PRESALES - WINTER 2020 / 2021

CONTENTS

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 3 HISTORY & CIVILIZATIONS 10IMPACT DOCS 15NATURAL HISTORY 16ART & CULTURE 19

3

A RACE AGAINST TIME TO PROTECT THE BAY FROM AN IMMINENT YET UNPREDICTABLE DANGER.

Between Vesuvius, the Aeolian Islands and Etna, Italy is home to some of the highest risk volcanoes on the Earth. And today, experts all agree to say that Naples’ region is exposed to a major threat, an imminent eruption.

But no one can tell when this will happen, and where the danger will come from. How can we protect the bay? How have people been living for millennia with the threat of spectacularly destructive eruptions?

Both a historical and a scientific investigation, using cutting-edge science along with spectacular aerial footage, this film follows an international team of experts as they peer into the depths of these fire mountains to prevent a future tragedy.

Together, they explore and model the complex geological process behind eruptions to predict the possible scenarios and improve their forecasting. A race against time to protect the 3-million people living at these volcanoes’ feet.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

NAPLES: UNDER THE VOLCANIC THREAT

Documentary Film 52’ & 90’ 4KBy Laurence Thiriat

Produced by Artline Films & MyMax for France Télévisions and RAI

Delivery: February 2021

4

AN UNPRECEDENTED JOURNEY THROUGH TIME TO UNRAVEL THE MYSTERIES OF A VANISHED WORLD. 2014, Turkey. A normal survey flight over Lake Iznik unexpectedly reveals the sunken remains of a 4th century basilica. The discovery prompts scientists to probe the elusive history, ideology and geology behind the demise of the church that was built around A.D. 390 in ancient Nicaea - now known as Iznik.

Spanning Turkey, France, Switzerland, the United States and the Vatican, this investigation follows step by step a world-renowned team in this underwater excavation.

Thanks to exclusive access to the site, including critical aerial and underwater cinematography, and spectacular CGI, we time-travel through the centuries, back to the 4th century AD, and the foundation of Christianity itself.


IZNIK: THE SUNKEN BASILICA

Documentary Film 52’ & 90’ 4KBy Pascal Guérin

Produced by Les Batelières Production for France TélévisionsDelivery: September 2022

5

AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF EXPERTS INVESTIGATES SECRETS HIDDEN INSIDE NOTRE DAME DE PARIS IN ORDER TO SUCCESSFULLY PLAN HER RESTORATION.

Spring 2019, the world watched in stunned silence as Notre-Dame de Paris burned, leaving it in ruins: its spire and roof gone, part of its vaults collapsed. 18 months later, a massive restoration is about to begin.

But how to rebuild a gothic cathedral without knowing how it was constructed? How to give it back its soul, acoustics and light, which are the very essence of a sacred monument? These are the great challenges of the restoration, to which science will contribute with the opening of a major archaeological site within Notre-Dame itself.

Over 200 experts have united to study the stone, timber and metal remains in order to uncover the secrets of it structure. They will use a new tool specially designed for this colossal task: a 3D digital model of unequaled power. With exclusive access, this documentary follows this amazing scientific adventure as Notre-Dame is brought back to life.


RAISING NOTRE DAMEDocumentary Film 52’ & 90’4K

By Vincent AmourouxProduced by ZED & Show of Force for ARTE France

Delivery: End of 2021


6

WHY ARE OUR BRAINS WIRED TO IGNORE CLIMATE CHANGE?

We have never been so aware of the risk of collapse due to climate change. And yet, it seems we are unable to make the collective change the situation seems to demand.

How can we explain our collective inertia in the face of the ongoing environmental crisis? Why can’t our brain process global warming?

This scientific investigation decodes the behavioral mechanisms which explain this collective "schizophrenia" through eye-opening experiences.

With a comprehensible approach, the latest advances in neuroscience, behavioral psychology and anthropology will reveal the surprising cognitive bias, contradictions, and fears we harbor when it comes to changing our lifestyles, and may even help us to overcome them.CLIMATE CHANGE:

THE BRAIN PARADOXDocumentary Film 52’ 4K

By Raphaël HitierProduced by Un film à la patte for ARTE France

Delivery: Summer 2021


7

PLUNGE INTO THE MICROSCOPIC UNIVERSE THAT THRIVES IN OUR SKY.

