Take a closer look at everyday life and politics in the Middle Ages with the chronicle kept by the Carolingian woman, Dhouda, for her young son. Through her writing, we can gain rare insight into this time of constant warfare and shifting alliances from the perspective of a highly educated woman who stands in for the many women whose voices are lost to time.

At the height of the Heian period, Japan was breaking away from Chinese influence and developing its own courtly culture, with women emerging as a powerful force in art and literature. Here you will meet Murasaki Shikibu, the woman who wrote the world’s first novel: The Tale of Genji.

In all of Chinese history, only one woman ever ruled on her own: Wu Zetian. Trace her rise to power, from her lowly origins as the daughter of a merchant to the head of her own dynasty. Along the way, gain insight into the cutthroat nature of the Chinese imperial court and the ways Wu could be both brilliant and cruel throughout her reign.

See how a woman, Lubna, rose to prominence as the most renowned mathematician of her day in the glittering intellectual capital Cordoba and get a better understanding of women’s education in the Muslim world and beyond. You’ll see that, while Lubna was extraordinary, she was not necessarily unique to her time and place.

In this issue of Videofashion Collections Stella McCartney celebrates freedom in her Fall 2015 collection, exploring classic suiting, and teasing sensuality. Layered in blanket shawls and bold prints, Kenzo's woman is both a warrior and a woodland nymph. Co-designers Carol Lim and Humberto Leon explain, "We're celebrating this collective of different and strong women, and the relationship they have with nature and the forest." Plus Sarah Burton used...

This production is part of a famous series produced by BBC of all of William Shakespeare's plays. The resulting films, renowned for their loyalty to the text, utilized the best theatrical and television directors and brought highly praised performances from leading contemporary actors. As the nation mourns the death of King Henry V, news reaches England of military setbacks in France. After the release of their General, Lord Talbot, the English reclaim...

As leader of the world's only LGBT political party, Bemz Benedito dreams of being the first transgender woman in the Philippine Congress. But in a predominantly Catholic nation, rallying for LGBT representation in the halls of Congress is not an easy feat. Bemz and her eclectic team of queer political warriors must rethink traditional campaign strategies to amass support from unlikely places. Taking their equality campaign to small-town hair salons...

As recently as forty years ago, most sections of the Maasai were semi-nomadic and relatively independent of the nation-state. However, political, social and economic changes in East Africa have forced many herders to adopt a sedentary lifestyle. The chairman and the lions introduces Frank Kaipai Ikoyo, a charismatic Ilparakuyo Maasai who, at thirty-three, is the leader of a Tanzanian village called Lesoit. Ikoyo was elected to his post at the age...

The fable of an old African king and his wayward daughter is updated to present day Brussels to make provocative points about racism, tradition, class struggle, cultural identity and corruption. More than a decade ago Mweze Ngangura delighted the cinema world with one of the most accessible and entertaining African films ever made, La vie est belle, the rags to riches story of a Congolese musician played by soukous super star Papa Wemba. Now he returns...