Le Grand Méliès

Tom Volf invites you to delve into the fascinating world of Véronique Sanson, a living legend of French chanson. After several years of research and immersion, he is unveiling an intimate and sincere portrait of the artist in a film event. The fruit of his encounter with the singer, this project highlights the raw emotion and beauty of her career.

60 years ago, almost nothing was known of elephants in the wild. But then one young Scottish biologist changed that forever. In 1965 Iain Douglas-Hamilton arrived in Tanzania to live alongside African elephants. Later joined by his wife Oria and daughters Saba and Dudu, elephants became central to their lives with matriarch Boadicea and gentle young mother Virgo cherished like human relatives. But this garden Eden was short-lived as an ivory poaching epidemic swept across Africa forcing Iain to switch from pioneering scientist to maverick conservationist. He became a lone crusader against the international Ivory trade which was finally banned in 1989. Now back in the field and revealing even more about the fascinating world of elephants, Iain’s work continues alongside a new generation of Kenyan conservationists. This inspiring documentary combines stunning wildlife imagery with the story of a remarkable life showing how sometimes you have to stand alone to protect what you love.

Crash and Burn chronicles the thrilling and turbulent career of Irish racing driver Tommy Byrne, who rose from a rough, working-class background to the cusp of Formula 1 in the 1980s. Directed by Seán Ó Cualáin, the film explores Byrne's undeniable talent and rebellious personality, which set him apart on the track but also clashed with the conservative and elite world of Formula 1. Byrne’s story is filled with highs and lows, from his dominance in lower racing categories to his brief, rocky stint in Formula 1 and subsequent struggles. The documentary combines interviews, archival footage, and personal insights to portray the complexities of Byrne’s character and his “what could have been” legacy in motorsport.

This is the remarkable story of an American icon who changed the sport of big wave surfing forever. Transcending the surf genre, this in-depth portrait of a hard-charging athlete explores the fear, courage and ambition that push a man to greatness—and the cost that comes with it.

With a pair of scissors and some paper, he turned his art into a weapon the Nazis feared. A look back at the eventful career of satirist John Heartfield (1891-1968), pioneer of photomontage and modern graphic design.

Nantali Indongo, the rapper of the group Nomadic Massive, has long refrained from using the word Bitch in the lyrics of the songs she sings. As an Afro-descendant and mother, she considers that this word’s purpose has always been to dehumanize the Black woman. However, at the junction of the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, she decided for the f irst time to use the b-word as a cry from the heart in her song Time . Aware of the complexity posed by the trivialization of this word, she embarked on a “word movie” across the Americas to understand the origins of the word and its many connotations over time. Her journey allowed her to give a voice larger- than-life to Black women, so that they could themselves express their opinions on the word bitch.

When luxury invited itself to the paradise of socialism... For three decades, East Germany rewarded its exemplary citizens by putting them on a boat.

In 1977, after a fourteen year dry spell, the novelist Barbara Pym was nominated for a Booker Award for her novel, Quartet in Autumn. This drama documentary biopic sees Patricia Routledge as Pym and follows the day of the prize presentation, as she observes people and reminisces about life and love.

A television documentary on the life and career of British film director David Lean. Scenes of Lean directing are intercut with personal interviews in which the director explains his methods, the beginnings of his career, and his relationships with actors and actresses.

Experience an inside look at David Bowie's incredible influence on music, art and culture via interviews with some of the people who knew him best.

Ron Padgett (1942- ) is a poet and editor whose artistic career took off during his teenaged years in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There, along with Joe Brainard and Dick Gallup, he produced The White Dove Review, an art and culture magazine. Both Padgett and Brainard serendipitously moved together to New York City, where Padgett studied at Columbia University under the tutelage of Kenneth Koch and interacted with various Beat poets. He has taught poetry at various schools in the City, edited volumes such as the Full Court Press and Teachers & Writers Magazine and written volumes of poetry including 2013’s Collected Poems which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He also wrote “memoirs” of both Brainard and fellow Tulsan Ted Berrigan.