Bacteria, viruses, but also fungus spores, algae, pollen, and even insects: microorganisms are constantly drifting through the sky.

How can so many living beings find their way into the air and be circulating in our atmosphere? How do they survive? What is their influence on our lives and our entire living world?

Biodiversity, health, climate – scientists are only now discovering just how much this discreet airborne "plankton" affects our lives and the entire ecosystem on Earth. But despite its many virtues, this magic matter is now under threat from human activity.

With help from experts and using 3D visual effects, this scientific investigation will take us to the heart of a world that is still very little understood, and will reveal the diversity and fragility of the air we breathe.


MICROORGANISMS: THE AIR WE BREATHE

Documentary Film 52’ 4KBy Claude-Julie Parisot

Produced by Les Films en Vrac for ARTE FranceDelivery: Spring 2021


8

THE LITTLE-KNOWN NATURAL PHENOMENON OF THE FLYING RIVERS REVEALED.

Often considered as the "beating heart of the Earth", the trees in the Amazon absorb water from the ground and pump out billion of tons of water vapor a day into vast "flying rivers", essential to the environmental balance.

But what if this natural phenomenon was to disappear? What would be the ecological consequences on our planet?

From the Amazon rainforest to some of the world’s top laboratories and research centers, and thanks to 3D animation sequences, this scientific investigation deciphers the mechanisms of this extraordinary phenomenon.

A race against time to discover the Amazon rainforest from a climate perspective, questioning our planet’s biological equilibrium and human responsibility.


RIVERS ABOVE THE CANOPY

Documentary Film 52’ By Pascal Cuissot

Co-produced by ZED & GRIFA Filmes for ARTE France Delivery: September 2021

9

AN ENGAGING AND VISUALLY STUNNING LOOK AT THE SURPRISINGLY SMART WORLD OF PLANTS.

Scientists are still trying to qualify intelligence in animals, but they unanimously agree that it exists. So, what about plants? Is it possible that the green denizens of our planet are also capable of much more than we ever imagined?

From their spectacular machinery which allows them to catapult pollen, sweat tannin and release flammable gasses, to their complex vascular system, this film will reveal the inner workings of flowers and trees.

Exclusive patented technology (electron and optical microscopy), macro cinematography, high-speed capture and time lapse will enable us to penetrate their mysterious universe, alongside scientists and experts who will share provocative experiments.

A revolutionary look at plants from their perspectives on survival, adaptation and evolution - while they continue to fulfill their critical role on our shared planet.


GENIUS PLANTSDocumentary Film 2x52’ 4K

By Thierry Berrod & Quincy RussellProduced by Mona Lisa Production for ARTE France

Delivery: Spring 2022

10

A SUSPENSEFUL AND NEVER TOLD BEFORE SCIENTIFIC TALE TO RETRACE THE VIKING SAGA.

2018, Gjellestad, Norway. Archaeologists make the discovery of a lifetime: a 20-metre long, 1200-year-old Viking funeral ship.

Who is hiding in the grave? Is Gjellestad one of the oldest Viking settlements? What can this coffin tell us about the daily lives, beliefs and traditions of the Vikings? July 2020, an exceptional archaeological expedition begins.

Thanks to exclusive access to this archeological excavation, state-of-the-art technologies, cinema-worthy dramatized re-enactments and with the help of great specialists of the Viking era, this unprecedented journey will bring this incredible site, its villagers, warriors and craftsmen back to life. Both a scientific investigation and an epic historical drama, it will follow this extremely rare excavation step by step to reveal who has been hiding inside this mysterious Viking coffin for over a thousand years.

HISTORY & CIVILIZATIONS

VIKINGS: THE GHOST SHIP

Docu-drama 52’ & 90’ 4KBy Pierre Stine

Produced by ZED for France TélévisionsDelivery: End of 2021

11

THE GRIPPING ACCOUNT OF A FORGOTTEN CONFLICT, FROM A NEW PERSPECTIVE.

1942: The Allies finally won two key victories, beating Rommel at the Battle of El Alamein, and then landing in North Africa.

After so many retreats, they now had the upper hand and drove the Axis forces out of Africa in May 1943. The tide had finally turned, but the cost was high, with revenge attacks on civilians, the horrific treatment of prisoners of war, anti-Semitic persecutions, and so on.

