Les roches sous-marines, oasis de vie en Méditerranée

In the 18th century, the Barbary threat became serious. In July 1785 two American ships were brought back to Algiers; in the winter of 1793, eleven American ships, their crews chained, were in the hands of the Dey of Algiers. To ensure the freedom of movement of their merchant fleet, the U.S.A was forced to conclude treaties with the main Barbary states, paying considerable sums of money as a guarantee of non-aggression. With Morocco, treaty of 1786, 30,000 dollars; Tripoli, November 4, 1796, $56,000; Tunis, August 1797, $107,000. But the most expensive and the most humiliating was with the dey of Algiers, on September 5, 1795, "peace and friendship treaty" which cost nearly a million dollars (including 525,000 ransom for freed American slaves) , with the obligation to pay 20,000 dollars on the arrival of each new consul and 17,000 dollars in annual gifts to senior Algerian officials...

In April 2015, two shipwrecks in the central Mediterranean resulted in over a thousand deaths. The first, on 12 April, occurred when an overcrowded boat was approached by a large commercial vessel. Less than a week later, on 18 April 2015, a similar incident led to over eight hundred deaths after an overcrowded vessel collided with a cargo ship that had approached to rescue its passengers. Both incidents are in part the result of changing EU policies toward at-sea rescue, particularly the retreat of state rescue operations and a resulting onus on commercial vessels to fill the ‘rescue gap’.

Video diary from behind the scenes of 2002's "Cruise of the Gods."

Jacques Cousteau's 1942 plunge into the Mediterranean sea

A migrant boat has been stranded in the Mediterranean Sea for 30 hours. As authorities ignore calls for help, the Sea-Watch Crew, an NGO, launches an urgent search.

The Mediterranean. Because people have been travelling there for thousands of years, it is believed to be without secrets. And yet, far below its surface, lie vast unexplored territories, luxurious gardens worthy of the finest tropical coral reefs. These natural wonders are inaccessible to the traditional diver, in a twilight zone, between 60 and 120 m, where there’s less than 1% of sunlight. If diving at such depths is always a challenge, staying there is a fantasy, a utopia that becomes reality in Planet Mediterranean. In the tradition of Commander Cousteau and his "houses under the sea," the team of diver-photographer Laurent Ballesta is undertaking a new world-record setting mission in complete freedom and without time limit.

Homme et Dauphin : Mode d’emploi

A peculiar personal journey along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, the inland sea that bathes the beaches of three continents, passing through the port of Marseille, the Rock of Gibraltar, Algeria and Syria; an artistic and experimental collage made up of thoughts, memories and emotions.

Pythéas, l'astronome voyageur

Explore the mysterious giant rings of the Mediterranean, buried at a depth of 120m, with the world-famous Laurent Ballesta, world-renowned diver and his team, to understand the origin of these unique and unknown formations.

The Stella Maris Berria is a tuna vessel destined for scrapping. However, Iñigo Mijangos and Iñigo Gutierrez, two members of the NGO Salvamento Marítimo Humanitario, have an unusual idea: to transform the fishing boat into a rescue boat to save refugees drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. That is how Aita Mari was born.

Pélagos, voyage au large de la Méditerranée

Nausicaa

With the help of diver and biologist Laurent Ballesta, a scientific expedition explores three sunken Italian volcanic sites in the Mediterranean.

The comedy film between Caribbean, Atlantic, and the Mediterranean! A funny and bizarre comedy experience on board of the dream ship MS Melody with six chaotic Franconians – delightfully comically between pure nonsense and sparkling wit. Plus, dreamlike pictures from the Caribbean, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean Sea! Heißmann and Rassau in triplicate: As the Franconian couple Annelise and Georg Kaltengruber, as the two widows Mariechen and Waltraud, and of course as the goofball duo Hepp and Depp. And what all happens when a small bunch of Franconians embarks on a snow-white cruise ship is at times completely ludicrous.

In the south of France, in a vast plain region called the Camargue, lives White Mane, a magnificent stallion and the leader of a herd of wild horses too proud to let themselves be broken by humans. Only Folco, a young fisherman, manages to tame him. A strong friendship grows between the boy and the horse, as the two go looking for the freedom that the world of men won’t allow them.

A couple of English tourists arrive at the island of Almanzora, off the Spanish Mediterranean coast, where they discover that there are no adults in a small fishing village, only some children who stare at them and smile mysteriously.

J.P. Tannen (Jon Voight) wants a second chance to be a father to his children ... but someone else has taken his place. Determined not to just be a friendly 'uncle' in their lives, he gets permission from his ex-wife Kathleen (Millie Perkins) and her new husband (Richard Crenna) to take the kids on a Mediterranean cruise. On the journey he comes to realise it's not that easy and, feeling overwhelmed, begins to doubt his abilities until a tragedy back home forces him to become the father he always hoped to be.

Two parallel journeys, Bianca's and a young illegal immigrant's, end up overlapping, in search of an impossible salvation, despite an almost inevitable shipwreck. At all costs. Against the odds and common sense. This is the story of Bianca. Bianca and her rusty whale. The fishing boat Moby Dick.

The life of a Northern Italian middle-class family is turned upside down after their 12-year-old son falls overboard during a sea trip, only to be picked up by a boat of illegal immigrants.