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Between 1979 and 1987, a far-left group wreaked havoc across France. Robberies, bombings, assassinations. They struck hard and disappeared in a cloud of explosives, leaflets scattered in the wind, and relentless ideological demands. Their name? Action Directe. More than 80 attacks, 26 wounded, and 12 dead in less than ten years. Stunned French citizens discovered posters plastered everywhere showing portraits of these young women and men who looked like everyone else and whom nothing seemed to be able to stop. A long and intense manhunt began, culminating in the arrest of the group's leadership.

On July 16, 1942, Paris police detained thirteen thousand Jews across the city and held them at the Vélodrome d’Hiver stadium for later deportation to concentration camps. This event, known as the Vél d’Hiv Roundup, became a symbol of Vichy France’s willingness to collaborate with the Nazis. This 1986 documentary tells the story of the roundup and French anti-Semitism of the period through archival footage and interviews with survivors and Resistance members.

Inexpensive, expressive, nomadic, the guitar almost merges with the body of its musician to turn into a formidable weapon of protest. Brandished, swung, even burned, she carries the voice of the fight against oppression. From Woody Guthrie to Jimi Hendrix via Bob Dylan, the fascinating story of the musical rebellion is told here through the story of his sword. Blues, punk rock, rock'n'roll,... All genres are in the spotlight to tell the tumultuous epic, intimately linked to the history of American protest, of the most played instrument in the world. A poignant and moving documentary in the testimonies of its icons and most faithful servants: Wayne Kramer (MC5), Keziah Jones, Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Judy Collins and Clementine Creevy (Cherry Glazerr).

The Indians that the British failed to subdue were called "born criminals" and were parked in camps. Yolande Zauberman's film tells the story of a family. The grandparents, Hira Bai and Serjian, grew up in the jungle. This is where their tribes lived, which the British were unable to subdue.

A documentary experiment of great emotional power, about freedom and the strength of human affective bonds. We witness a concert given by the inmates of a prison in Orléans. Yet, they remain unseen, beyond the prison walls, all along the film, while the camera looks at those who listen to the music outside, in front of the prison. Silent emotions, the rapt faces of the listeners, humming along the prisoners, and their unrevealed personal histories, form a human gallery of potential stories, born out of the viewer's imagination.

Lying on a spring soil of the Gran Paradiso massif, Boque, injured and exhausted, will die. It's the end of a busy life as an ibex, punctuated by tightrope walks along the vertiginous cliffs of the Italian Alps, dodging against lurking predators, and tough duels against his fellow creatures. From his birth, Boque will have survived many dangers hidden in the shadow of the massif: the golden eagle, the fox or the wolf, but also the snow squalls which cover the landscape with a white coat, making all food inaccessible. As he grew up, Boque asserted himself as an ibex respected by his congeners, until he became, like his father before him, the dominant of the herd.

Documentary about the Lyon sex workers who occupied the church of St. Nizier on June 3, 1975.

Just before the launch of artificial moons, a retired couple finds their harbor in the fading darkness. Trying to catch up with the pace of modernity, their daily life traces this forthcoming brightness back to its earthly origins.

Depicts contemporary Iran at a turning point in its history, exposing both an extreme fundamentalism being fostered by its leadership and the seeds for change in its youth culture.

A very personal look at the history of cinema directed, written and edited by Jean-Luc Godard in his Swiss residence in Rolle for ten years (1988-98); a monumental collage, constructed from film fragments, texts and quotations, photos and paintings, music and sound, and diverse readings; a critical, beautiful and melancholic vision of cinematographic art.

At 74, Yves Landry is still a passionate rider, a fierce competitor in the filed of Three Day Eventing. This is the story of Yves and his passion for horses. Among them, his best partner ever named Boucane.

The documentary, directed by a French expert on Asian cinema, is a filmed interview with Korean director Kim Ki-duk in which the artist talks about himself in the round: his early interest in painting, resulting in his stay in France, where he discovered filmmaking and his passion for directing; his films rejected in his homeland but successfully received at festivals around the world; his interest in ecology, the art of recycling, and his affection for his dog.

In Sangha, through the window of her house, Germaine greets Djamgouno, her main informant. He then translates for her a conversation she has with a half-blind old man. She recounts her memories of a past party at which Amadigné worked with her as an informant. Later, in front of the cliff, Germaine, Djamgouno and Pangalé are sitting on rocks, and Germaine talks about the many caves that can be visited by climbing small spelunking ladders. Rouch intervenes during the interview, asking the protagonists about the settlement of the cliff by the Dogon, who learned from the Tellem how to climb the cliff. Rouch then asks about the Tellem's predecessors who lived there 2,400 years ago. Germaine admits the ignorance of researchers on the subject, and Rouch concludes by joking about the new task that now falls to Germaine Dieterlen.

