Time of the Giants

Discovered about twenty years ago, the immense masses of water vapor that fly over the Amazon, called "flying rivers", fascinate researchers. Their future could be intimately linked to climate change.

In 1889, Gustave Eiffel decides to attempt the impossible for the Universal Exhibition in Paris: to build the tallest tower in the world. Before this project, this pioneer and visionary had created more than 300 metal structures around the world.

The Mandrin Cave in the Rhône Valley is a fascinating excavation site. Archaeologist Ludovic Slimak discovered fossils and flints here, proving that Neanderthals inhabited the cave for over 80,000 years. The first Neanderthal in France for half a century was also unearthed in the cave: He was given the name Thorin.

Egypt's legendary city, Alexandria, has had an unparalleled history, from its creation by Alexander the Great, until its collapse during the reign of Cleopatra when it fell to the hands of the Romans. Greek historian Harry Tzalas explores the bottom of the Bay of Alexandria in tandem with the team of French archaeologist Jean-Yves Empereur.

In Barcelona, the Casa Batlló alone sums up the genius of Antoni Gaudí. During the exhibition devoted to it by the Musée d'Orsay, we take a guided tour of this eccentric, colorful residence, completed in 1906.

For millions of viewers, Peter Falk is Columbo. Despite playing the quintessential blue-collar TV detective of the '70s and '80s, his early career is rarely explored. Using archive footage, interviews and extracts from his films and the TV show, the documentary pays tribute to the immortal character of Columbo, while shedding light on the actor’s life, one full of twists and turns, ups and downs.

A look at relevant scientific issues

Our planet’s lakes make up a huge freshwater reserve delicately balanced between the water that feeds them and the rivers they feed.

At 63, Jawad Bashara has spent more than half his life in exile. But when Islamic State troops set out to obliterate the Sumerian origins of our civilization, he decided to return to Iraq and take action. With renowned archaeologists and 3D technicians from all over the world, he is redoing the path that brought mankind into history, 3500 years before Christ. In order to better safeguard and share it, they have set themselves the mission of immortalizing our common heritage in 3D and virtual reality.

Long before the arrival of Homo Sapiens, the Neanderthals wandered the vast European plains, and regularly drowned into the Ice Ages. Several discoveries, in France and England, and especially on the island of Jersey, now allow archaeologists to understand the lifestyle of those first great nomads of Europe, that lasted 300.000 years.

Dark Realm is an anthology series hosted by Eric Roberts. The series aired in syndication in the United States for a total of 13 episodes, from May to December 2001.

Sea battles in the morning and gladiator fights in the afternoon with wild beasts magically appearing in the arena? A subterranean archaeologist investigates tunnels to see how the Colosseum could be flooded; and architects, engineers, and builders construct a lift and trap door system to attempt the release of a wolf into the most famous amphitheater in the world for the first time in 1500 years.

The Mandrin Cave in southern France has been attracting the attention of archaeologists for 30 years. The cave was regularly occupied in prehistoric times, and a remarkable record of human habitation going back thousands of years has been preserved by its soils. In 2015, the remains of a Neanderthal were uncovered, and the archaeological evidence points to this individual, named Thorin, living in close proximity to newly arrived Homo sapiens. This documentary follows an international team of scientists as they discover and investigate precious relics of the Paleolithic period, resulting in groundbreaking revelations about the human populations of around 50,000 years ago as researchers uncover some of the secrets of the Mandrin Cave.

In France, King Louis XIV, better known as the Sun King (le Roi-Soleil), made of his kingdom the leading European power during the 17th century. An original portrait of Louis XIV's engineer, Vauban, a man who after serving his sovereign zealously, questions the idea of absolutism and the economic misery of the kingdom.