Chaval

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.

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.

Giscard, l'impossible retour

Communist, resistance fighter, deportee, Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier is one of the great heroines of the 20th century. Nicknamed Maïco, she became a photojournalist and embraced the class struggle at the same time as she fell in love with one of the figures of the Popular Front, Paul Vaillant-Couturier. During World War II, she joined the Resistance and later gave decisive testimony at Nuremberg.

October 2003, Alma and Lila Levy are excluded from the Lycée Henri Wallon in Aubervilliers solely because they were wearing a headscarf. What follows is a deafening political and media debate, justifying in most cases the exclusion of girls wearing head-scarves to school. February 2004, a law was eventually passed by the National Assembly. "A thinly veiled racism" is about this controversy since the affair of Creil in 1989 (where two schoolgirls were excluded for the same reasons) and attempts to "reveal" that maybe what hides behind is the desire to exclude these girls. This film gives them a voice as well as others - teachers, community activists, feminists, researchers - gathered around the group "A School for You-All" fighting for the repeal of this law they consider sexist and racist ... This movie was censured in Septembre 2004 in France.

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.

A group of children are encouraged to play in a park by two men. Some play a skipping game. One of the other children refuses and eventually runs away. Another child is fascinated by the camera and stares at it throughout, even when encouraged by one of the men to play. IN the background, traffic passes and pedestrians stroll past behind a railing on an upper level. The children wear sunhats, indicating the weather is very sunny.

The adventures of Hergé, or how Georges Remi created The Adventures of Tintin. Interviews, archive footage and animation clips tell the story of Tintin, which is the history of the 20th century.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, l’homme qui avançait à contre-courant

Bokassa Ier, empereur de Françafrique

At a time when French flags are being burned and French embassies targeted, this documentary delves into the growing disaffection between French-speaking Africa and the former colonial power. Through the voices of African leaders, pan-African activists, and committed young people, the film questions the persistence of a relationship marked by the aftermath of colonization, the opaque agreements of "Françafrique," and a military presence deemed paternalistic.

Thundering across the sky on elegant white wings, the Concorde was an instant legend. But behind the glamour of jet setting at Mach 2 were stunning scientific innovations and political intrigue. Fifteen years after Concorde's final flight, this documentary takes you inside the historic international race to develop the first supersonic airliner. Hear stories from those inside the choreographed effort to design and build Concorde in two countries at once - and the crew members who flew her.

TGV, la réussite française

TGV, 30 ans de vitesse

These previously unseen images bear witness to the darkest hours of our history and their lives. They have never before been shown to the general public. Officially, they do not exist. Without the patient efforts of persistent historians and archivists, they would still be lying dormant in family archives...

Aboard a specially decorated motorhome made by Lulu, they will travel the roads of France for the first time, following "an itinerary as twisted as Lucie's spine" (sic). From the French Riviera to Mont-Saint-Michel, via the Arcachon basin, Hauts-de-France and Lot, before reaching the Champs-Elysées for a finish as prestigious as the Tour de France. On the agenda: a reunion with a fourth-grade class, funny gypsies, a haunted castle, oysters and white wine with the most famous oyster farmer, but also a few activities strongly discouraged for people with muscular dystrophy... and above all, big-hearted French people, as funny as they are generous, who offer us the best of their country through their hospitality.

The hidden story of a savory local specialty found only on the French Riviera and the surrounding areas. Socca enjoys a historical and cultural significance that far outweighs its simple and rustic four ingredients. How Nice!

Le Beurre : Du bonheur en motte ?

Boire

Director Mark Wexler embarks on a worldwide trek to investigate just what it means to grow old and what it could mean to really live forever. But whose advice should he take? Does 94-year-old exercise guru Jack LaLanne have all the answers, or does Buster, a 101-year-old chain-smoking, beer-drinking marathoner? What about futurist Ray Kurzweil, a laughter yoga expert, or an elder porn star? Wexler explores the viewpoints of delightfully unusual characters alongside those of health, fitness and life-extension experts in this engaging new documentary, which challenges our notions of youth and aging with comic poignancy. Begun as a study in life-extension, How To Live Forever evolves into a thought-provoking examination of what truly gives life meaning.