Sexual subcultures and the outsiders of society welcome us in the Boulogne forest west of Paris, where anyone can live out their inner fantasies.

In a squat in Nantes, Mat and her friends organise a self-gynaecology workshop to “look at oneself and know oneself”. A lively and intimate portrait of a young woman, filmed through her personal and collective questioning of the relationship with oneself, love, sex and the links that they all maintain between each other.

War wounds body and soul : it divides a country, Yugoslavia, it splits families. A Serbian family with six children, who had been living in France for thirty years, went back to Belgrade while one of the daughters, Astrid, chose to stay in France. Fifteen months later the father and mother with one of their sons, come to spend a few days in Paris. The brother and sister meet again before what will be a new painful separation.

In December 2008, Placebo embarked on their 8th worldwide tour campaign in 15 years, performing in 44 countries, 143 shows to over 2.5 million people. It began at Angkor Wat in Cambodia and ending in London, England, in September 2010. Shot and directed by Charlie Targett-Adams, this candid and intrusive film follows the band through the different continents and cultures with footage compiled from many of the countries, shows and travels which Placebo undertook throughout the Battle For Sun tour.

On Comoros, the women’s national basketball team is training for the Indian Ocean Island Games. In the past, this tournament played between different archipelagos in the Indian Ocean was the scene of political tension: in 2015, the team from the island of Mayotte, which is still French territory, decided to carry a French flag, prompting the athletes from the three independent islands to storm out.

The documentary presents the results of research on nuclear waste management in the U.S., Russia, Germany and France. The authors Eric Noualhat Guéret and Laure were accompanied by the independent French laboratory technicians radiation control, CRIIRAD. They have detected and measured radiation in many places like the U.S. Columbia River or the French plutonium factory called reprocessing plant at La Hague.

A series of static shots repeated throughout the seasons slices and builds an anonymous forest with a river winding through it. Using remarkably precise sound, this film immerses us in a place with fauna that flourishes and flora that expresses itself through interactions with the elements. Eventually, a discrete human presence is felt within this natural setting, and the filmed landscapes gradually change before our eyes, alluding to a higher power that could upset the balance. With this carefully constructed, surprising and minimalist film, Robert Morin blurs boundaries and reminds us that reality is always fabricated in cinema.

In 1979, aboard the Basile, a Damien II type ship (Joubert design), French sailors and mountaineers sailed in the footsteps of the explorer Ernest Shackleton, considered one of the main figures of the heroic age of exploration in Antarctica, towards South Georgia, where they climbed Mount Paget, which is part of the Allardyce range and peaks at an altitude of 2,935 metres.

A man goes to Tokyo to have an interview with Ike Reiko, who was a singer and actress in the 70s. Wandering in the city, he films the unexpected things he discovers.

Weijia Ma was working on an animation film in Strasbourg when COVID descends on France. She very quickly fled to Lyon before returning to Shanghai.

In the context of the World Aids Day on the 1st December 1994, the French Ministry of Defence commissioned the producer Raymond DEPARDON to make a film to show to all new French military recruits called up for their national service, in which they gave their 'personal' views on the AIDS (Sida) problem. Each year about 240.000 young men are called to do their military service in the French Armed Forces. They remain in bases both in France and in French overseas territories, the film will be projected throughout these multiple installations. The 'on camera" interviews by Depardon were authorised without any form of restriction by the military authorities, selecting a scattering of young men from all walks of life who will spend 10 months under the flag. They were each free to give their own personal opinions related to the Aids problem, without any form of censorship.

In eight films, Jacques Audiard has renewed French cinema, without alienating either the critics or the success. It is only at the age of 42 that he starts directing, after having been an editor and a scriptwriter. In 1994, he directed his first film, "Regarde les hommes tomber", whose conflicting shooting was an ordeal for this misanthropic beginner. It was with "Sur mes lèvres", in 2001, that he forged his cinematographic language: contained lyricism, deliberate imperfection of images, ellipses plunging the audience into a maelstrom of sensations. With each of his films, Jacques Audiard intends to renew himself, at the cost of challenges and doubts always more vivid.

In the Saint-Lazare metro and station, a young man dreams of getting away from the dullness and everyday life. Colored snapshots of postcards, metro stations or signs, symbolizing distant destinations, mingle with black and white images of reality in a sort of invitation to travel.

