Les Dessous Secrets de Paris (2017)

Paris Train Stations: Shaping the City

Every day, Paris’ six railway stations welcome over 3,000 trains and more than a million travelers coming from France and all over Europe. The stations’ sizes are impressive: Gare du Nord is bigger than the Louvre or Notre-Dame de Paris. These railway stations are architectural landmarks and a model of urban planning despite the radical changes they’ve undergone since their construction in the middle of the 19th century. How did the railway stations manage to absorb the boom of travelers in just a few decades? What colossal works were necessary to erect and then modify these now essential buildings? From the monumental glass walls of Gare du Nord to the iconic tower of Gare de Lyon, to the first-ever all-electric train station, each has its own story, technical characteristics, and well-defined urban image.

L'Hôtel de ville : Mégastructure parisienne

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The Plot Against the President

Based on Lee Smith's book of the same name, this documentary follows the story of the biggest political scandal in U.S. history.

Les Invalides: La construction d'un symbole

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Orsay, les grandes métamorphoses

Inaugurated in 1986 by François Mitterrand, a link between the Louvre and Pompidou, Orsay houses the largest collection of Impressionist art in the world. Project after project, the museum has been transformed to modernize and welcome more visitors, while preserving its historic character. Challenges taken up with each new project.

Life After People

In this special documentary that inspired a two-season television series, scientists and other experts speculate about what the Earth, animal life, and plant life might be like if, suddenly, humanity no longer existed, as well as the effect humanity's disappearance might have on the artificial aspects of civilization.

Les Trésors du Paris haussmannien

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Dans le vent

Short subject on how fashion is created-- not by the great couturiers, but on the street.

Meet Me in Paris

Three single friends travel to Paris for ten days for the journey of a lifetime and in search of true love. From 'meet cutes' at the Luxembourg Gardens, to strolls down the tree-lined Champs-Élysées, will first dates lead to happily ever after or heartbreak?

Peter Handke: In the Woods, Might Be Late

In the sixties, Peter Handke was one of the first to show how the business works: the writer as angry young man and pop star of the literary scene. As soon as he was on the bestseller lists, he turned his back on the hype. For many years, he has lived and worked in his house in a Parisian suburb, more quietly and more hospitably. Peter Handke's precise, free gaze becomes perceptible in his texts, his conversations, the cosmos of his notebooks.

Le monde est à eux

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Don't Work (1968-2018)

A year in the life of Elsa Michaud and Gabriel Gauthier, students of Fine Arts in Paris, lovers in troubled times, overwhelmed by maddening verbal and auditory stimuli, witnesses of a globalized violence more visible than ever in a chaotic digital era, in which the slow execution of simple gestures in a silent performance is an act of resistance.

Delphine and Carole

In the 70s, actress Delphine Seyrig and director Carole Roussopoulos, both militant feminists, were the pioneers of video activism in France. They documented the demonstrations of French feminists and used the new technologies to counter the poor representation of women in the public media.

Rendez-vous With Maurice Chevalier

French artist Maurice Chevalier (1888-1972), a legend of stage and screen, was an accomplished singer, actor and entertainer, who embodied the charm of his native Paris throughout a decades-long career that brought him fame in Europe and America and left for show business history a vast repertoire of masterful classic songs and captivating film performances.

Leftist Extremism: Activism or Terror?

Leftist extremist groups operating in Europe have chosen violence as a political tactic: they attack the right-wing parties offices, attack the police, provoke riots in demonstrations. Although leftist violence is increasing, it receives almost no public attention. An investigation into the alleged good violence exercised in the name of a supposedly just cause.

TGV Paris-Bordeaux, la ligne de tous les records

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Gare du Nord : La Plus Grande Gare d'Europe

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Balloon Accident at St Cloud

An aeronautical accident is caught on camera at a Parisian 'Aéro-Parc'.

