Their unbelievable story has been made into a movie and a book, but now for the first time, the 16 survivors of this famous plane crash recount the story of how they survived being stranded for 72 days in treacherous mountain wilderness in the award-winning documentary Stranded: Andes Plane Crash Survivors. Stranded, a two-hour documentary airing on CBC NEWS: THE PASSIONATE EYE, on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBC Newsworld, is a hauntingly powerful account of how—through discipline and solidarity—the embattled crash victims defied nature and brought about their eventual rescue.

On Oct. 13, 1972, a rugby team from Uruguay was on board a Fairchild F227 headed towards Santiago, Chile, for a game they would never play. Midway to their destination, catastrophic weather conditions caused the doomed plane to plummet from the sky, killing 21 of the 45 on board. Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina joined forces to search for the plane, but the search was abandoned after ten days. The victims realized that surviving the crash was just the beginning.

In Stranded, filmmaker Gonzalo Arijon, a childhood friend of several of the survivors, goes beyond the lurid tale of starvation and cannibalism, to uncover the essence of this extraordinary human drama. Brilliantly crafted re-enactments set the stage for a journey that unlocks the truth behind this spectacular story. It is sensitively shot by another childhood friend, Ceasr Charlone (cinematographer of films such as City of God and The Constant Gardener), who almost became a passenger on that same flight.

Throughout the film the survivors visit the crash site, known as the Valley of Tears, one-by-one reliving the painful, intimate details of their shocking experience—the crash, the deaths, the wounded and the wait. Among their confessions is the precise moment they realized that their only hope of survival was to eat human flesh.

If this is a story you think you already know, think again. Despite a best-selling book (Alive! The story of the Andes survivors by Piers Paul Read), and a Hollywood movie (Alive! by Frank Marshall), Stranded brings an unparalleled level of authenticity to viewers, divulging the story from the inside.

Stranded: Andes Plane Crash Survivors is directed by award-winning Uruguayan filmmaker Gonzalo Arijon, and produced by Ethan Productions with Arte France, CBC News: The Passionate Eye, BBC Storyville, and PBS Independent Lens.

The Nazi King

The Nazi King airs Monday, Sept. 21 at 10 p.m. on CBC NEWS: THE PASSIONATE EYE on CBC Newsworld.

When the Duke and Duchess of Windsor sailed into Palm Beach, Florida on the SS Berkshire from Nassau on April 18, 1941, they were looking forward to enjoying three days of relaxation, playing golf, drinking and gossiping with American high society.

But unbeknownst to this infamous couple, the night before the ship docked, President Roosevelt had instructed FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover to launch what was to be an extraordinary covert intelligence exercise, one that had to fool both the exiled royals and the American secret service agents guarding them. The final FBI report, recently released under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, running to 227 pages, reveals that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor harboured pro-Nazi sympathies and that Edward was earmarked by Hitler as a potential puppet king if Hitler defeated Britain.

There has long been a great deal of speculation about the Windsors and their political views, which has always been vehemently denied by the ex-king, the establishment and Philip Ziegler, the official biographer. But there is more than the sole FBI report that is damning. Recently, a number of key documents have been released, as well as British military intelligence reports and, crucially, the sensational publication of the diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles, the Duke’s private secretary.

Together, these prove that Edward VIII’s sympathies lay squarely with Hitler’s regime. Now, for the first time in The Nazi King, the full inside story is told, in which Edward and his wife were warmly welcomed by Hitler in Germany and thereafter Edward passed on top secret Allied information to the enemy. It’s a tale of treachery, corruption and depravity at the heart of the British monarchy—and one that could have changed the course of history.

The Nazi King is an Oxford Film and Television production, produced and directed by Clive Maltby. Executive producer is Simon Rockell.

The Link

In the year that Charles Darwin is being celebrated, have scientists finally unravelled our family tree and discovered the ‘missing link?’ Shot in HD, The Link, a CSI-style documentary investigation, reveals an astonishing new discovery that changes everything we thought we knew about mankind’s origins. It airs on CBC NEWS: THE PASSIONATE EYE on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBC Newsworld.

