Nothing destined this child born in Marseille in 1921, and from a modest background, to become an avant-garde artist. At 12 years old, the one who is still called César Baldaccini works to help his father, but also studies drawing. In 1943, he moved to Paris and enrolled in the Beaux-Arts. He chose sculpture, an expensive art for this penniless student. From the 1950s, he shaped fine animals from metal debris collected in factories. This alloy between his Mediterranean imagination and these industrial materials earned him the attention of Picasso. But in 1960, this instinct, now in vogue, brought about a radical change. Fascinated by hydraulic presses, he presented three compressed cars at the Salon de Mai. The artist stands aside in front of the machine, and the morbid aesthetic of the breakage radiates the sculpture. Outcry!
01 Jan 1987
Follows the lives of students and their teachers based on the director's childhood memories. The events of the film take places in the actual boarding school called "Gymnasium Canisianum", founded in 1946 by a German catholic priest.
09 Sep 2003
Short documentary of David Lynch building a lamp.
01 Jan 2018
One of the first US born conductors to receive worldwide fame, Leonard Bernstein is an exceptional composer and certainly not only due to The West Side Story. Instead of concentrating exclusively on his most famous work, Thomas von Steinaecker sets out to paint a complete picture of Bernstein. Thus, the documentary focusses on the American’s less known later works and on three compositions in particular: his Mass, the musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the great final opera A Quiet Place. The film paints a vivid picture of the multitalented Bernstein, struggling with his role as composer and conductor, tackling the tension between successes and flops, between the politics of his time and his own liberal humanitarian claim. It looks back on Bernstein’s major achievements, such as his acclaimed conducting of Mahler and his involvement in the Young People’s Concerts, and it shows Bernstein’s work with young aspiring musicians as well as his political commitment.
03 Sep 2017
With more than 70 films and 160 million cumulative tickets in France, Jean-Paul Belmondo is one of the essential stars of French cinema.
18 Aug 2017
The personal life and professional career of music superstar Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, universally known as Sting, who became passionate about music at a very early age and founded the trio The Police in 1977 with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, achieving an immediate success.
19 Nov 2019
The intimate and passionate portrait of the late Max Croci in a documentary that recalls the human and cultural depth with the testimonies of friends and colleagues.
28 May 2016
A look at the life of Toty Rodríguez: An actress who made her career in France during the 60s, a well-known Diva in Ecuador as well as an icon of the women rights. She returns to Paris with her nephew to revisit her past in a town that changed her life.
12 May 2023
A painter, a naked woman, and a camera. In this triple constellation we explore the power of the gaze and the roles it imposes on us. An artist's studio turns into the setting for questions about how we look at and perceive women. The naked skin of the model becomes the canvas for an audiovisual exploration of the ways in which seeing and being seen anchors us in our body. And how this body shapes our experience of the world and our role in it.
01 Nov 2019
A kaleidoscopic portrait of the English actress and singer Jane Birkin, heroine of pop culture.
09 Apr 1997
Man Ray, the master of experimental and fashion photography was also a painter, a filmmaker, a poet, an essayist, a philosopher, and a leader of American modernism. Known for documenting the cultural elite living in France, Man Ray spent much of his time fighting the formal constraints of the visual arts. Ray’s life and art were always provocative, engaging, and challenging.
18 Jul 2008
Fueled by a raging libido, Wild Turkey, and superhuman doses of drugs, Thompson was a true "free lance, " goring sacred cows with impunity, hilarity, and a steel-eyed conviction for writing wrongs. Focusing on the good doctor's heyday, 1965 to 1975, the film includes clips of never-before-seen (nor heard) home movies, audiotapes, and passages from unpublished manuscripts.
30 Jul 2013
Alan Yentob profiles the most successful female architect there has ever been, the late Zaha Hadid, who designed buildings around the globe from Austria to Azerbaijan.
02 Jan 1978
With his seemingly naïve, symbolic paintings, Joan Miró formed a new artistic language in the 20th century. Brought up in Barcelona, the painter, graphic artist and sculptor was drawn to Paris and, under the influence of the surrealists, developed his unique style and poetic imagery that unite Catalan folk art and fantastic elements. Robin Lough followed the 85-year-old Miró to theatre rehearsals and went to see him in his studio on Majorca. There he met with an amazingly creative and disciplined artist, whose visionary pictures paved the way for abstract expressionism.
01 Nov 2019
A look at the life and work of the Austrian composer who pioneered the musical scoring of films - hundreds of them - from King Kong, to Gone with the Wind, to Casablanca and beyond.
02 Aug 2021
No overview found
24 Jul 2016
A documentary portrait of legendary Perfect Ten gymnast Nadia Comaneci after becoming an icon in the 1976 Olympics, during her Romanian period, and her challenging years under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu.
08 Sep 2017
No overview found
14 Jul 1963
A candid, inside look at one of the greatest ballplayers ever, up through the 1963 season. Many highlights from Willie Mays's career are shown, including his 4-homer night against the Braves, his 400th homer against the Cardinals, and his 2000th hit.
24 Apr 2014
A documentary film detailing Glen Campbell's final tour and his struggle with Alzheimer's disease.
06 Nov 2015
Hours and historical meetings, Pierre Assouline has composed an anthology of the best extracts presented in the form of a primer, which he had commented on by a surprised Bernard Pivot.