his work. Brandon Taylor was born into a small, Baptist, conservative community in Alabama, where he felt he never fitted in as a gay person. His books, semi-autobiographical, are full of identity politics. His advice to others is to live their lives on their own terms. Taylor’s latest book – “The Late Americans” – which is already out in English with the French translation currently being published explores themes of gender identity, love and friendship.

The journalist who has had more access than perhaps any other to Volodymyr Zelensky since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has told FRANCE 24 that the Ukrainian president has done all he can to ensure the war remains at the forefront of world leaders' minds. Simon Shuster, a senior correspondent at Time Magazine, has spent the past few years tracking and following the inner workings of Zelensky and his entourage. Shuster believes Ukraine is doing all it can to continue to fight the Russian forces, even if Western aid begins to dry up. He joined us for Perspective.

Two renowned anthropologists have spent the past five years documenting the lives of migrants in one specific place. Didier Fassin and Anne-Claire Defossez chose to assist aid workers at a reception centre in the French Alpine town of Briançon, close to the Italian border. They looked at how the migrants were living, what support they received, as well as how they were treated by police. The pair were even arrested while carrying out their research, simply for helping the migrants. They spoke to FRANCE 24's Gavin Lee in Perspective.

A chance discovery in a Lithuanian church cellar in 2017 led to the unearthing of a collection of lost stories of Jewish teenagers depicting their lives in the 1930s. Ken Krimstein, a cartoonist for The New Yorker, was so moved by the autobiographical accounts that he travelled to Vilnius to read them in person. He wanted to revive the stories of the teens' hopes and dreams, as well as their fears of the Nazi regime just before the outbreak of World War II. His graphic novel, "When I Grow Up", has just been published in French as "Vivre". Krimstein spoke to FRANCE 24's Gavin Lee in Perspective.