A Propos D'Un Crime

In 1967, Visconti came to Algiers for the filming of The Stranger with Mastroianni and Anna Karina. Camus, during his lifetime, had always refused to allow one of his novels to be brought to the screen. His family made another decision. The filming of the film was experienced in Algiers, like a posthumous return of the writer to Algiers. During filming, a young filmmaker specializing in documentaries Gérard Patris attempts a report on the impact of the filming of The Stranger on the Algerians. Interspersed with sequences from the shooting of Visconti's film, he films Poncet, Maisonseul, Bénisti and Sénac, friends of Camus, in full discussions to situate Camus and his work in a sociological and historical context. “The idea is for us to show people, others, ourselves as if they could all be Meursault, or at least the witnesses concerned to his drama.”

Glass Life

A dynamic configuration of images and videos overlaid with musings on human existence.

Etugen

What is the purpose of our existence ? What is the soul ? Which are the power of mind, of conscience ? What is our link to nature ? Pondering these existential questions, this movie invites us to find out an universal wisdom, meeting shamans, healers, yogis, but also philosophers and doctors. From Mongolia plains to the Amazonian forest, it leads us far than we expected at first.

Nietzsche's Thinking Places

The favourite places for thinking of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche - Sorrento, Engadine, Venice, Genoa, Rapallo, Nice, Turin - with passages from his letters and notebooks that explain why they were so important to him.

Cern and the Sense of Beauty

An exploration of the link between science and beauty through the work of scientists at CERN, in Geneva.

Camus, l'icône de la révolte

unbroken rhythms

a poem. trees. fragments of fritz. love—and nothing besides!

Seeing Through the Darkness

Carried by an immersive sound environment that plunges us in the reality and the perceptions of these resilient and inspiring people, this film questions our own blindness face to violence and suffering of our time — despite the overabundance of images that reach us — and highlights the urgency of lending an ear to hear these stories.

Ayurveda: Art of Being

Ayurveda is a science of life and a healing art, where body, mind and spirit are given equal importance. This voyage of thousands of miles across India and abroad takes you on a unique poetic journey, where we encounter remarkable men of medicine or simply a villager who lives in harmony with nature. "Hope is nature's way of enabling us to survive so that we can discover nature itself."

Speak of the Devil

But what is the Church of Satan? Who is Anton LaVey? Where is he from? Why does he do that? It does not take much to imagine the worst. Orgiastic ceremonies, where one revels in the blood of virgins, moonlight lamb sacrifices, noise concerts in the basement of a historical building… No, really nothing that amusing among the activities in the Church of Satan. Anton LaVey is nothing like a horned Charles Manson, and his path is all the more unexpected. Nick Bougas allows us to discover the artist, the musician, the philosopher, all through hallucinatory images retrieved from archives, making this rare documentary only two years before the author of the Satanic Bible disappeared.

My Life Is My Message

Thich Nhat Hanh, monk, zen teacher, writer and peace activist, born in Vietnam in 1926, was the organiser of a non-violent resistance movement after the outbreak of the Vietnam War. We follow Thich Nhat Hanh around the time of Memorial Day of 9/11 in Washington D.C., where he teaches Members of Congress the concepts of ‘Mindful Living’. He tries to convey his message of peace straight to the centre of world power. Thousands of people participate each year in the meditation retreats led by Thich Nhat Hanh. In his monastic community Plum Village in the south of France, his home base, he brings groups of Palestinians and Israelis together. Horrible experiences are exchanged and discussed for the first time, in the hope that people may come to recognize each other’s suffering.

Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt

The life and work of German political philosopher of Jewish descent Hannah Arendt (1906-75), who caused a stir when she coined a subversive concept, the banality of evil, in her 1963 book on the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann (1906-62), held in Israel in 1961, which she covered for the New Yorker magazine.

Life After Death: Quantum Realms

Tens of thousands of years ago man stood upright; looked around and discovered existence. He was suddenly conscious of himself and the universe. And soon he needed to explain everything he saw and experienced. He embarked on a journey of discovery so profound it gave rise to the religions of the globe and even modern science. What is the meaning of life; is there life after death; and is there a God? These were the most fundamental questions anybody has ever dared to ask. Today, after thousands of years of searching and the development of modern science, we are moving closer to the answers than ever before. What we have discovered is that existence in the macro world matches that of the micro world. As it is above, so it is below and this understanding unlocks the answers we are searching for. Through quantum physics we can now finally look upon the face of God and see the meaning of existence.

Hans Heinz Holz: Spekulatives Denken

These last major lectures by Hans Heinz Holz (1927–2011) follow his philosophical reflection from Parmenides to Karl Marx. They were recorded in October 2009 at his home in Sant’Abbondio, Switzerland.

Andrei Tarkovsky: A Poet in the Cinema

An extensive interview with legendary director Andrei Tarkovsky conducted by Donatello Baglivo.

The End of Time

Working at the limits of what can easily be expressed, filmmaker Peter Mettler takes on the elusive subject of time, and once again turns his camera to filming the unfilmable. From the particle accelerator in Switzerland, where scientists seek to probe regions of time we cannot see, to lava flows in Hawaii which have overwhelmed all but one home on the south side of Big Island; from the disintegration of inner-city Detroit, to a Hindu funeral rite near the place of Buddha's enlightenment, Mettler explores our perception of time. He dares to dream the movie of the future while also immersing us in the wonder of the everyday. THE END OF TIME, at once personal, rigorous and visionary, Peter Mettler has crafted a film as compelling and magnificent as its subject.