Both a political narrative and a psychological reflection, this documentary explores the personal journey of a quarry worker’s son from Calvados who rose to become the last great figure of the French Communist Party. It delves into the logic that shaped his path and his lasting impact on France’s history.
September 3rd, 1939. Britain and France declare war on Nazi Germany, only two days after the Wehrmacht invades Poland. This day, the sad date when the fate of the world changed forever, the Phoney War began: eight months of uncertainty, preparations, evacuations and skirmishes.
They were going to become heroes, but they didn't know it. Most of them were not yet twenty years old in June 1940, when France found itself on the ground. They were starting careers, studies, had families, friends. None had heard General de Gaulle's call on June 18, but all listened to Marshal Pétain's speech on the 17th, asking to stop fighting. They immediately rebelled and joined London or the Resistance. Through the testimonies of seven of the last Companions of the Liberation (made in 2013), this film tells us about their unwavering commitment and takes us in their footsteps until the Liberation.
"Algeria, The Two Soldiers" tells the true story of two young French soldiers during the Algerian War, who were driven in two completely opposite directions by the same keen sense of honor: Noël Favrelière deserted to free a young Algerian Muslim prisoner who was going to be executed, and René Técourt, to continue the fight for French Algeria alongside the OAS ultras. Two emblematic examples, which describe in a direct, carnal way, what happened there.
On May 2, 1945, Soviets take control over the Fuhrerbunker. On May 5th, they find bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun buried in the garden near the bunker. Investigation of Hitler's death was kept secret until now.
The chateau of Versailles is believed to have been a dirty palace: a place where everyone tossed the contents of their chamber pots from the windows above… Yet during the chateau’s construction, Louis XIV had given thought to commodities, and several public latrines were built as well as a very modern water system. So where did this bad reputation come from?
The untold story of a world-renowned place of remembrance of the Holocaust in France, the internment camp of Drancy, which was the central transit for the near totality of the 76 000 deported Jews of France during World War II.
Hermann Göring's creation of 1933, the Gestapo, Geheime Staatspolizei, the secret state police charged with identifying individuals considered undesirable, was a redoubtable weapon in the hands of the Nazi power: a veritable device for terror. On 20 April 1934, oversight of the Gestapo passed to the head of the Schutzstaffel (SS), Heinrich Himmler, who was also appointed Chief of German Police by Hitler in 1936.
Discovering Paris under the German occupation through the story of an SS soldier and more generally of Wehrmacht soldiers allows us to follow the daily life on the German side. These soldiers enjoyed privileged status, during their stay, they were led to believe that they belong to a social elite, a status unreachable back in Germany during peacetime. And who better than a German who has led such lifestyle to serve as a common thread and tell this story?
Inaugurated in 1986 by François Mitterrand, a link between the Louvre and Pompidou, Orsay houses the largest collection of Impressionist art in the world. Project after project, the museum has been transformed to modernize and welcome more visitors, while preserving its historic character. Challenges taken up with each new project.
Writer, journalist, explorer, filmmaker, communist militant, freedom fighter. Truths and lies. A plot twist. Politician. General De Gaulle's shadow. Overwhelmed by the weight of power. The numerous exploits of André Malraux (1901-1976).
