French Studies (Documentaries)

Produced by DOM multimedia and Kultur International Films.
45 minutes; released 1999.
Anne of Brittany ordered her book of hours from the master, Jean Bourdichon. This program features a close-up look at this masterpiece: 63 paintings containing over 300 different species of plants that decorated the pages. The book is now in the Bibliothque nationale de France.

Produced by DOM multimedia and Kultur International Films.
45 minutes; released 1999.
This program was filmed at the French National Library where, for the first time, the public was permitted to view the rarest and most beautiful works from its ancient book collection.

Directed by Négar Zoka.
52 minutes; released 2002.
Presenting the viewpoints of those waiting to become French citizens, this film explores the difficulty immigrants face integrating into French life. In French. NON-NORTH AMERICAN DVD--may not work in your DVD player.

Directed by Sarah Bouyain.
60 minutes; released 2000.
In this documentary the director explores the life of her grandmother, who was born of a French soldier and an African girl in 1920 in Upper Volta, in the present territory of Burkina Faso. In French. NON-NORTH AMERICAN DVD--may not work in your DVD player.

Directed by Nicolas Philibert.
104 minutes; released 2002.
A moving documentary of life inside a one-room schoolhouse in a rural French village. In French with English subtitles

Directed by Claude Chabrol.
110 minutes; released 1993.
A compilation of archival film footage which documents French collaboration with the Nazis during World War II.

Directed by Agnès Varda.
82 minutes; released 2000.
Starting with a painting of women gathering wheat left over from a harvest, film-maker Varda explores the lives of modern-day gleaners--people who insist on finding a use for things that others throw away. The journey takes her from the French countryside to the streets of Paris.

Directed by Andrew Thomas.
50 minutes; released 1994.
A documentary about the architecture of Gothic cathedrals including Notre Dame in Paris, Notre Dame in Chartres, and the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

Directed by Martin Doblmeier.
57 minutes; released 1984.
A documentary about Jean Vanier and the l'Arche community which works with mentally and physically handicapped persons in France and in the United States.

Directed by David Grubin.
240 minutes; released 2000.
From Napoleon's birth on the island of Corsica to his final exile on the island of St. Helena, this PBS video documents the French emperor's life through such vicissitudes as his military triumphs throughout Europe, his disastrous campaign in Russia, and his love for the Empress Josephine. Audio-track in English.

Produced by DOM multimedia and Kultur International Films.
45 minutes; released 1999.
This fascinating program features a close-up look at a major exhibition featuring 240 manuscripts of French illumination from 1430 to 1520.

Directed by Claude Lanzmann.
566 minutes; released 1985.
Without dramatic re-enactment or archival footage, this documentary uses interviews with surviving camp inmates, SS commandants and eyewitnesses to unearth disturbing details--including timetables, finances, and logistics--about the step-by-step Nazi plan to carry out the Holocaust.