Les Films du Tambour de soie

45,000 patients died in French psychiatric hospitals between 1939 and 1945. A single site escaped this carnage: the asylum in Saint-Alban, an isolated village in Lozère. What happened there for it to be an exception? Retracing several decades in the history of this important site of psychiatry, using precious archival films and the accounts of those who worked there, Martine Deyres answers this question and, in doing so, shows how the political courage and poetic audacity that were practised there contributed to changing medicine and society’s perception on madness. Intersecting in the crucible of this movement called “institutional psychotherapy” were members of the Resistance, artists, doctors and philosophers—including Paul Eluard, Tristan Tzara and Georges Canguilhem.

A legendary garment, mass-produced, which witnessed the Industrial Revolution and clad cowboys on the western frontier, is now a fashion statement worldwide for men and women, young and old: an icon of modernity which has lasted for 150 years. With flying colors, the jeans have sailed through early marketing, the Internet, the world of collectors, the end of the Cold War, and now globalization. Their eternal popularity begs a question: Why?

Marusya is 16 and, like many Russian teenagers, is determined to end her life. Then she meets her soulmate in another millennial, Kimi. They spend a decade filming the euphoria and anxiety, the happiness and misery of their youth, muzzled by a violent and autocratic regime in the midst of a “depressed Russia”. This film is a cry from the heart, a tribute to an entire silenced generation.

An account of the last two centuries of the Anthropocene, the Age of Man. How human beings have progressed so much in such a short time through war and the selfish interests of a few, belligerent politicians and captains of industry, damaging the welfare of the majority of mankind, impoverishing the weakest, greedily devouring the limited resources of the Earth.

“Uncanny Stories” is a horror anthology of short stories from famous writers adapted in animation by directors who are mad about genre films. The works of Laura Kasischke, H.P. Lovecraft and Jean Ray alongside the Brothers Grimm, William Tenn and Edgar Allan Poe all haunt the screen in a world of horror, fear and angst. You’ll encounter a young girl who hates her stepmother so much she wants her dead, two young hikers who cross paths with a strange old woman, an explorer trapped by terrifying forces from a distant past, a man driving down a country lane on a rainy night, an endless nightmare, a lighthouse in a storm. Transgressive and poignant stories that tap into your innermost fears.

Early 20th century, in the Ughetto family's home village, Ughettera, Northern Italy. Life in the region had become very difficult and the Ughettos dreamed of a better life abroad. Legend has it that Luigi Ughetto crossed the Alps and started a new life in France, thus changing his beloved family's destiny forever. His grandson retraces their story.

In 1910, following dramatic circumstances that led to the death of her two parents, Rose and her grandfather Hoffman find themselves trapped in a remote shack, far from the civilized world, where they must struggle for survival. Despite being only twelve years old, Rose quickly realizes that Hoffman, overwhelmed, no longer has the physical and moral resources to react, and it is up to her to find a way out. When two marmots that had escaped capture allow themselves to be tamed, Rose decides to go down to the town to present her musical act as a marmot trainer. When she returns with pockets full, Hoffman and she will go back to the world to write a new chapter in their lives.

A close look at Alexander the Great - from Macedonia to India. Alexander the Great has always enjoyed a unique status in history. To the Greeks and Romans, he was a hero, to the Arabs, he was a prophet, to Westerners, he is a myth. Alexander the Great Hellenized the ancient world and spread Greek civilisation single-handedly throughout, as far as the borders of India, by relentlessly pursuing his sworn enemy Darius the Great, King of Persia. But what remains today of the "real" Alexander? Of his life and environment? Through the many depictions of the hero and the archaeological traces of his triumphant conquest, this film portrays the legendary figure, who has always been, and continues to be, a great source of inspiration, even for artists of today.

In the rehabilitation unit of an Athenian trauma hospital, victims of serious accidents struggle to walk again… or at least return to an autonomous existence. Divided between hope and acceptance, they offer us a glimpse into the depths of human condition.

France, end of the 70s: Alain is the author of several cartoon films. His romantic meeting with a young Iranian student, Jasmine, changes the course of his life. Teheran, 1978: The revolution sweeps away the despised regime of the Shah. Alain has joined Jasmine, their love grows in secret, with the hope that a new life is possible. The introduction of the Islamic Republic will destroy their illusions, and separate the two lovers ... For how long? 30 years later, it is time for Alain to revisit the theatre of his memory. Several faded blue aerograms, Super-8 films ... Not much remains. With his fingertips, from the bottom of the heart, he resurrects the past, image by image. In the restitution of a mysterious and oppressive Teheran, in the helter-skelter of history, beings of paste and blood fight, like many others, for love and freedom.

The story of the documentary The Sorrow and the Pity (1971), directed by Marcel Ophüls, which caused a scandal in a France still traumatized by the German occupation during World War II, because it shattered the myth, cultivated by the followers of President Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), of a united France that had supposedly stood firm in the face of the ruthless invaders.

From "That was..." to "...Did we go there?" The Antarctic approached, observed, scrutinised, analysed, displaced. Questions about reading the landscape, reading motion; A slow motion journey through memory, as if "to have the time at last to know."

Léonie and Esteban are in the HEC preparatory class at Lycée Champollion in Grenoble. For two years, they will work tirelessly to achieve their goal: to enter a prestigious business school and open the doors to the biggest companies. During these two years, their projections, their views of the world, their fears and their dreams are in turmoil. In an intimate and fascinating narrative, this documentary paints a portrait of an academic elite ready to conquer the upper echelons of capitalism.

"It's in the idea of movement where, for me, something essential comes together/ combines-- Seven short poems write to each other in images, fleeting visions of China glimpsed through sights, through sounds, always moving." -Robert Cahen.

Sight, like other senses, is as much a matter of personal experience as of the absence of possible comparisons. How can we know what others see and in what way? How can we describe when our reference points are constantly escaping? Faced with the risk of blindness since childhood, Manuel von Stürler lives in dread of this fate and condition; his lust for sight (Fureur de voir) retraces an initiatory journey into the universe of vision and senses, into the definition of darkness or of nothing.

Henri Rousseau started to paint in Paris around 1880, at the age of 40. This self-taught artist was friendly with the poet Apollinaire, Robert Delaunay and Pablo Picasso, who recognized his genius, and yet his work was to remain underrated during his lifetime. However, with its dislocated compositions and profoundly dreamlike subject matter, it was to have a decisive influence on modern art, from surrealism to abstract art.