Beauties of the Night

In 1937, tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent were exterminated by the Dominican army, on the basis of anti-black racism. Fast-forward to 2013, the Dominican Republic's Supreme Court stripped the citizenship of anyone with Haitian parents, retroactive to 1929, rendering more than 200,000 people stateless. Elena, the young protagonist of the film, and her family stand to lose their legal residency in the Dominican Republic if they don't manage to get their documents in time. Negotiating a mountain of opaque bureaucratic processes and a racist, hostile society around, Elena becomes the face of the struggle to remain in a country built on the labor of her father and forefathers.

This Traveltalk series short looks at the people, customs, and landmarks in Vera Cruz, the main port city of Mexico.

55 years ago, on October 1 1968, the first brand advertising spot appeared on the French television screen. Over the next three decades, thousands of creative little films would seduce and build our collective memory. Kitschy or cult spots, humor, slogans, music, stars, gimmicks, grand spectacle or sex appeal: during its golden age, how did advertising convince? Thierry Ardisson has brought together almost 400 advertising clips to relive the era of the conquest of minds and wallets.

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.

As obesity progresses inexorably, Sylvie Gilman and Thierry de Lestrade investigate the causes of this planetary plague and reveal the fight waged in certain countries to stem it.

Between the end of the Second World War and the abolition of the "offence of homosexuality" in 1982, 10,000 sentences were handed down in France. Sentences in correctional courts, fines and sometimes imprisonment, the convictions were mainly against men. The last witnesses of this period speak out and tell of four decades of clandestine life, just before the tragedy of AIDS.

Documentary and reflection about the effects of technology.

A young city girl explores the idea of beauty with her uncle Michel, a retired farmer from the Beauce region. An amusing and touching encounter between two visions of art and the world.

A bunch of British working class amateur filmmakers with nothing left to lose tackle one of Hollywood's greatest musicals in order to save their beloved Club. Britain’s oldest amateur filmmaking club struggles to survive, as its members grow old amid flickering memories and hardships. In the northern industrial town of Bradford, England, a handful of diehard amateur filmmakers desperately cling to their dreams, and to each other, in this warm and funny look at shared artistic folly that speaks to the delusional dreamer in us all.

Hasta el último trago... Corazón

This Traveltalk series short brings us to the capital of Mexico, where we learn a little about the three million people living there. Their living quarters are viewed, as are various monuments found throughout the city, including a monument to George Washington. We also see the Museum of Fine Arts and the Washington Apartments. From here, we visit the bullfights.

This Traveltalk series short visits three cities in Mexico. We start in the village of San Miguel de Allende, known for its churches. A monastery has been converted to a school of arts. The second stop is Queréaro, where a 5-mile-long aqueduct built hundreds of years ago is still functional. It was near this city that Emperor Maximilian was executed in 1867. Then it is on to Monterrey, the large industrial city whose nickname is the Pittsburgh of Mexico. Here are steel mills, other factories, and the largest brewery in Latin America.

Documents the true story of the final weeks of rehearsal for the Young at Heart Chorus in Northampton, MA, and many of whom must overcome health adversities to participate. Their music goes against the stereotype of their age group. Although they have toured Europe and sang for royalty, this account focuses on preparing new songs for a concert in their hometown.

A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.

Guy Debord's analysis of a consumer society.

The first film in what would ultimately become Zilnik’s famed Kenedi trilogy follows street hustler Kenedi Hasani and his friend as they roam the streets of Serbia seeking Kenedi’s parents. Kenedi Goes Back Home is Zilnik’s account of the Roma people who were forced to flee from the war in the Balkans to Germany in the 1990s and who, ten years later, are forced against their will to return to Serbia. Zilnik shows the immigrants' lives in relation to the prevailing ideology shaped today by the borders between rich and poor and by the often-racist selection process that determines who will be accepted into Western Europe. In presenting the dilemmas and identifying the crises these people face, he appeals for a solution.

Les Derniers Secrets de l'humanité

In Mexico there is a cult that is rapidly growing- the cult of Saint Death. This female grim reaper, considered a saint by followers but Satanic by the Catholic Church, is worshiped by people whose lives are filled with danger and/or violence- criminals, gang members, transsexuals, sick people, drug addicts, and families living in rough neighborhoods. "La Santa Muerte" examines the origins of the cult and takes us on a tour of the altars, jails, and neighborhoods in Mexico where the saint's most devoted followers can be found.

The documentary shows the world of the surrealist Canadian artist Alan Glass, his work, his home, his friends, his boxes, all his universe is presented through the point of view of art critics, artists and friends.

Prête-moi ton docteur