Shows from VPRO



Dutch public broadcaster VPRO offers you impressive and award-winning travel series that will help you expand your view on the world.
20 Episodes
Backlight - YouTubeland


YouTube is travelling like a high-speed train into one of the most powerful online platforms in the world. Which clever earnings model is hiding behind this success story, and how will this affect our future media landscape?
Backlight - Waste = Food

Waste = Food

Natural resources are being depleted on a rapid scale while production and consumption are rising rapidly in nations like China and India.
Backlight - Regreening The Desert

Regreening The Desert

For more than 15 years, cameraman and ecologist John D. Liu has been working on his worldwide mission to green deserts and to restore biodiversity.
Backlight - The Value Of Your Personal Data

The Value Of Your Personal Data

Data is being collected about you constantly. All this personal data is being used to send you advertisements and banners, one would say. But that is just the start.
Backlight - Mobile Gold

Mobile Gold

Our waste is worth money. Recovering it has started up a new global industry worth billions.
Backlight - Made In Germany

Made In Germany

Backlight crosses the border to fathom the secrets of the German success.
Backlight - Who Owns Football?

Who Owns Football?

Large football clubs are being bought by foreign businessmen, who some say are only in it for the money with no tie to football history. But a protest movement is taking matters into its own hands to tackle the issues facing Europe's biggest sport.
Backlight - E-stonia - A Start-Up Country

E-stonia - A Start-Up Country

In the very north-east of Europe, on the border of Russia, lies the small country of Estonia. Per capita, it has the most start-ups; internet access is considered a human right and everyone has free wi-fi. And the eyes of the tech world are watching.
Backlight - Bye Bye Car

Bye Bye Car

Driverless cars will be how we move around in the future. In 10 years' time, Ford Motors' Bill Ford says his company will sell mobility, not cars. We ask the experts, including Tesla pioneer Elon Musk, what they think the future has in store for us.
Backlight - Digital Food

Digital Food

Modern food production is dependent on fossil fuels. As we begin to reach the end of them, how will we feed a global population of nine billion in 2050? Start-ups are using smart technology, big data and new distribution systems to find solutions.
Backlight - Negotiator in Time of War

Negotiator in Time of War

In Lebanon, 1 in 4 inhabitants is now a refugee. How do the Lebanese deal with this influx? And what impact does it have on the already precarious balance in the region, and beyond? VPRO Backlight follows Dutch UN representative Sigrid Kaag.
Backlight - Bitcoin Gospel

Bitcoin Gospel

Is bitcoin the blueprint for a bankless currency or the biggest pyramid scheme in history? Is it the alternative to a failing finance sector, or are we simply shifting power from today's banking elite to a new online elite?
Backlight - The Bureau of Digital Sabotage

The Bureau of Digital Sabotage

We seem to be prisoners of a worldwide digital web, created by governments and Silicon Valley. How do we stay in control of our own data? Are there ways to escape the digital dystopia?
Backlight - After the Revolution

After the Revolution

In recent years, protesters have taken to the streets of Spain, Tunis, Kiev, Amsterdam, Cairo, Istanbul, Tel Aviv and more - all pressing their demands for change. But what happened after the mass demonstrations?
Backlight - The Tax Free Tour

The Tax Free Tour

Where do multinationals pay taxes and how much? Gaining insight from international tax experts, VPRO's Backlight takes a look at tax havens, the people who live there and the routes used to avoid tax globally.
Backlight - Fossil Free

Fossil Free

The trust that politicians will solve climate change is waning, and a growing group of concerned citizens is looking for other ways to tackle it. They're now focusing on the financial world, which they believe has crucial influence.
Backlight - Race to Space

Race to Space

As the planet becomes more crowded, eyes are rising to the stars. The colonisation of space is no longer science fiction, it's big business, from NASA to entrepreneurs like Elon Musk. Meet the space lawyer trying to bring order to the space race.
Backlight - Aleksander Litvinenko

Aleksander Litvinenko

It started as a possible case of food poisoning, but within weeks turned into a spectacle of enormous political proportions. Aleksander Litvinenko, former member of the Russian secret service, died after being poisoned with a radioactive substance.
Backlight - Zero Days

Zero Days

How safe is your data? Secret internet backdoors are being exploited and sold by hackers for astronomical amounts. It has sparked a digital war between good and bad hackers - all focused on your digital security. How safe do you feel?
Backlight - The Smart State

The Smart State

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has put innovation at the forefront of his growth plans for Australia. It's easy to think that all new technology is developed by hip companies like Google and Apple, but is this true?