Far from a chivalrous confrontation, the Desert War was a bloody conflict in which thousands of soldiers battled in extreme conditions, during operations in which leaders like Eisenhower, Patton, Montgomery, and Rommel – who would each go on to have a bright future – distinguished themselves.

This full archive documentary looks back at the great military operations in North Africa, from the disasters in Tobruk and Kasserine to the triumph in Tunis. This was a little-known theater of operations, where a global conflict was fought and won.


THE DESERT WARDocumentary Film 52’By Yvan Demeulandre

Written by Olivier WierviorkaProduced by ZED for France Télévisions

Delivery: Summer 2021


12

AN EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTARY THAT EXAMINES THE RISE AND FALL OF THE NAZI REGIME THROUGH ITS ECONOMIC SYSTEM.

June 1940: Hitler launches tanks and troops across France, Belgium and Holland. Yet Germany is impoverished, has few raw materials, and no oil or currency. How did the Nazis manage to set off the cataclysm of WWII with little money and a weak economy?

Based on the work of a new generation of French, British and German historians, our film takes an economic, industrial and financial approach to the Third Reich, exploring the inner workings of the Nazi system through key characters who have been overshadowed by history (Hjalmar Schacht, Dr. Georg Von Schnitzler, Fritz Sauckel, Erich Müller…).

Thanks to 3D animation and rare archive footage, this film will reveal how the Nazis were able to weave their violent, racist views into every thread of the German economy, from large-scale industry to small businesses to agriculture, research and finance, creating a model whose main management tools were theft and mass murder, and whose ultimate goal was war and the destruction of Europe.

Episodes:

- A world war on credit- An economy of death


BLOOD MONEY: INSIDE THE NAZI ECONOMY

Documentary Film 2x45’ & 90’By Gil Rabier

Historic Advisor: Olivier WieviorkaProduced by Gogogo Films for ARTE France

Delivery: January 2021

13


BENITO MUSSOLINI, FROM HIS RISE TO POWER IN 1925 TO HIS DOWNFALL IN 1943.

He embodied the alliance between Italy and Nazi Germany. For the Italian people, Benito Mussolini represented the new Caesar, a hero of antiquity and the heir to imperial Rome.

But who knows the true story of the Duce and, through him, Italian Fascism? Why did this man, who was long indifferent to racial matters, become the Latin alter ego of the Führer? What place does this man hold in the hierarchy of tyrants?

Thanks to official archives and amateur footage, together with testimonies of those who lived under the Mussolini Regime - former supporters or victims -, this film explores the mechanisms of Fascist power, the cult of violence, and state political repression, steering Italy into disaster.


MUSSOLINI, THE FASCIST EMPEROR

Documentary Film 2x52’By Serge de Sampigny (Inside the SS, Her Name was

Grace Kelly, Verdun, The Battle of the Great War)Produced by Histodoc for France 5

Delivery: End of 2021

14

THE GREATNESS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE EXPLORED THROUGH SOME OF THE MOST ICONIC MONUMENTS.

50 BC: Julius Cesar reigned supreme over Gaul. But this was no simple military conquest.

Rome wanted to spread its greatness, bringing civilization to the defeated barbarians now part of the Empire. Rome’s new territory was transformed through huge construction projects, involving aqueducts, roads, baths, amphitheaters, and arenas.

This series explores three cities that today are home to the vestiges of this industrious civilization. Through the use of CGI, archive footage, aerial imagery, and expert testimony, this trilogy unveils the secrets of these wonders of Roman engineering.

Episodes:

- Arelate (Arles): Amphitheatre, Forum, Circus, Theatre, Shipyard, Wall, Thermes (baths) of Constantin, the two Triumphal Arches

- Lugdunum (Lyon): Sanctuary of the Three Gauls, Ancient Theatre of Fourvière, Odeon, Sanctuary of Cybèle, Aqueduct

- Lutetia (Paris): Arena of Lutèce, Thermes of Cluny (baths), Pantheon, Arcueil Aqueduct, City Walls, Pillar of the Boatmen, Ancient Port


ROMAN MEGASTRUCTURES

Documentary Series 3x52’By Stanislas Kraland, Claire Denavarre & Isabelle Cottenceau

Produced by La Famiglia for RMC DécouverteDelivery: Spring 2021

15


A CALL TO PROTECT THE WORLD’S PRIMARY FORESTS. Across the planet, the increasing deforestation is sounding a new alarm. Faced with the inevitable climate change, endangered biodiversity and the fate of aboriginal peoples, with a wise and sensitive approach, five indigenous leaders offer a critical, questioning and empathetic look at the excesses of Homo-economicus.