Narrated by renowned British natural history filmmaker David Attenborough, The Link introduces viewers to Ida, a three-foot long fossil including tail, 94 per cent intact, and the most complete fossil ever found with links to the origins of man. Originally found in the Messel Pit near Frankfurt, Germany, the team of scientists studying Ida have likened finding her to an asteroid hitting the Earth, discovering the Lost Ark, or even uncovering the Rosetta Stone.

So much of what we understand about evolution comes from partial fossils and even single bones, but Ida’s fossilization offers much more than that, from the outline of her fur to her very last meal contained in her stomach. The Link gives viewers exclusive access to the first scientists to study her, and tells the history of Ida and her place in the world. This cutting-edge scientific detective story follows her discovery, opens a stunningly evocative window into our past and changes what we know about primate evolution and, ultimately, our own.

The Link is an Atlantic Productions film in association with BBC, ZDF and NRK. The executive producer is Anthony Geffen.

Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country

Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country is a riveting documentary that follows a determined group of video journalists (VJs) who risk their lives to expose the repressive government ruling their country. Armed with pocket-sized video cameras, they go undercover to report on anti-government protests, smuggle material out of the country and broadcast back into Burma via satellite, or offer their stories for free usage to international media. Burma VJ airs on Monday, Sept. 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBC NEWS: THE PASSIONATE EYE on CBC Newsworld.

A winner at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and the Amsterdam Documentary Festival, Burma VJ follows these local VJs as they record the massive anti-government protests led by thousands of Buddhist monks in Sept. 2007, and exposes the military junta’s brutal crackdown which began on Sept. 26, 2007.

Viewers will be introduced to 27 year-old “Joshua”, an undercover VJ who suddenly becomes the tactical leader of the undercover reporters who risk death or life in jail if caught. With foreign TV crews banned from entering the country at the time, it was Joshua and his crew who documented the events, exposing the story to the rest of the world. It is their footage that kept the revolution alive.

As government intelligence agents understood the power of the camera, the VJs soon

became a target. During the turbulent days of Sept., Joshua finds himself on an emotional rollercoaster between hope and despair as he frantically tries to keep track of his reporters in the streets. With Joshua as the psychological lens, the Burmese condition is exposed to a global audience, who rarely gets to see more than a news clip from this closed country.

Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country is directed by acclaimed Danish filmmaker Anders Ostergaard. CBC Newsworld was one of a group of international broadcasters who helped finance the documentary.

CBC NEWSWORLD DOCUMENTARY SCHEDULE FOR SEPT. 15-30

(NEW) Hidden Face of Fear
Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on The Passionate Eye

Secret World of Haute Couture
Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on The Passionate Eye

Arctic Meltdown, a Changing World
Thursday, Sept. 17 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on The Nature of Things

This Beat Goes One, Episode Two
Friday, Sept. 18 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Doc Zone

Rise Up! Part 1 of 2
Saturday, Sept. 19 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Doc Zone

Secret World of Haute Couture
Sunday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. ET The Passionate Eye

(NEW) Stranded: Andes Plane Crash Survivors
Sunday, Sept. 20 at 10 p.m. ET/PT (2 hours) on The Passionate Eye

(NEW) The Nazi King
Monday, Sept. 21 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on The Passionate Eye

the fifth estate
Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on The Fifth Estate

Spies Who Came from the Sea
Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Doc Zone

Arctic Meltdown, the Arctic Passages
Thursday, Sept. 24 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on The Nature of Things

Pedal Power
Friday, Sept. 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Doc Zone

Rise Up! Part 2 of 2
Saturday, Sept. 26 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Doc Zone

The Nazi King
Sunday, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The Passionate Eye

(NEW) The Link
Sunday, Sept. 27 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on The Link

(NEW) Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
Monday, Sept. 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on The Passionate Eye

Miracle of the Hudson Plane Crash
Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on The Passionate Eye