In 1945, two young American soldiers, brothers Budd and Stuart Schulberg, are commissioned to collect filmed and recorded evidence of the horrors committed by the infamous Third Reich in order to prove Nazi war crimes during the Nuremberg trials (1945-46). The story of the making of Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today, a paramount historic documentary, released in 1948.
Exclusively created with period engravings, this animated feature explores the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and the ensuing Paris Commune revolution in 1871.
In the 1930’s, the workers of the underground, headed by brigades of writers, are in charge to write in real time "the history of the Moscow Metro". Based on their narratives, partially unpublished, the film recounts the first lines construction of the most beautifiul underground in the world, in the light of this "big literary Utopia", stoped by the purges of 1937-38.
In the heart of Paris, an entire palace has disappeared. It was the very first residence of the kings of France. Long before Versailles, long before the Louvre, the Palais de la Cité stood on the most prestigious island in Paris, the historic cradle of France, facing Notre-Dame. So majestic in the Middle Ages, this palace has become a ghost of history. Over the centuries, this architectural masterpiece has almost completely disappeared. A trio of experts will resurrect it in 3D. Using science and unprecedented excavations, they will track down the pieces of the puzzle to reconstruct it at its peak in the 14th century, and bring back to life those who inhabited it. From the Romans to the Vikings, from Saint Louis to the cursed kings, all have left clues of this 'Versailles of the Middle Ages'.
The story of the cross destiny of George Orwell (1903-50) and Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), the genius authors of the two most groundbreaking novels of anticipation of the 20th century: 1984 and Brave New World; two lucid witnesses of the maledictions of the modern world whose novels have found a considerable echo with our time.
Fifty years ago, on Sunday, 2 March 1969, Concorde flew for the first time. Starting from this inaugural flight, the film goes back in time to the origin of the conception of Concorde.
The United States of America has been at war for almost all of its 250 years of existence. From the wars of independence to current armed conflicts, its armed forces have not only shaped American identity, but also influenced the political decisions of its leaders. The documentary delves deep into this complex history and analyzes the hot and cold wars that shaped the development of the USA, along with lessons for the future. How have generations of Americans experienced these wars and how have their lives been changed by them? How has military engagement been used to shape the image and role of the USA on the world stage? Do military decisions today shape the world of tomorrow and what are the effects on democracy and society? And as the US president begins his new term in office, the question also arises: what role does the army play in Donald Trump's understanding of the world?
Between June 1940 and March 1943, the 1,200 kilometer long demarcation line broke France in two. For almost three years she controlled the daily newspaper of 40 million French people. In the north the zone occupied by Hitler's soldiers, in the south the zone administered by Marshal Pétain's Vichy regime. This film lifts the veil in this theater on the shameful mistakes of the collaboration, but also on the most courageous and noble deeds. Archive images and film recordings at places where the border used to be crossed are alternated with interviews with the last witnesses of this time.
Paris, 1954. The story of the meeting, known thanks to the fortuitous discovery of a forgotten notebook, full of notes and photographs, between a white British aristocrat, Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, writer and jazz patron, and a talented black pianist, Thelonious Monk, one of the best bebop jazz musicians of all time; a prodigious union of wills that overcame the most extreme prejudices of the very conservative US society.
In 1924, a garden city, called “Ungemach”, was inaugurated in Strasbourg; it was restricted to couples who bore “healthy and fertile strains”. This officially eugenicist experience was endorsed by both political and scientific authorities, and the selection system lasted until the 1980s! To understand the genesis of such a project, it is necessary to revisit the history of eugenics. We will first go to England, where the concept was born and developed in the 1880s. Then to the United States, Switzerland, the Nordic countries, Japan, where, since the 1920s, large-scale sterilization policies have been implemented to eradicate health and social "defects", long before Nazi Germany. This question of eugenics is a universal one; its implementations were numerous and it still permeates ethical debates on medically assisted procreation techniques or Transhumanism today.
Paris, 1940. German occupation forces create a new film production company, Continental, and put Alfred Greven – producer, cinephile, and opportunistic businessman – in charge. During the occupation, under Joseph Goebbels’s orders, Greven hires the best artists and technicians of French cinema to produce successful, highly entertaining films, which are also strategically devoid of propaganda. Simultaneously, he takes advantage of the confiscation of Jewish property to purchase film theaters, studios and laboratories, in order to control the whole production line. His goal: to create a European Hollywood. Among the thirty feature films thus produced under the auspices of Continental, several are, to this day, considered classics of French cinema.
In 1892, Ellis Island, in New York Bay, became the main gateway to the United States for immigrants arriving increasingly from Europe. The story of immigration to the United States from 1892 to 1954, an enthralling polyphonic narrative that embraces both small and great history.
How only one man all at the same time painted the Mona Lisa, conceived ball bearing and gave the first clinical description of atherosclerosis? On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of his death, this documentary will answer these questions and much more, gathering clues thanks to research on the field and encounters with the most outstanding specialists on Leonardo Da Vinci. Travelling through time thanks to an imaginary museum, we will track back the Renaissance genius and give you to see Leonardo’s relentless ingenuity!
Did Leonardo da Vinci come up with all of his ideas and inventions by himself or did he also borrow some of them from ancient scientists including those who lived 1,700 years before him.
On May 14, 1941, 3,747 foreign Jews were arrested by the Parisian police during the roundup known as the "green ticket", the first in France. More than eight decades after this tragedy, an unparalleled photo report has just been miraculously found. These hundred shots taken by the German propaganda services document this morning during which these men were arrested and taken to the internment camps of Pithiviers and Beaune-la-Rolande.
The military history of animals is surprising and little-known. Starting from a strange London memorial dedicated to war animals, the evocative power of animation and the testimonies of those who are passionate about this long history, this documentary sets out to meet these anonymous heroes.
These last Mayan cities are the most fascinating documentary objects, as much for their architecture and the unique and grandiose settings in which they exist as their excellent state of preservation. Described by leading experts, carefully illustrated with images and reconstructed using new 3D models, Tulum, Coba and Mayapan provide us with an updated inventory of what scientists know about the Maya civilisation today.
