As civil war rages in the Balkans, in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo an Albanian farmer faces an agonising dilemma. Should he follow his ancient code of honour and take revenge on a neighbour who killed his son in a dispute over cattle? Or should he forgive the feud for the sake of Albanian unity against the Serbs who rule Kosovo?

The Abrahamses have returned to Berlin after 50 years in Russia. Stefan Brandt and his half-sister Irmgard Wittkuhn were separated by the Berlin Wall for 30 years. Together they now re-open the case against their father who was accused of spying. In a changing, disorienting Berlin, both families reach a new understanding of what it means to be German.

On the Isle of Mull, Macleans from around the world celebrate their clan gathering. All claim allegiance to Scotland, though few have Scottish accents. In Possilpark, Glaswegians care less about national traditions, but they blame Westminster for the lack of jobs and schools.

Now that they are old enough to get married, it is time for Florence and Azikiye to go through their Nigerian tribe's time-honoured Iria ceremony. Confined in the "fattening rooms", they will be extravagantly fed, excused all housework, and instructed on the mysterious arts of womanhood. But for one of the two, it all proves too much.

Under the brutal regime of Pol Pot, more than 90% of Cambodia's artists were killed. Ballet teacher Em Theay survived, and has returned to Phnom Penh to rebuild the ballet school and retrace her pupils.

Over the past ten years something strange has been happening on the midnight streets of many Mediterranean cities. Local prostitutes have been ousted by "travestis" - illegal Brazilian immigrants. They are neither men nor women, but both - men with implants and hormone treatments, breasts and male genitals.

Sultan Issa Maigari of Cameroon used to hold the power of life and death over his one million subjects. Now his authority is ebbing away. The government won't let him raise his own taxes, the peasants are rebelling, and the royal praise-singer (equivalent of the tabloid press) has betrayed him.

The marriage of a teenage girl to four brothers aged from 8 to 16 is not unusual among the Nyinba people. They live in a rugged and remote corner of the Nepalese Himalayas, and this form of marriage is essential to their survival. But on a personal level, it raises many problems - the age difference, sleeping arrangements, jealousy, paternity of the children. As preparations for the lavish wedding begin, the bride faces these harrowing prospects. As one of her aunts, who has five husbands, warns her: "You've got to satisfy them all - that's what causes our wrinkles."

At the Holy Family Golden Gloves Amateur Boxing Club in North Belfast, Catholic and Protestant boys train side by side, hoping for success and an escape from the troubled streets. But outside the club they live in a virtual apartheid, divided from their neighbours by flags, painted pavements, and an invisible boundary of fear.

There are only 150 Mehinacu left in the world. They live in one village in the middle of the Xingu Reserve in Central Brazil. Forty years ago they were first contacted by the 'Whiteman' in the guise of Leonardo Villas-Boas, the celebrated anthropologist who established the Indian Reserve for them and neighbouring tribes. Their culture has been protected but their psychological well-being is less clear.

Travellers stuck on a long-distance bus journey in India may well find themselves being entertained by peddlers and clowns. Afsar sells home-made cures and potions, but takes paracetamol for his own headaches. Shakeel offers soothing kohl for the eyes and sings Islamic songs. Hashmat is a magician, whose tricks display his dazzling sleight of hand. But behind his gaiety he hides a shameful secret. (a Film Sixteen/ZDF production for BBCtv)

Abdur Rahman is at the mercy of the river Bhramaputra. He depends on it for his livelihood, but once a year it threatens to kill him. Like tens of thousands of Bangladeshi fisherfolk, he lives on a narrow silt island which rises only inches above the water line. As the river swells and his silt island starts to flood, he struggles to keep his family fed and his makeshift home intact. (a Film Sixteen/ZDF production for BBCtv)

China has occupied Tibet for 40 years. While the Dalai Lama advocates the country's cause on the international stage, consulting people like John Cleese, a group of exiled radicals plead for rebellions within Tibet to free their homeland. This film follows the Dalai Lama on his global travels, and talks to refugee Lhasang Tsering who fears that the non-violent approach of the Dalai Lama may not succeed. And in Tibet today the reality of Chinese occupation is revealed.

