LES MAISONS DE PARIS (Houses of Paris)

Discover old and modern houses, mansions, tenement houses, blocks of flats and decrepit old houses as you wander through the neighbourhoods. Compare the charm of the old buildings and the suburbs with the graceless modern urbanisation.

LES MOINES DU MONT-ATHOS (The Monks of Mount Athos)

In the heart of the Mediterranean, Mount Athos has for ten centuries sheltered monks and their secrets behind the thick walls of its monasteries. On its slopes cling the villages of monks who preferred the rustic life to that of the rule. Only a winch connects the world to this cliff of silence, whose entrance … Continued

INVENTAIRE POUR UN BILAN (Inventory for a balance sheet)

This 75-minute film takes stock of French action in Algeria between 1830 and 1962. The history of the country since the Romans is evoked through works of art, followed by the major infrastructure projects undertaken by France: irrigation and dams, agriculture, town planning and the Constantine Plan, culture and education (schools, universities, vocational training), raw … Continued

LES JARDINS DE LA MER (Sea Gardens)

At low tide, the sea uncovers what the indifferent wave has abandoned. Crystal transparencies everywhere. Here is a puddle, a small space full of riches and moving shapes, where each clump of seaweed conceals a living creature: an anemone, a rock fish, prawns, a crab. In this crystal world, the ferocious law of the jungle … Continued

LEÇ0N DE CHOSES (Lesson of things)

In Haute-Provence, two young city dwellers enjoy the perfect holiday with a shepherd who knows every rock in the mountains and knows how to be kind and gentle to them. But all it takes is a chance encounter with the mauve clumps of thyme and lavender to reveal to them a tiny world of insects, … Continued

IMAGES D’ANGKOR (Pictures of Angkor)

Discovered in 1914, the temple of Angkor, the apotheosis of Khmer art, was restored with its own materials by the French, who were able to recreate the work of geniuses from another time and another race, and give the kingdom of Cambodia a history and a past.

IMAGES D’UN ÉTÉ (Pictures of a summer)

Film shot during the first French polar expedition to Antarctica. The sun triumphs over the long polar night. It was not to be a summer like any other that year. For the first time, it will be witnessed by humans. This is of little concern to the penguins, whose ancestral habits are in no way … Continued

LES IMAGIERS (The Imagiers)

It’s a fascinating game to compare images of the Paris of yesterday with those of the Paris we know today, especially if you prefer the “imagiers” to the painter. The imagiers were the modest and conscientious creators of maps and engravings of Paris. If only a handful of images remain of Paris in the Middle … Continued

LE GRAND MÉLIÈS (The great Méliès)

A magician and precursor of cinematographic art, Georges Méliès was found in 1928 running a toy shop, all that remained of his once prestigious existence. Before 1914, he made several hundred magical, poetic films whose fresh inspiration and ingenuity still surprise today’s jaded viewer. His wife, his granddaughter, one of his former collaborators, and finally … Continued