Point du Jour

An extraordinary journey through the material that makes up our habitat: concrete and its ancestor, stone. Victor Kossakovsky raises a fundamental question: how do we inhabit the world of tomorrow?

A French documentary or, one might say more accurately, a mockumentary, by director William Karel which originally aired on Arte in 2002 with the title Opération Lune. The basic premise for the film is the theory that the television footage from the Apollo 11 Moon landing was faked and actually recorded in a studio by the CIA with help from director Stanley Kubrick.

Doaa el-Adl, the first woman to be awarded the esteemed Journalistic Distinction in Caricature, serves as a catalyst for transformation within the predominantly male-dominated realm of Egyptian political cartoonists. Challenging patriarchal norms, she routinely confronts censorship, harassment, and even threats to her life. In a remarkable fusion of documentary, cartoons, and animation, Egyptian director Nada Riyadh breathes life into el-Adl's most renowned works. This dynamic and fearless presentation delves into the issue of violence against women, stretching the boundaries of freedom of speech in a society often characterized by restrictions. Through her exceptional talent, el-Adl not only champions women's rights but also serves as an inspiration for societal change.

Using their bare hands, married couple Htwe Tin and Thein Shwe draw oil from a pit they drilled themselves on the land next to their house. There are lots of these “artisanal” oilfields dotted around Myanmar, where people have swapped crop cultivation for selling the oil they pump from the ground by hand.

In 1956, actress and Hollywood star Grace Kelly (1929-82), then at the height of her film career, unexpectedly dropped everything to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco. Jinx, an American journalist and friend of the future princess, accompanied her on her journey to the wedding and covered the sensational event.

Moscow, January 1996. Boris Yeltsin gets ready to run for a second mandate of the presidency of the young Russian Federation. Polls are in the single digits. A painful economic transition, war in Chechnya, and the rise of criminal groups have left the majority of Russians dissatisfied with Yeltsin… and willing to vote for the communist leader Gennady Zyuganov. Yet six months later, Yeltsin won the election with nearly 54% of the vote. How did that happen?

Today, we see a new style of feminism springing up everywhere - young, provocative and radical. To get their message across, these women have decided to rely on rock music! While the Pussy Riot shock Russia and fascinate the West, the concerts of Peaches or Grimes are sold out, while artists such as Kathleen Hanna make their comeback to remind us that it all began in 1990 in some backwater of the United States. The RIOT GRRRLS revolutionized rock and inspired entire generations of young artists around the world. This film will explore today s feminist scene while revisiting the little known history of this revolution that shook the early 90s.

'Afghanistan 1979: the war that changed the world', is a French documentary about the Sovjet invasion in Afghanistan in 1979. It was one of the most crucial events of the 20th century, and changed the world forever. This documentary gives a good insight in the Afghan-Russian war ; the alliance between the Russian and Afghan communist governments ; Islamic resistance ; the support of America for the resistance and its consequences on the war.

Documentary about the making of Louis Malle's 1963 film "The Fire Within".

Intimately following 1st and 6th graders at a public elementary school in Tokyo, we observe kids learning the traits necessary to become part of Japanese society.

The story of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, known as the Tokyo Trial, which, just after the Second World War, was established in Japan as a special jurisdiction in 1946 (it was closed in 1948) to judge the war crimes of the Japanese leaders; and how and why officials in Washington prevented Emperor Hirohito to be seen sat on the bench.

The history of RKO - one of the legendary "Big Five" studios of the Hollywood’s Golden Age, from its creation in 1928 (when the movies started talking) to its demise in 1956, largely due to the mismanagement by its last CEO, Howard Hughes. During this period, RKO produced some 550 films including some of cinema’s great masterpieces ("King Kong", "Citizen Kane", the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers films, "Bringing Up Baby") and launched the career of famous stars such as Katherine Hepburn and Robert Mitchum. Film lovers will enjoy the many extracts from RKO’s most famous movies.

In this archival documentary, Sydney Pollack discusses his career and relationship with various actors, directors and producers. A large portion of the documentary examines Pollack and Robert Redford's friendship, as well as the various films they did together during the years.

In December 1977, two French nuns, Alice Domon and Léonie Duquet, were kidnapped in Buenos Aires by a squad of commandos from the Argentinean Navy. They were held and tortured at the ESMA - the School of Naval Engineering and were never seen again. Moving tale based on letters Alice Domon sent to her family and friends back home as well as on the testimony of many friends in Argentina who remember her humanity and courage. She shared the lives of those in need, helped heeling their sick and bringing in their crops. And she raised their political awareness - which brought her to the attention of the regime. A film retracing recent history that is by no means in the past.

For around ten years, natural disasters have been occurring more frequently, causing widespread destruction; yet industrialized countries still refuse to implement or persist in doubting the actions they must take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and fail to revise their policies for economic growth. Decisions taken high up directly affect the way of life of thousands of people, in Canada and elsewhere. In 2003, the United Nations indicated that for the first time in history, environmental refugees (25 million) outnumbered those fleeing from war or political persecution (23 million). And their numbers keep on increasing.

Documentary about the Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, where we see him attend film festivals, personal influences and of course the study of his main films, apart from the opinions about him by other filmmakers such as Takeshi Kitano or Kinji Fukasaku.

All over the world, women are shorter than men on average. Even among Northern Europeans, currently the tallest people in the world, men are around 15 centimetres taller than women. However, there are animal species in which the females are taller than the males. Sexual dimorphism - the scientific term - also has some surprises in store: For example, female blue whales are larger than their male counterparts. As blue whales are the largest mammals in the world, this means that the largest animal in the world is female. So why are its human relatives so small? Scientists from France, Great Britain, Italy, Germany and the USA have investigated this highly interesting question. They tell a fascinating evolutionary story in which biology, medicine, paleoanthropology, nutritional science, sociology, obstetrics and gynecology interact and in which the female comes out on top.

Christopher Doyle is one of the best known and most acclaimed directors of photography in world cinema. Born in Australia, he sees himself as an Asian citizen rather than a Westerner. His artistic contribution to the films of Wong Kar-wai, Zhang Jimou and Fruit Chan films, among others, is indisputable. Filmed in DV and Super8, this documentary is a kind of wild and stylized road movie -- from Bangkok to Hong Kong, via New York. The camera follows this eccentric and outrageous artist as he gives us his thoughts on his past and present work. From the recent sets of Invisible Waves by Thailand's Pen ek Ratanaruang, and M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the Water, to the locations in Hong Kong where he shot some of his most famous pictures, such as In The Mood for Love and Dumplings, Chris Doyle talks about his cinematic fascination for Asian culture.

March 2002, during an election campaign, Simon Barrachet, offensive journalist, took over the newspaper and a television station seeks to impose its vision of information. His team is going through a period of profound change, while the themes of the 2002 campaign invade every screen: the absence of electoral issue in the first round, and the supposed explosion of insecurity in France ...