Carmen Schumacher » Languages » English

Germany catches fast food fever

Carmen Schumacher — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 08:18:15 +0000

Whether at home or on the road: We like our food quick, easy to prepare and available anywhere at any time. Fast food stands for all of this – and costs little and is yummy. No wonder the industry is booming. The documentary looks at our modern eating habits, taking a look behind the scenes of both the new and established industry players.

We “pimp” convenience food, watch a man attempting to lose weight with a “fast food diet”, and have fun watching RTL2 host Aaron Troschke cooking the craziest fast food trends from the Internet.

Fascinating Zugspitze – Between nature and tourist boom

Carmen Schumacher — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 18:04:42 +0000

They call it “Top of Germany”: the Zugspitze is Germany’s highest mountain. Up to 5,000 tourists from all over the world visit daily, taking selfies in front of the mountain pastures or riding the sledge “Zipflbob” on a glacier – in the middle of the summer.

Who are the people who make this tourist boom possible? Among others, we accompany a cottage host, a night watch and a shepherd – and are there when a family from the flatlands exasperates on the strenuous hike to the Top of Germany and when a couple marries there.

Germany’s highest mountain has many facets: untouched nature stands alongside mass tourism, while state-of-the-art technology resides alongside livestock farming carried out just as it was hundreds of years ago.

Rain, storm and chaos – extreme weather in Germany

Carmen Schumacher — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 18:09:54 +0000

Only ten minutes of heavy rainstorms are enough to put cellars under water and flood entire houses and streets. Small rivers rapidly become flood waves, taking everything along with them and setting entire villages under water. What Germans used to only see on TV in far flung corners of the globe – in June 2016 became their own – bitter and, above all recurring – reality.

A current report on extreme weather in the summer of 2016, this documentary follows the people of Salzgitter as they fight the water and destruction descending on their town, and follows them as they rebuild in the aftermath.

(Clip: excerpt)

The Big Consumer Test

Carmen Schumacher — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 12:50:41 +0000

We are all consumers. Germans alone spend 1.5 trillion Euros annually on material goods. Every day each of us is confronted with a choice: is it worth it to spend the money on brand-name products, or does the no-name alternative provide the same bang for less buck? ZDF:zeit reviews underwear, frozen food and medication for quality, durability and environmental impact. We do the comparison shopping, so you don’t have to.

(Clip is clipping of the medication part)

The Babystation

Carmen Schumacher — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 08:25:30 +0000

“Every day a little miracle”. In the documentary series “The Baby Station” I was allowed to accompany ten couples at one of their most intimate moments: the birth of their child.

I accompanied the concerns in a breech position, the joy of healthy twins and the fear of a possible Down syndrome. Whether spontaneous delivery or c-section, a primipara in the bathtub, mother of three crowching down on a chair or a paraplegic who wouldn´t let go the experience of a spontaneous birth despite medical concerns: Every birth was unique in its own way. I thank all the parents for the trust and openness that you showed to my team and to me.

But not only the parents were the stars. The hospital staff on the maternity units were as important. To all midwives, gynecologists, anesthesiologists, pediatricians and nurses: I learned so much from you. Thank you for the warmth and heartiness with which you received us and allowed us such a close look into your work-routine.

“Every day a little miracle”. In the documentary series, “The Baby Station”, ten couples allow me the privilege of accompanying them during one of their most intimate moments; the birth of their child.

I join them on their journey as they confront the concerns of a breeched birth, the unknown of a possible Down syndrome diagnosis and the joy of healthy twins. Whether a natural delivery or c-section, a home birth in the bathtub or crouching on a chair, or a paraplegic determined to experience birth naturally despite medical concerns, each birth is unique. I thank all of the parents for the trust and openness with which you showed my team and me.

‘Babystation’ is not only about the parents, it is about the hospital staff who support them as they embark on one of life’s most perilous journeys. We follow the stars of the maternity ward: the midwives, gynecologists, anesthesiologists, pediatricians and nurses.

My team and I thank the parents, their families and the hospital personnel for showing us such warmth and openness as they let us accompany them.

Mallorca: Crater in a cave

Carmen Schumacher — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 08:46:45 +0000

In Mallorca, cave divers discover an enormous underwater crater. What is the story behind this strange formation? And what implications are there for the popular holiday destination? The discovery has even the experts confounded – and just might be a geological anomaly!

