Danse avec Le Pen

In France’s last presidential election, Marine Le Pen, a right-wing candidate, won over 30 per cent of the vote after an attempt to rebrand a party long associated with her controversial father, Jean-Marie Le Pen. See how three of her supporters faced similar obstacles in changing the narrative.

Vivante(s)

Philippe Pétain

Foccart, l'homme qui dirigeait l'Afrique

Cassis

"I was visiting Jerome Hill. Jerome loved France, especially Provence. He spent all his summers in Cassis. My window overlooked the sea. I sat in my little room, reading or writing, and looked at the sea. I decided to place my Bolex exactly at the angle of light as what Signac saw from his studio which was just behind where I was staying, and film the view from morning till after sunset, frame by frame. One day of the Cassis port filmed in one shot." -JM

L'arrivée d'un train à La Ciotat

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Les yeux dans les Bleus

This documentary follows the French soccer team on their way to victory in the 1998 World Cup in France. Stéphane Meunier spent the whole time filming the players, the coach and some other important characters of this victory, giving us a very intimate and nice view of them, as if we were with them.

Les Frères Bapst, charretiers

The Bapst Brothers: Romain, Maurice and Jacques – whom we will also meet in The Gruyere Chronicle (produced in 1990) – are peasants and carriers and work with their father. In autumn and winter, they bid for the community’s wood, cut down the pine trees and bring down the logs through the snowy woods by horse-drawn sleigh.

Angoulême : 50 ans de bulles

In 1974, a group of friends, inspired by what they had seen in Italy and driven by their common passion, organized a comic book fair in their Charente town of Angoulême. Half a century later, the event has become an internationally renowned festival, which is about to celebrate its 50th edition. This documentary tells the story of the creation of the Angoulême International Comics Festival in the context of the 1970s, and the evolution of the event since then, which has made the city a world reference in an exponentially growing bubble market.

Le Plus Beau Pays du Monde

A documentary that shows the different fauna that populates natural habitats of France, and the people that aims to protect and preserve them.

Luxury at Sea: The Greatest Liners

Celebrate engineering feats that conquered oceans with a look at historic liners—from the luxurious decks to the mechanisms that kept them afloat.

La Vie sans Brahim

Allons enfants

HipHop as a language and an outlet for young people: The film follows the youngest class members of a dance academy on their way to becoming professional dancers. Many of the students come from the socially deprived areas of Paris. Accompanied by a pulsating, dancing camera that pulls the audience right into the action, the film negotiates themes such as origins, pains, dreams and hopes.

Lumiere's First Picture Shows

An overview of the works of French film pioneers Louis and Auguste Lumière from 1895 to 1897.

Cap d'Agde, Naked City

Cap D'Agde is a popular summer resort town in France. A large section of the town is clothing-optional, and thousands of tourists flock there every year for the opportunity to spend their days naked--not only on the beach or in the pool, but in the shopping area also. Our tour guides, Alison Brown and Wendy Cooper, show off the town's attractions and interview a number of visitors and locals to find out what they most enjoy about vacationing in the nude.

Jeunesse Rouge: The Story of Young Communist Revolutionaries in France

"Jeunesse Rouge" is a documentary exploring young French Communist revolutionaries fighting for a just and equal society. The film follows their organizing and mobilizing, while delving into the history of the Communist movement in France. Archival footage and interviews with activists show their passionate commitment, from protests and strikes to political education. It highlights the power of youth activism and their potential to bring about change in the face of systemic inequality.

Daraya, La bibliothèque sous les bombes

At the heart of the Syrian civil war, a group of activists created an underground library in the besieged outskirts of Damascus. After years of blockade, they were forced to leave their city. But they managed to save their videos illustrating a unique experiment of cultural resistance under the bombs. This film, built between the past and the present, follows the story of three friends who met during the 2011 revolution and never gave up on their cultural resistance and peaceful struggle. Despite ceaseless bombing, they not only saved books from the rubble, but created a secret library, which quickly became a safe haven for peace, freedom and democracy: a special experience that they filmed and documented meticulously. Separated by war and exile, they are striving to reunite with each other. They reminisce on the past and tell us the extraordinary story of the library, based on dozens of hours of video archives. “A Library Under Bombs” is a story of hope and survival.

De Gaulle, histoire d'un géant

50 years after the death of General De Gaulle, this film retraces his life, from his birth in 1890 to his burial at Colombey-Les-Deux-Eglises in 1970.

The New Horizon

A bright outlook in Birkenhead for a thriving British enterprise.

Diese Briten, diese Deutschen

This first co-production between the GDR and Great Britain is intended to contribute to an understanding of the situation and attitudes of millions of working people in opposing social orders. Using the example of shipyard workers, fishermen, the brigade and family of a trade union active cook and unemployed person of various ages and professions in Newcastle on the one hand and a brigade of crane operators of the Warnowwerft and fishermen of the Warnemünde cooperative on the other hand, insights into the way of life and attitudes of people of our time are to be conveyed.