The World at War: Red Star — The Soviet Union, 1941-1943 — The monumental series on the second world war examines two years when the Soviet Union alone fights Hitler's forces. The greatest land battles in history are fought on Russian soil at Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk. ABC TV, Friday, May 12, 9.25pm.
Actively Radical TV — Community television's progressive current affairs program that tackles the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Friday, 10.30pm.
Movie: The Rat Saviour (1976) — In a central European town between the wars as fascism begins to emerge, an impoverished writer comes across rats which are able to assume human form in order to infiltrate society and its political structures. From Croatia. SBS, Saturday, May 13, 9.30pm.
Sleeping Giants — Any visitor to Africa soon learns that soccer is an all-consuming passion for city dwellers. This is the first of a four-part series on African football. SBS, Sunday, May 14, 5pm.
Islands in the African Sky — In east Africa, high above the clouds, is a world of extremes where the equator meets the arctic. Great mountains act as islands isolating plants and animals on each peak. ABC TV, Sunday, May 14, 6pm.
New York Law — A chilling account of justice US-style. New York has, in effect, abandoned the notion of trials. The courts can handle only 650 a year, but in the Bronx alone there are 7000 felony indictments. In place of normal judicial process there is a system operated by "killer judges" who either dismiss a case or cut a deal, presuming guilt, of a reduced spell in jail. NY Law follows one case through to its frightening end. We see overcrowded cells, judges who have to fulfil a daily quota of convictions and broken-down, drunken lawyers who hang around courts on the off chance that a case will come their way. ABC TV, Sunday, May 14, 8.30pm.
Rough Guide to the Americas — A video version of the famous guide book. Like the books, the program examines different countries in the Americas by going off the beaten track, exploring the novel and interesting without ignoring social, political and environmental questions that shape the people's lives. SBS, Sunday, May 14, 7.30pm.
War on Wildlife — The Gulf War unleashed an environmental disaster on the region. SBS, Monday, May 15, 5pm.
Living on the River Agano — Japan's development has had serious effects on the environment and the lives of the people living on the River Agano, one of the consequences being mercury in the ecosystem and the emergence of Minimata disease. SBS, Monday, May 15, 11.05pm.
Lockerbie: the Maltese Double Cross — Allan Francovich's controversial investigative documentary reveals a theory about those responsible for the crash of Pan Am Flight 103. SBS, Tuesday, May 16, 8.30pm.
In a Time of Betrayal — When very young, Marcia Merino became a militant member of the leftist MIR in Chile. In 1973, the military took power and DINA, the secret police, arrested and tortured Merino, who turned informer. Her former friends and comrades were arrested and tortured; many disappeared. After 18 years, Merino agreed to testify against those for whom she spied. SBS, Wednesday, May 17, 8.30pm.
The Gold of Moscow — This doco reveals what happened to the gold of the Spanish republican government, sent to Moscow in 1936 to pay for arms and ammunition. In the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39, the so-called democracies refused to aid the Spanish people in their fight against the Nazi-backed fascists of General Franco. Only the Soviet Union sent aid. The Catalan makers of this film accuse Moscow of cynically plundering Spain's gold. When the gold ran out and Stalin made a non-aggression pact with Hitler, the aid stopped and the Republic was left to flounder. SBS, Thursday, May 18, 8.30pm.
The Bureau: Fighting the Family — For decades the FBI's official position was that there was no organised crime in the US. Under J. Edgar Hoover, the Mafia flourished and senior FBI officers hobnobbed with major mob figures. ABC TV, Thursday, May 18, 9.30pm.