"Danse excentrique" (Gaumont #587) is part of the "Miss Lina Esbrard. Danseuse cosmopolite et serpentine" series of 4 films, and should not be confused with "Danse serpentine" (Gaumont #588, the only extant film in the series), "Danse fantaisiste" (Gaumont #589) or "La Gigue" (Gaumont #590).

Three Tajik brothers, Ali, and Kamil Fedor, settled 150 km from Moscow in a makeshift hut, hidden behind a fence. Their life is hard, they speak Russian poorly and live away from their families. Their job is to cut and transport the wood from the forest next door. Every day life is punctuated by the hard work, the daily tasks, card games, drinking and bickering with the Russians in the neighboring village. The film speaks of economic exile, bitter life out of another time, double family for some, and the feeling of not quite here nor longer quite out there…

An intimate portrait of Syrian actor Fares Helou, who calls for freedom of speech, is forced out of his home country and experiences the absurdities of exiled existence, told by Syrian director Rami Farah, who films - and shares - his struggle.

Zachary Richard takes a voyage to l'Acadie and Louisiana to learn about his ancestors and the history of the Acadian people.

The story of Zineb El Rhazoui, a young Moroccan woman who, in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack, finds her life radically transformed : from a censored journalist in Morocco she becomes the most protected woman of France.

This film is composed of fragments escaped from Qu’ils reposent en révolte (Des figures de Guerres). Fragments of voices, laughter and rage, snatches of words, images and memory, the words near and far; the breathe of the wind, the gesture of the sun at the sunset, the reflections red-blood; the raids of the police, processions, warriors, court of injustice ... For a map of the violence inflicted on migrants, the repetition of the colonial movement, and the unacceptability of the “world as it is”.

Composed entirely of still photographs taken by Chris Marker across 26 countries, If I Had Four Dromedaries presents a dialogue between three voices reflecting on the meaning of images and travel. Through this photo-essay form, Marker explores the relationship between still and moving images and the act of seeing itself.

Impressions of the rue Mouffetard, Paris 5, through the eyes of a pregnant woman.

Filmmaker Marc Huraux journeys to the small Malian village of Niafunké for a visit with double Grammy winner Ali Farka Toure in this compelling documentary. Huraux's cameras track the charismatic singer, guitarist and resident hero as he sets about his business and makes time for his music in his beloved birthplace on the Niger River. Elected mayor of the Niafunké region in 2004, Ali died of cancer in March 2006.

A cinematic essay interweaving private archive images and a mixture of reflective, speculative and poetic intertitles that, like “an old movie from the 20th century”, invites us to meditate on what Des Pallières once liked to call “our old homeland”.

Jean-Pierre Bacri was never happy about anything. But beyond the caricature of the grumpy man, from his apprenticeship years to his death in January 2021, this film tells the story of this quintessential Frenchman: a man turned towards others, an actor by accident, a moralist by vocation, who was left unaffected by flattery and false honors by success, and ready for all kinds of anger when it was necessary to speak out against injustice and stupidity. The film tells the story of how Jean-Pierre Bacri's life changed several times: from Algeria to France when he was eleven years old in 1962; from bank clerk to apprentice theater actor; from Pieds-noirs film star to screenwriter for Alain Resnais; and from Cannes playboy to Agnès Jaoui's mad lover, the most decisive encounter for his life as well as for his work

Gombessa Expedition 1 To dive for the Coelacanth is to go back in time. In 1938, when it was known only as a fossil, a Coelacanth was discovered in South Africa in a fisherman's net. This species bears witness to an evolutionary bifurcation 380 million years ago, and bears the marks of a great event: the day the fish left the ocean for the open air. Does it hold the secret to the transition to walking on land? In 2010, a marine biologist and outstanding diver, Laurent Ballesta, took the first photographs of the Coelacanth in its ecosystem. In April 2013, divers and researchers set down their equipment at the Sodwana base camp in South Africa, in the club founded by Peter Timm (who died in 2014). Six weeks of extreme diving at depths of over 120 meters, in an attempt to film the Coelacanth with a double-headed camera, collect its DNA and tag a subject with a satellite-linked beacon...

“We’re not training people to be fighters, we train people to exert energy and to release”, says the trainer at the 'Calais Jungle' boxing club. A few days before the camp’s eviction, energy levels are sky-high. A throbbing documentary impression of a tenacious support group.

Palestinian women, the often-forgotten victims of the Israeli-Palestinian war, are here given a voice by Jocelyne Saab. The film was commissioned by Antenne 2 (France), but it was censured while still in the editing stage and never shown. This print was specially made for this retrospective by the conservation centre at Cinemateca Portuguesa.