Backlight (TV program)


Backlight is a documentary television program by Dutch public broadcasting organisation VPRO. The first episode of Backlight was broadcast on 8 September 2002.
The program "aims to grasp the quintessence of prominent trends and developments" in the practice of critical journalism, and tries to improve understanding of the intricate inner workings of our modern society.
The program won the Zilveren Nipkowschijf in 2005. The episode "Lockerbie Revisited" won the Prix Europa in the category TV Current Affairs in 2009. The episode "Money & Speed", made for iPad, won the Golden Eye at the Dutch Design Awards in 2011.
VPRO released four documentaries in 2009 and 2010 under a Creative Commons license using the content distribution feature of the Mininova BitTorrent tracker.

Past editions

Past Backlight episodes are also available online:
  • "The Carlyle Connection"
  • "Buenos Aires - Human Resources"
  • "Mamma Please Call Me"
  • "Flight from Heaven"
  • "Real Men Don't Rape"
  • "H'ydrogen Revolution" I & II
  • "Cuba after Castro"
  • "My Friend the Mayor"
  • "The Day the Dollar Falls"
  • "Saudi Solutions"
  • "Jeffrey's Policy"
  • "Noreen's Agenda"
  • "Purple Hearts"
  • "The Well-Oiled Revolution of Hugo Chávez"
  • "Energy War"
  • "Google: Behind the Screen"
  • "Three Comrades"
  • "Saturday is for the Dead"
  • "Point of View Iran"
  • "Waste = Food"
  • "Second Thoughts"
  • "Democracy's Dilemma"
  • "The Last Market"
  • "Caracas - The Informal City"
  • "Endgame"
  • "The Israel Lobby"
  • "In Memoriam Alexander Litvenenko"
  • "Singapore Inc."
  • "I Wanna be Boss"
  • "Here Comes the Sun"
  • "The Race for the Car of the Future"
  • "Rising Gulf"
  • "A Way Out of the War on Terror"
  • "Daddy is a Martyr"
  • "The Settler at Kibbutz Karmya"
  • "The Truth According to Wikipedia"
  • "Kasparov's Other Russia"
  • "Lockerbie Revisited"
  • "California Dreaming"
  • "A Greek Tragedy"
  • "After Democracy"
  • "Energy Risk"
  • "Exit Afghanistan"
  • "Money & Speed: Inside the Black Box"
  • "Digital Amnesia"
  • "Money for free"
  • "E-Stonia"
  • "Power to the patient"
  • "Cybertopia - Dreams of Silicon Valley"
  • "Changemakers"
  • "The Tax Free Tour"
  • "The Cleantech Future"
  • "The Food Speculator"
  • "Aftermath of a Crisis"