The Takarazuka Revue is a highly successful musical theatre troupe in which all the actors are women. If they want to get married, they have to resign. The compensation is stardom and they are envied by millions of women across Japan. On stage they conjure up an impossibly romantic and glamorous world far removed from the narrow confines of housewives' and office-girls' lives. (a Twentieth-Century Vixen production for BBCtv)

Bull-racing on the Indonesian islands of Sapudi and Madura is both a test of manhood and a statement of identity. We follow two young jockeys as they prepare for the annual tournament.

Founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, France's prestigious St Cyr military school brands Frenchness into the hearts and souls of young officers using theatrical rituals and initiations, most notably a re-enactment in full period costume of the Battle of Austerlitz and the Grand Soir in which third-year students ceremonially dress the second-years in the traditional uniform of plumed hat, gloves, and epaulettes. We follow one class over the year before their graduation.

A documentary about the extraordinary sexual traditions of the Sambia people of Papua New Guinea. Boys as young as 7 are taken away from their mothers and introduced to sexual practices by their (male) warrior elders. The film follows the Sambians' initiation ritual, a closely-guarded secret being conducted probably for the last time.

In the Yellow Earth district in northern China, where houses are caves cut into the cliff terraces, two women are about to become neighbors. One, a wife and mother, is being grievously punished for having too many children. The other has just arrived to celebrate her impending wedding. (a Cicada production for BBCtv)

Aboriginal stockman Harry Dixon taught white cattleman Grant Martin to hunt and shoot and to understand the land. New laws allow Dixon to claim a plot of land, but water is scarce, and Martin is unwilling to give his old teacher his due.

Ron Huhndorf and Willie Kosiyue are at loggerheads. They are neighbouring Yupitt Indians from an isolated river delta in south-western Alaska. Ron welcomes the discovery and exploitation of oil in his settlement, while Willie is determined to halt what he sees as the destruction of tribal life. Through the contrast between the two men, we see in dramatic form the dilemmas facing Native Americans.

Thirteen-year-old Uria goes to a Catholic boarding school on the remote Mentawai islands of Indonesia. Twice a year he returns to his home deep in the forest where his father is a sorcerer. When he arrives, Uria pits his new Christian faith and his literacy against his father's ritual invocation of the spirits.

It is three years since Duka left home to marry a man she had never met, and she now has two children. Her ambitious husband Sago's aspirations to become rich are thwarted by drought, rising prices, and the never-ending demands of his grasping relatives. Meanwhile Duka's cousin is preparing for his coming of age, which requires Duka be ritually beaten until her back bleeds. But a sudden death in the family puts the ceremony in jeopardy, and Sago must find a solution.

In an unusual attempt to bring the country's single citizens together, Singapore's government has launched its very own dating agency. We follow two women and one man on their search for the perfect date.

Villagers in northern Transvaal, South Africa, have good reason to fear their neighbours. Here witchcraft is a common accusation, with some hounded out of their homes, others even being killed. African magic, potentially a benevolent force, is being used as an instrument of violence in a society now under severe economic and psychological stress. This is the story of one accused witch and his accusers.

While 100,000 Tongans prepare to celebrate their king's 75th birthday, the monarch is engaged in a race to shed some of his 33-stone bulk before the big day.

Junior beauty pageants - open to children aged between six months and 17 years - offer big prizes to families across the southern states of America. This behind-the-scenes look at the phenomenon examines the themes of lost childhood and naked ambition.

A family of Aka pygmies living deep in the Central African rainforest experiences their favourite time of year: caterpillar season. Millions of juicy, edible caterpillars fall from the mahogany trees. Away from the tall villagers to whom the Aka are virtual slaves, they express themselves through song, dance, and an astonishing teeth-sharpening ritual.

The local bride fair of the Ait Haddidu people in Morocco is a gathering to which women flock in search of a husband. Two women travel to the fair with different hopes. 27-year-old divorcee Fadma prepares by visiting a shrine and a sorcerer. Meanwhile 14-year-old Aisha has her eye on a boy who her father might not think suitable.

Every January the small US town of Quartzite, Arizona, plays host to a million of America's elderly who have rejected conventional notions of old age. Having sold their homes and deserted their families, they flock here to escape the cold, meet old friends, gamble their savings, and cross the Mexican border for cheap medical treatment. The temporary morgue deals with 200 bodies a day.

A devout Ethiopian couple endure blistering heat, bitter cold, and unforgiving terrain on a pilgrimage to the shrine of their saint and idol.