Productions Bernard Baissat

Since its opening in 1882, the Paris Bourse du Travail (Labor Exchange) has remained a nerve center of the labor movement. Once a hotbed of revolutionary syndicalism, and now a meeting place for the main labor federations, history is etched into the walls of the Bourse. It is from the rooms bearing the names of illustrious figures—Eugène Varlin, Fernand Pelloutier, Jean Jaurès, Léon Jouhaux—that historians (Jean Bruhat, Bernard Georges, Jacques Julliard, Jean Maitron, Madeleine Reberioux, Denise Trintant) and the Bourse's general secretary, Jean Braire, have sought to bring to life a century of social history. The general secretaries of the five major labor federations (André Bergeron, Jean Bornard, Edmond Maire, Jacques Pommateau, Georges Seguy) discuss the origins of the Bourses du Travail, but also address the present and the future.

"Well, I believe in anarchy! And I believe it will come true one day." That's what "May the Rebel," a union activist, anti-militarist, and anarchist, always ready to denounce oppression and defend victims, affirms at 85. Born in Brittany, she earned her living at age 10 delivering butter. In Paris, at 20, she became involved with the Anarchist Union. Sébastien Faure became her mentor. She used a grenade to trigger the Sacco-Vanzetti affair. A union delegate in Moscow in 1922, she sang "Hymn to Anarchy" before Trotsky. Children during the Spanish Civil War, Jews during the Second World War, conscientious objectors alongside Louis Lecoin during the Algerian War, and later, through her newspaper Le Réfractaire, the Larzac, Plogoff, and Creys-Malville protests—all these were battlegrounds for May Picqueray. To the very end, she remained true to her commitment to defending peace and individual liberties.

Since 1915, the French satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné has maintained and even strengthened its position in the press, without losing any of its wit or bite. This multi-part documentary recounts the history (53 min.) of the newspaper, when Maurice Maréchal decided to fight against the propaganda of the mainstream press, beholden to lobbies and the powerful. It features portraits (45 min.) of some of the newspaper's journalists and cartoonists. Its traditions (34 min.) are deeply rooted and faithfully upheld in the spirit of irreverence, insolence, and freedom in the face of all forms of power. The documentary also delves into the scandals (40 min.): if "Le Canard" was able to launch investigative journalism in France, it is because it has remained "free, independent, and clean," as its founder intended, thus retaining the trust of its readers.

Everyone knows Aguigui Mouna, the jester who harangues the crowds on the Beaubourg esplanade in Paris and rides his bicycle through demonstrations. But many don't know the story of André Dupont, a Savoyard raised in tough conditions, forced into violence in the navy to rise to power and into resourcefulness in civilian life to survive. Antibes, 1952, the transformation: Aguigui Mouna is born. Laughter, solidarity, non-violence, humanism—Mouna has found the meaning of his existence. He will try to share them with all the robots of this "poop-pee-capitalist" society. A comic book character who, through his adventures, reveals the absurdities of his century.