Mysterious tunnel-robbery

Carmen Schumacher — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 09:17:35 +0000

What thieves do anything to get their prey, sometimes it looks like it comes straight out of the Hollywood dream factory. Brazen robbers dig a 30-meter-long secret tunnel but are still caught in the act …

The fascination with guns

Carmen Schumacher — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 09:13:56 +0000

Worldwide we have 875 million firearm. Three-quarters of them are privately owned. In the US even blind people are allowed to carry a firearm. In Bochum in so-called “tastings” anybody interested can shoot with any pistol or rifle which is legally usable in Germany. In … twelve years old children go to the shooting-range in order to learn to concentrate better. What is it that fascinates us about these devices – which after all can kill? Galileo reporter Thilo Mischke goes on a journey.

(Clip is the excerpt of a public introductory course on how to handle a gun in Germany)

The Rhino-Robbery

Carmen Schumacher — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 09:13:15 +0000

Mysterious rhino thefts in German museums, but not only there! An internationally networked, highly organized gang is traveling across Europe to beat stuffed Rhino heads from the walls of museums, restaurants and antique shops. Which are the reasons for the mysterious robberies? Who are the people behind and what happens to the stolen goods?

Harvesting Fog

Carmen Schumacher — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 14:25:45 +0000

You live in the desert – you have no water. A seemingly ages known truth is about to be overthrown – by an extraordinary invention: harvesting fog. It is a simple yet striking method to convert seemingly unworthy fog in pure drinking water. A new age begins.

This film features the fabulous work of the moroccan NGO Dar Si Hmad – darsihmad.ma

Children imprisoned in Manila

Carmen Schumacher — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 14:18:36 +0000

Imprisoned children – unthinkable in Europe, but sad course of life in the Philippines. Under inhuman conditions minors are detained here for trivia-reasons such as „lingering in the streets at nighttime“: No possibilities to wash, a plasticbucket serves as toilet, penned up like animals. Nine-year-olds have to wait for months just to have a hearing. Father Shay Cullen has been fighting for years against this system and tries to get at least the jungest ones out of there.

Champagne on the ground of the Sea

Carmen Schumacher — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 15:28:47 +0000

Christian Ekström has no idea what he will find following the tip of a fisherman and diving into a … shipwreck. On the ground of the sea he finds something far more valuable than gold: The oldest champagne of the world! One bottle is sold for over 50.000 Euro.

Pure Effect

Carmen Schumacher — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 14:21:57 +0000

Puberty has long been over – but pimples stay. Every woman between the age of 20 and 40 complains about impure skin. Why do they have zits and others don´t? And: What can you do against them?

Mr. Diamond

Carmen Schumacher — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 13:05:51 +0000

Israel is the second-largest emporium for diamonds worldwide: 15 Billion Euro worth in Diamonds are traded here every year – behind the walls of the highly secured towers of the diamond-exchange of Ramat Gan. Trader and Businessman Leibish Polnauer takes us behind the scenes to take an exclusive look into this glittery world.

Liu Bolin

Carmen Schumacher — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 14:31:20 +0000

Liu Bolin is one of the best known contemporary artists in China, featuring an international mass appeal. Like a chameleon in his fotos he melts into any background – and virtually becomes invisable for the spectator. I was allowed to accompany him producing a new piece for his series “Hiding in the City”. What drives him? What does it imply to be an artist in China?

Oilsands in Canada – blessing or curse?

Carmen Schumacher — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 14:51:22 +0000

Canada has transformed from a formerly eco-nation with a green lung to a controversial Oil-nation. For years big companies have deforested the northern woods in order to excavate the bitumen that lies in the ground.
The waist is debarked in toxic tailing-ponds and poisons the air and ground-water. Residing native people have been fighting with deformed fish, asthma and an increase of 30% in cancer. New, allegedly „clean“ methods of underground-extraction only relocate the pollution into the ground, where it is not seen. Nobody can estimate the consequences. We meet the Oilcorporations and accompany activists and affected residents.

Deconstruction of Food

Carmen Schumacher — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 14:21:30 +0000

A pop-up-restaurant, a starcook and: very yummy food! None of the invited guests know… The food is from Mc Donalds! Celebcook Bernd Arold took burgers, chicken mc nuggets and more into pieces and rearranged them into a strikingly delicious menue. Who would have guessed?

This is the invitation-trailer to the event.