This Is Sparklehorse

An comprehensive look at the life and music of Mark Linkous, a influential figure in the alternative music scene. Critically-acclaimed Linkous had a dramatic life that saw him battle with drug and alcohol addiction, paralysis, and debilitating depression that resulted in his eventual suicide. Mark's music was heralded by his peers and critics; a mix of delicate pop, discordant punk and melodic odyssey; it has been described as defiantly surrealist with all manner of references to smiling babies, organ music, birds, and celestial bodies. The film mines Marks life and music and navigates the sacrifices and highs and lows of his art.

André Téchiné: A Passion for Cinema

A walk through the career of French filmmaker André Téchiné, from his own point of view and that of those who worked with him: Catherine Deneuve, Daniel Auteuil, Emmanuelle Béart, Juliette Binoche and Sandrine Kiberlain, among others.

Les canaux de Paris: Un patrimoine révélé

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June 1940, the Great Chaos

From May 10, 1940, France is living one of the worst tragedies of it history. In a few weeks, the country folds, and then collapsed in facing the attack of the Nazi Germany. On June 1940, each day is a tragedy. For the first time, thanks to historic revelations, and to numerous never seen before images and documents and reenacted situations of the time, this film recounts the incredible stories of those men and women trapped in the torment of this great chaos.

Paris mange son pain

This short documents the important role played by bread in the daily life of the city of Paris.

Quand la Seine débordera

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Le Pigalle - Une histoire populaire de Paris

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Liam

Just after Isidore moves to France to study filmmaking, his best friend dies back in the US. Through documentary, performance, and animation, a ghostly portrait emerges, prompting Isidore to question his relationships with his parents and his boyfriend in Paris.

Ghost Dance

Through the experiences of two women in Paris and London, Ghost Dance offers an analysis of the complexity of our conceptions of ghosts, memory and the past. The film focuses on the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, who observes, 'I think cinema, when it's not boring, is the art of letting ghosts come back.' He also says that 'memory is the past that has never had the form of the present.'

A Tour of the Louvre

The tumultuous history of the Louvre Museum, founded in 1793, and its fabulous art collections, an immortal testimony to the destiny of France and all of Europe.

Undermining the Nazis: Paris' Secret Tunnels

Two men show extraordinary courage by secretly mapping Paris' underground during the 1940 German occupation.

Paris 2024 Olympic Opening Ceremony

On 26 July 2024, the largest-ever Olympic Games Opening Ceremony took place, beginning at 7.30 p.m. CET. The Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 was an unprecedented experience drawing on the natural light of the setting sun with all its nuances to illuminate the world’s best athletes as they travelled down the Seine, in the heart of the French capital.

Disneyland Paris : Les Secrets du château

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Dora Maar in Spite of Picasso

Dora Maar, a world-class photographer who began her artistic career in the French Surrealist scene of the 30s, lived in the shadow of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, her lover between 1935 and 1943, with whom she maintained a chaotic, even violent, relationship. Fortunately, she survived Picasso's abusive behavior and its sequels to find a new path, the best one, the one that is worth to be told, in spite of Picasso.

Pacific Club

In 1979, the Pacific Club was opened in the basement of La Défense - the business district of Paris. It was the first nightclub for Arabs from the suburbs; a parallel world of dance, sweat, young loves, and one-night utopias. Azedine, 17 years old at the time, tells us the forgotten story of this club and of this generation who dreamed of integrating into France but who soon came face to face with racism, the AIDS epidemic, and heroin.

Paris Story

Who has not dreamed of embracing the city of Paris from the sky? Fly and explore the exceptional places that have shaped and are shaping the history of Paris: Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame de Paris, the Louvre, the Bastille, Invalides, the Opera ... Far from the clichés of postcards out of marked routes by travel guides, this new film invites viewers to an exceptional private tour of the city of Paris. Travel through the centuries and be witnesses of the birth of the City Lights. This new production reveals one of the most influential capitals in the world as you've never seen.