Desperate to become as rich and successful as their idol, a trio of Michael Jackson impersonators hustle their way into Hollywood agencies, are accosted by paparazzi, and cross paths with Grammy-winning musicians as the American dream seems tantalisingly close. But as they perform for dollar bills and sleep in their car, the reality of the ruthless entertainment industry they dream about hits home.

In a rare interview, Katharine Hepburn shares her memories and memorabilia.

Churchill, a name typically associated with braveness and altruism. Recently found evidence from Soviet and British sources however brings up questions about Churchill's doings in the conferences of Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam. Why did he agree to give Stalin large parts of Poland? The story of two world leaders in times of war - it is also the story of Poland.

Video art of sculpture is the real life story of Rumi (Mevlana) and Shams Tabrizi. Rumi and Shams are well known international poets of Persian language. One day, Rumi invites Shams Tabrizi to his house, Shams throws the book into the pool of water and Rumi is worried and Shams returns the book to Rumi without any trace of water. The lost half of the sculpture in the film is a representation of the same concept. "Sculpture" has won more than 69 International Awards, third place (semi-final) in called Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (Academy Award ® Qualifying, BAFTA Qualifying, Canadian Screen Award Qualifying) , Winner of the 2025 Jury Award for Best Short Documentary – Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival (TINFF) – A Canadian Screen Award-Qualifying Festival , Crown Point International Film Festival(Chicago),(US),Gold Star Movie Awards (US),One-Reeler Short Film Competition (US),Accolade Competition (US), and many other events.

Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, is credited by many with the greatest peacetime expansion in U.S. history. Twice winning the White House by a landslide, the former sports announcer, actor and California Governor worked with Congress to stimulate economic growth, curb inflation, increase employment and strengthen national defense. This two-disc boxed set takes a unique look at the Reagan presidency through the clips of more than 100 presidential appearances, rare newsreels and Hollywood footage. The set includes two hours of DVD extras that showcase memorable speeches and addresses throughout Reagan’s tenure as President. From the attempted assassination on his life, to his historic speech in Berlin, to his journey to the oval office, Ronald Reagan: The Great Communicator is a comprehensive look at one of the most influential world leaders of all time.

A short distance from Marseille, at Cape Morgiou, in the depths of the Calanques massif, lies the Cosquer cave, discovered only about thirty years ago by a diver, Henri Cosquer. With its bestiary of hundreds of paintings and engravings - horses, bison, jellyfish, penguins - the only underwater decorated cave in the world allows us to learn a little more about Mediterranean societies 30,000 years ago. Today, threatened by rising water levels accelerated by global warming, this jewel of the Upper Paleolithic is in danger of being swallowed up. To save the cave from disappearing, the Ministry of Culture has chosen to digitize it. From this virtual duplicate, a replica has been made on the surface to offer the public a reconstruction that allows them to admire these masterpieces.

Transcending cultural barriers and consistently going against the grain, female Nepali climber Pasang Lhamu Sherpa attempted to summit Everest four times in the early nineties. Although she was not allowed to attend school as a child, Pasang did not let that stop her from pursuing her dreams. After founding her own trekking company in Kathmandu, she blazed a trail for Nepali women via her efforts to summit Everest. Proving how big you can dream and how far you can go to achieve those dreams, she left a legacy not only for the family she has left behind, but for the myriad women following in her footsteps.

In 1998 Marco Pantani, the most flamboyant and popular cyclist of his era, won both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, a titanic feat of physical and mental endurance that no rider has repeated since. He was a hero to millions, the saviour of cycling following the doping scandals which threatened to destroy the sport. However, less than six years later, aged just 34, he died alone, in a cheap hotel room, from acute cocaine poisoning. He had been an addict for five years. This is the story of the tragic battles fought by the most important Italian cyclist of his generation; man verses mountain, athlete verses addiction, Marco Pantani verses himself.

A portrait of Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo (1955-2017), a witness of the Tiananmen Square massacre (1989), a dissident, a woodpecker who tirelessly pecked the putrid brain of the Communist regime for decades, demanding democracy loudly and fearlessly. Silenced, arrested, convicted, imprisoned, dead. Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2010, alive forever. These are his last words.