First ski descent of the North Face of Mont Blanc. Lionel Terray and a few friends set off to climb Mont Blanc. A climb like any other if it wasn’t for the subsequent descent on skis. A classic route marked out by the Grands-Mulets and Vallot refuges. At 4,300m, part of the team descended before … Continued
A magician and precursor of cinematographic art, Georges Méliès was found in 1928 running a toy shop, all that remained of his once prestigious existence. Before 1914, he made several hundred magical, poetic films whose fresh inspiration and ingenuity still surprise today’s jaded viewer. His wife, his granddaughter, one of his former collaborators, and finally … Continued
Gran Paradiso is the name of this lost world in the Italian Alps, where plants, animals and threatened silences have found refuge. A world where waterfalls continue to roar for their own pleasure, that of the sun or the abyss. Forests know no axe, flowers no gathering and animals no longer fear the hunter. The … Continued
There have always been, and always will be, ironmongers whose technique remains unchanged, despite styles and eras, whether it’s the grille of a 13th-century cloister or a Louis XVI door.A piece of ironwork is first drawn as a whole in reduction, then each detail is reproduced in life size on a sheet of metal. The … Continued
François Rude was born in Dijon, where his taste for opulent homes and beautiful, robust things was expressed in art with full forms that were always close to the truth. By chance, he attended a drawing prize-giving ceremony and his vocation was decided. At the age of 26, he was awarded the Grand Prix de … Continued
At the beginning of the 20th century, scattered around various museums, there were half a dozen canvases with curious nocturnal lighting effects. No one had yet thought of grouping and comparing them, let alone restoring them to their author, an unknown artist whose signature could sometimes be read at the bottom of the paintings. This … Continued
Two areas of Paris are particularly rich in memories of the old University: the Ile de la Cité and the Latin Quarter. This film chronologically follows in the footsteps of the old masters of the Cloître Notre-Dame, then the growth of the Domaine des Escholiers, on the left bank where Abelard’s pupils and all those … Continued
This film is a walk through the history of hunger in Paris. While the word “hunger” usually conjures up grim images of famine, this is only one aspect of the problem of supplying a large city, and one that should not obscure the picturesque and even funny sides of cooking and gastronomy. The history of … Continued
Original title : La Conquête du Froid For thousands of years, hostile to man and beast alike, the cold was nothing more than a natural scourge linked to the eternal return of winter. In the course of the last century, the liquefaction of certain gases made it possible to produce artificial cold, the useful and … Continued
The film was made during a 65,000 km tour of Black Africa and the Far East. The Théâtre de l’Union Française troupe, directed by André Roussin, organised performances on improvised theatrical stages. It performed plays by Molière, Racine, Cocteau, Roussin, Achard, Mauriac and Giraudoux. Travelling by plane, lorry, train and boat, the troupe had to … Continued