Le Musée et le Milliardaire anticonformiste

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Thomas Pesquet : Objectif France

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Maison du Bonheur

When asked to make a documentary about her friend’s mother—a Parisian astrologer named Juliane—the filmmaker sets off for Montmartre with a Bolex to craft a portrait of an infectiously exuberant personality and the pre-war apartment she’s called home for 50 years.

When Paris was German

Discovering Paris under the German occupation through the story of an SS soldier and more generally of Wehrmacht soldiers allows us to follow the daily life on the German side. These soldiers enjoyed privileged status, during their stay, they were led to believe that they belong to a social elite, a status unreachable back in Germany during peacetime. And who better than a German who has led such lifestyle to serve as a common thread and tell this story?

Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King

When the young founder of a collapsing cryptocurrency exchange dies unexpectedly, irate investors suspect there's more to his death than meets the eye.

TGV, 30 ans de vitesse

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Égouts de Paris : L'Envers de la Ville Lumière

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Edgar Morin, un penseur à Paris

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Chavela

Inspired by an exclusive interview and performance footage of Chavela Vargas shot in 1991 and guided by her unique voice, the film weaves an arresting portrait of a woman who dared to dress, speak, sing, and dream her unique life into being.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Werner Herzog gains exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France, capturing the oldest known pictorial creations of humankind in their astonishing natural setting.

Paris l'occupation vécue par les Allemands

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Merci Zaza - La folle histoire de la Cage aux Folles

A look back at "La Cage aux Folles", which ran non-stop for five years, from February 1973, on the stage of the Théâtre du Palais Royal in Paris. At a time when homosexuality was considered a crime by the law, Poiret and Serrault achieved great success in boulevard theater. Their success continued on the silver screen, with three Oscar nominations and a Broadway musical. Combining never-before-seen archives from the play, extracts from the film, confessions by Poiret and Serrault, and interviews with witnesses, this is the story of a wild epic.

D-Day to Berlin: A Newsnight Special

George Stevens's remarkable film is acclaimed by historians as the most important colour footage taken during the war. Milestones covered include the liberation of Paris, the link-up between the Russian and American armies on the River Elbe and the Allied capture of the Dachau concentration camp.

Kings of Pastry

The collar awarded to the winners of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman in France) is more than the ultimate recognition for every pastry chef - it is a dream and an obsession. The 3-day competition includes everything from delicate chocolates to precarious six foot sugar sculptures and requires that the chefs have extraordinary skill, nerves of steel and luck. The film follows Jacquy Pfeiffer, founder of The French Pastry School in Chicago, as he returns to France to compete against 15 of France's leading pastry chefs. The filmmakers were given first time/exclusive access to this high-stakes drama of passion, sacrifice, disappointment and joy in the quest to have President Sarkozy declare them one of the best in France.

Mario y los perros

An account of the childhood and youth of the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010, and how the hard experiences he lived during these formative years led him to write and publish his first major work when he was only 26 years old.

Paris at Dawn

Johan van der Keuken's first film is a uniquely beautiful portrait of Paris at dawn.

Behind the Doors of Umberto Eco

Umberto Eco, the author of best-selling novels who passed away in February 2016, unveils the secrets behind his undertakings and novels.

Video Visits: In Love with Paris

Journey to Paris, the City of Light. Marvel at the panorama from the top of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. Walk down the Champs-Élysées from l'Etoile to Place de la Concorde. Go inside Maxim's and Tour d'Argent to experience an elegant French meal, then pause at Dux magots for a cafe au lait. Stroll along the Rue du Faubourg St. Honore and window shop at Dior and Lanvin. Enter the Louvre to view Winged VIctory, Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa. Glide down the Seine on a bateau mouche, past Notre Dame and the Ile St. Louis. Zoom through traffic in a Parisian taxi and ride the Metro. Climb to Montmartre, Sacre Coeur and Place du Tertre. Take a side trip to Versailles and be dazzled by the Hall of Mirrors.