Imagissime

This is the fascinating story of Venice from the late 19th century to the rise of Mussolini through the saga of one of its richest families: the Stucky family. A forgotten Venice, with incredible unreleased archives in original colour and amateur films shot in the early 1900s.

A succulent account of the life of French chef Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935) who made the simple act of cooking food a true art by creating the modern concept of haute cuisine, and who also became the main reference point for many generations of future chefs.

In Spring 2019, a beluga whale named Hvaldimir, believed to have escaped a Russian military base, appeared in Northern Norway, becoming a social media phenomenon. Fascinated by him, a French cetacean researcher, his daughter, a Norwegian journalist, and a marine biologist embark on an extraordinary adventure with Hvaldimir through the Norwegian fjords.

With more than seven million visitors a year, its massive structure and awesome architecture testify to the genius of ancient Roman building techniques, earning it a place not only among UNESCO's World Heritage sites but as one of the new seven wonders of the world. The Roman Colosseum is an emblem of the power of a bygone empire.

Deep within its ramparts, Avignon is home to a medieval city and structure built over 800 years ago: The Palais des Papes, or Papal Palace, the largest Gothic construction of the Middle Ages. The work on the impressive building started in 1335 on a rocky outcrop to the northwest of the city by hundreds of workers, under the authority of the best French architects of the time, Pierre Peysson and Jean de Louvres. The majestic Palais des Papes houses exceptional frescoes, painted in 1343. Both fortress and palace, the Papal Palace is the symbol of the influence of the church on the Christian West during the 14th century.

Figure skating star Sarah Abitbol was raped by her coach when she was only 15 years old. Three decades later, she has decided to speak out. First in 2020, in a book entitled Un si long silence. Then on television. Finally, in this documentary by Remy Burkel and Emmanuelle Anizon. She started skating at the age of 5. Propelled in Paris to try her luck, the teenager meets this famous coach. "He scared everyone", she will admit. He is a great man who has a hold on her. During the stretching, the behavior of this man is unhealthy. But it is at the age of 15 that everything collapses. Sarah abitbol will write down these two years of sexual violence in a small notebook. She will never throw it away. It is at the moment of revealing herself, at 44 years old, that she finds it unexpectedly.

Stretching from Belgium to the Alps, designed by an army of ingenious military engineers, the Maginot Line was a network of fortified bunkers connected by high-tech tunnels and defended by relentless artillery crossfire. It was meant to be an impenetrable obstacle. And yet... it failed. What role did it really play in France's WWII campaign? How did the Nazis finally pierce through?

The Amazonian forest has long been considered as virgin of any ancient culture. However, for several decades, researchers have been able to distinguish traces of past human occupation. They estimate that in 1492, at the time of the arrival of the Europeans on the continent, the Amazon counted between 8 and 10 million individuals, soon decimated by the viruses brought from the Old Continent. Today, archaeologists are discovering and studying pre-Columbian ceramic funerary urns decorated with mysterious and complex designs in human and animal forms. The stylistic analysis of these urns has allowed the identification of hundreds of different cultures that populated the Amazon basin. All of them have in common the personification of the animals that they represent, which suggests that they were animist.

You can’t see them. You can’t hear them. And you never know exactly where they are. The life of submarines is secret and fascinating. In this film, we go inside one of the French navy's legendary vessels, the Rubis, and to where the next nuclear submarine, the Barracuda, is being built. From technological prowess to human exploits, the film submerges us in a timeless amphibian adventure.

In WWII, the English Channel was a vital passageway. Here, explore the previously untold story of the invaluable superguns that guarded it.