An Opera for an Empire

How FBI followed Charles Chaplin for 50 years. Hoover was convinced that Chaplin is a communist or communist supporter.

Between 1958 and 1962, China lived through tragedy on an epic scale. The Great Leap Forward conceived by Mao so that China could drive industrial output ahead of Great Britain and achieve autonomy from the might of the neighbouring USSR led to a catastrophic famine resulting in the death of between 36 and 55 million people. But the tragedy was masked by an official lie, because while China was starving to death, the grain stores were full. Based on previously unheard testimony by survivors, rare archive footage, secret documents and interviews with the leading historians on this catastrophe, this film provides, for the first time, an insight into the folly of the Great Leap Forward. It examines the mechanisms and political decisions that led to famine, stripping away the incredible secrecy surrounding the campaign, and exposing the lie which continues even today as to who was responsible, and the true human cost.

A group of young delinquents navigate the streets of Paris, engaging in petty crimes and reckless behavior. As they form volatile relationships and test the limits of their freedom, their actions lead to inevitable consequences, forcing them to confront the harsh realities of their choices.

La Case du Siècle is a French television program launched in 2010 and broadcast on France 5. Hosted by Fabrice d'Almeida, it airs documentaries every Sunday that aim to shed light on the history of the 20th century, both in France and around the world. Through these documentaries, viewers can deepen their knowledge of a specific subject or simply discover a particular era. *La Case du siècle* offers an in-depth look at the events that changed the course of history.

2017 marks the centenary of one of the most significant events of the 20th century - the Russian Revolution. Using the private journals of Pierre Gilliard, tutor to the Romanov children, this film is an intimate and eye-opening account of the Russian Imperial family in those days of turmoil. How did they get through their days? How did they perceive their lives as their world crumbled around them?

A look at relevant scientific issues

In a fast-paced action film with an international backdrop, an unsuspecting Edith (Mireille Perrier) goes to Frankfurt to work for a German friend who is investigating some illegalities in the transportation industry. After Edith arrives, her friend leaves for Berlin, so Edith goes to stay at the house her friend shares with a second-generation German-Turkish woman. Meanwhile, Gordon (Bruce Thurman) is out photographing some journalists armed with video cameras who are spying on a wealthy honcho in the trucking business. He accidentally follows Edith and photographs her, then ends up saving her from some attackers. The dramatic action intensifies as questions arise about what certain trucks are carrying into Germany, what Edith's friend has to do with exposing the cargo on those trucks, and whether or not Edith will remain an unscathed, innocent by-stander.

The great history of Egypt is inscribed on its monuments, temples and tombs, but hieroglyphs – the written language of the ancient Egyptians – fell silent until 1822 when a young French scholar, Jean-François Champollion, became the first person to decipher their texts for over a thousand years. Champollion’s insights and the work of other scholars helped bring an entire civilisation back to life. Today, researchers are increasingly interested in the authors who created these hieroglyphic works. Near Luxor, The Latest Secrets of Hieroglyphs follows a new generation of Egyptologists as they unlock the texts inscribed inside a richly adorned tomb, revealing the beliefs and lives of the priests, scribes, painters, engravers and builders who created this grand funerary monument.

The film describes a strike in a French textile factory, when the striking workers occupy the factory.

French current affair show

This is the story of one of Europe's biggest migrations; one of people fleeing poverty or persecution and hoping for a better life. German-speaking people descended the Rhine and Danube rivers, from the 17th century until the end of the First World War, and settled in America, Eastern Europe, Russia and Africa.

“Eurasia” represents a spectacular adventure, a visual conquest of the East in 8 films. A magical voyage through time and space, exploring the history, culture and religions that link East and West: from the Persian Empire of Alexander the Great to the huge Mongolian Empire of Kublai Khan, the destinies of highly developed civilizations intermingled until they converged to take the shape of a Eurasian civilization shared by all of us. Babylon, Persepolis, Ai-Khanoum, Baghdad, Rome…are virtually recreated with incomparable realism by computer generated images.