Alexandre Cornu

In 1997, the committed filmmaker Jean Asselmeyer, armed with his camera, posed the following question at the General Assembly of Documentary Film in Lussas and in Paris: Is it possible today to make a committed creative documentary?, to René Vautier, Thierry Garrel, Jean-Michel Carré, Jean-Marie Barbe, Yves Jeanneau, Alexandre Cornu, Lapilli films, Jean-François Raynaud, Samir Abdallah and many others, not the least of whom.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

Can a weapons manufacturer be tried for complicity in war crimes? For a year and a half, Alice Odiot and Sophie Nivelle-Cardinale, winners of the Albert Londres Prize, followed the progress of an investigation that could shake the impunity of the arms industry. The filmmakers captured a secret and unique legal battle in a film constructed like a thriller.