Pactes de silenci

"I often say sociology is a martial art, a means of self-defence. Basically, you use it to defend yourself, without having the right to use it for unfair attacks." (Pierre Bourdieu) The world has witnesses who speak out loud what others keep to themselves. They are neither gurus, nor masters, but those who consider that the city and the world can be thought out. The sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu is one such witness." Over a three- year period, Pierre Carles' camera followed him through different situations: a short conversation with Günter Grass, a lively conference with the inhabitants of a working-class suburb, his relations with his students and colleagues and his plea that sociology be part of the life of the city. His thinking has a sort of familiarity, which means it is always within our reach. It is the thinking of a French intellectual who has chosen to think his times.

The art of drag represents an artistic transformation where individuals create characters by amplifying gendered traits, challenging established social norms. This practice, known for its spectacular performances, has evolved through periods of repression and acceptance. Through humor and self-mockery, drag disrupts conventions and is deeply rooted in the history of LGBT+ movements. This documentary traces the history of Drag in France and around the world, from William Dorsey Swann—a young emancipated slave considered the first drag queen—to RuPaul, Nicky Doll, and Paloma. Featuring contributions from historians, anthropologists, and sociologists specialized in drag, as well as testimonies from drag artists who are shaping or have shaped this history.

Haïti, la rançon de l'indépendance

A serious crisis has shaken Spain since the referendum on self-determination and the proclamation of the independence of Catalonia by the government of Carles Puigdemont, bold actions firmly fought by the Spanish government by applying the constitutional article that allows it to place a region under guardianship. While Spain is on the verge of implosion, Europe is holding its breath.

For the first time, survivors talk about life after the camps. How does one return to a life that was interrupted with such violence? How does one reconstruct oneself when all or most of one’s family were butchered? How does one resume studies and earn a living in a society that had cast you out a few years earlier?

Exploring police brutality and institutional hostility towards Arab and Muslim students, this documentary reveals how the University of Michigan's broad trends of surveillance transform a sanctuary into a symbol of systemic oppression.

French actors Lucien Jean-Baptiste, Aïssa Maïga, Sonia Rolland, Deborah Lukumuena, Marie-France Malonga, Gary Dourdan and others speak up on the reality of black actors in the French movie industry.

A Matter of Land recounts the first year of application of Colombian's Land Restitution Act from the perspective of a community who decide to engage with the process. The film explores the tensions that arise when such communities come face to face with the complex institutions responsible for enforcing the law. The result of these tensions is a narrative worthy of Kafka, in which a doorway to justice is opened for the sole purpose of demonstrating that no one can pass through it.

In Bogotá, urban public transport drivers do not receive a fixed salary. This has triggered a daily war marked by an anguishing and dangerous routine that only benefits large business owners and leaves the State as an indifferent bystander.

Under the pretext of fighting terrorism or crime, the major powers have embarked on a dangerous race for surveillance technologies. Facial recognition cameras, emotion detectors, citizen rating systems, autonomous drones… A security obsession that in some countries is giving rise to a new form of political regime: numerical totalitarianism. Orwell's nightmare.

Documentary short about Mexico's femicide crisis.

Documentary short about Mexico's femicide crisis.

Documentary short about Mexico's femicide crisis.

Summer of revolution

In a street in the north of Shanghai we find a small restaurant, dirty and run-down, but with lots of personality, where Chinese noodles (miantiao) are made 24 hours a day. It’s run by an ethnic Hui Muslim family from the region of Qinghai, in Northwest China. ‘Abierto 24 horas’ presents a chronological account of the 24 hours of life in this establishment.

In the most dangerous country in the world for journalists, Newsweek Middle East editor, Janine di Giovanni, risks it all to bear witness, ensuring that the world knows about the suffering of the Syrian people.

This is the story of a team of 40 agents facing 4,000 job seekers at a job centre in the Parisian suburbs. Samia, Corinne, Thierry, Zuleika must support and monitor, bring in the numbers, obey policy guidelines and communication injunctions, and find job offers while none is to be found. Will their strong sense of humor save them from the Kafkaian world they work in?

Between October 1937 and November 1952 hundreds of Republican supporters took to the mountains of Asturias with two main objectives: to save their lives, and to continue their armed resistance against Franco. Many of them would die in those mountains. This film is centered on filming the places in the present where the major figures of the Asturian Guerrilla Group were killed.

Tjipto Setiyono, 85, is a rickshaw painter. Despite being past his prime, he lives alone in a 3-by-3 meter square boarding room, in which Tjipto’s brush strokes give birth to his paintings.

In New Jersey, the Good Grief community focuses on a holistic way of dealing with grief, where children can give in to rage in ‘the volcano room,' and say goodbye to a dying teddy bear patient in ‘the hospital room.' Over the course of a year, we follow the weekly meetings and get close to Kimmy, Nicky, Peter, Nora, Nolan, and Mikayla and their close companion: grief. It is sometimes heartbreaking, but also humorous, to experience the questions about life and death through their open and curious minds. Grief is high and heavy as a mountain, but it helps you understand what has happened, and that death is irreversible.