Films — Affairs

Warsaw’s dour-from-afar image is dispelling as a new generation of makers, restaurateurs and start-ups help to redefine Poland’s capital.

With its drip-filter coffee, myriad craft shops and quality fishing scene, Hokkaido’s capital reels you in with a laidback lifestyle and a strong stroke of creativity.

What’s it like being a second city? On duty for The Escapist, Robert Bound found Chiang Mai to be an ancient town with a contemporary buzz of bars, bands and boxers, wonderful food and beautiful girls on scooters. It doesn’t feel like it’s in a race with Bangkok, or anywhere else for that matter.

Monocle films visits Porto to discover how one city leader is determined to stop gentrification destroying his city.

Marking the biggest shake-up in the survey’s nine-year history, Monocle’s 2015 Quality of Life survey awards Tokyo the number one city to call home. Rising from second place in 2014, the Japanese capital’s defining paradox – its heart-stopping size and concurrent feeling of peace and quiet – helped it claim the crown.

This year sees the biggest shake-up of our annual Quality of Life list since it launched in 2007. We’ve added 22 new metrics and the new additions have led to some dramatic changes in the order of the top 25 cities. Old favourites have slipped down the list, while we also welcome back one entry. And we have a new number one. We hope, as in previous years, the list provokes a stimulating and lively debate.

Monocle Films visits the national pavilions at the Universal Exposition – hosted this year by the city of Milan – to see how countries use this global stage to grow their businesses and brands.

As the diplomatic wrangle over the Arctic continues, Monocle's Toronto bureau chief Tomos Lewis travelled to the Arctic Council's meeting in Iqaluit in northern Canada to assess the path ahead for this strategically important area.

To draw Monocle's Quality of Life Conference to a close, our editor Andrew Tuck took an in-depth look at how metropolises are changing around the world and poses some fundamental questions to get city planners thinking.

How do we create cities that deliver quality of life for everyone? That can pull in global talent but also take care of locals? Places that are good for a fun night out and also running a new enterprise; that have culture and architecture on the right scale? These were the challenges at the heart of Monocle's Quality of Life Conference in Lisbon. This film shares the questions that we all need to answer.

The people of Trabzon in Turkey are tough, patriotic and proud of their culture, be it guns or folk dancing. We look at the region's tourism industry and find out what's holding it back.

Burma's national broadcaster, MRTV, was once a government mouthpiece. As the country slowly turns to democracy, Monocle films goes behind the scenes to see if it can change with the times.

For many older people in Japan work isn’t just a way to keep busy but also a source of happiness and wellbeing. From a 71-year-old barber to a 100-year-old café owner, Monocle visits Japan’s elderly who are showing little sign of letting up.

With an exhibition of his artwork of war-torn Afghanistan opening at the Imperial War Museum North, artist and illustrator George Butler received a visit from Monocle films. His ink-and watercolour scenes bring a new depth to reportage more often the preserve of combat photographers.

In a war zone, even the hotels are targets. Monocle visits three high-risk hotels, including the Corinthia in Tripoli where nine people were killed in an attack last year.