From the Amazon to the African equatorial forest, through the North American forest, the boreal forest and the Indo-Pacific forest, this series invites us to discover the biodiversity, the peoples, the threats but also the solutions to safeguard these unique natural spaces.

Through each episode, we follow the journey and commitment of one of these leaders, witnesses, smugglers, activists and defenders of the environment. A great documentary panorama of primary forests, told in the first person.

- Ivanice Tanoné (Indian cacique, Brazil)- Assossa Soumouna (Pygmy shaman, Gabon)- François Paulette (Déné leader, Canada)- Mundiya Kepanga (Huli chief, Papua New Guinea)- Tumursukh Jal (Tsaatan leader, Mongolia)

IMPACT DOCS

OUR FORESTS Documentary Series 5x52’ 4K

Original idea: Marc Dozier & Sabah RahmaniBy Luc Marescot, Mike Magidson, Hamid Sardar,

Quincy Russell & Marc DozierProduced by LATO SENSU Productions

for ARTE FranceDelivery: End of 2021

16

THE FASCINATING STORY OF HOW ANIMALS AND PLANTS USE COOPERATION TO SURVIVE IN ONE OF THE MOST PUNISHING PLACES ON EARTH.

New science from world experts reveals that collaboration plays a major role in animal evolution.

And there is no better region of the world where this is more vividly on display than in the mighty Kalahari desert in southern Africa.

Here, more than elsewhere, animals have found incredible ways to survive: secret pacts, tacit alliances, determination and cooperation. And not just between next of kin. Often with complete strangers. Ground squirrels living alongside yellow mongooses, and helping to protect them from predators like the Cape cobra. Sociable weavers co-habiting with pygmy falcons and lizards in giant communal nests. And drongos acting as alarm-calling sentinels for meerkats as they hunt for food, in return for some of the insects they flush.

Using the very latest camera technology, this mini-series reveals the incredible tactics animals and plants use to survive in one the most punishing places on Earth.

NATURAL HISTORY

NEVER ALONE NATURE’S SECRET ALLIANCES IN AFRICA’S MOST HOSTILE LAND

Documentary Series 2x52’ & 1x90’ 4K + 1x52’ Science OfBy Pierre Stine

Written by Emilie DumondProduced by ZED for France Télévisions

Producers: Manuel Catteau & Patrick MorrisWith the support of the Creative

Europe program of the European UnionDelivery: Summer 2021

17

NATURAL HISTORY

WHEN HUMANS ARE LOCKED DOWN, ANIMALS ROAM FREE!

Never before has biodiversity been in such danger, especially because of noise and light pollution.

From London to New Delhi, from Paris to Santiago de Chile, lockdowns made essential by the COVID-19 pandemic have given the natural world an unprecedented chance to reclaim what we have taken from it. And as wild animals have evolved in this more peaceful environment, scientists have seized the opportunity to examine and record their behavior. From egg-laying turtles to migrating birds and mating insects, the positive effects are already being witnessed.

By following the large-scale experiments launched across the world a few months ago, this film observes what happens in the wild when nights are dark and days are silent.

Episodes:

- Be quiet!- Back to dark night!

NATURAL HISTORY

BACK TO THE WILDDocumentary Film 2x52’ 4K

By Thierry Berrod and Sylvie RuetProduced by Mona Lisa Production for ARTE G.E.I.E

Delivery: December 2021

18

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF RACCOONS, A SPECIES FAR MORE ELUSIVE AND WILY THAN WE HAVE EVER IMAGINED!

While all over the world many species are under threat, raccoons are experiencing unprecedented expansion. Behind their innocent and cute look, hides an outstanding survivor’s temperament, capable of anything to feed and defend themselves.

Omnivorous, curious, intelligent, and super-adaptable, raccoons turn out to be really good at overcoming every challenge they are confronted with. But how did these crafty critters manage to survivre in both the wild and urban environment? What makes them so smart? And how did they flourish so quickly throughout the world?

Over the course of a summer, this film follows a litter of young raccoons from birth to adulthood, on the wild island of Ossabaw near Florida. Close-ups, subjective camera and underwater footage take us as close as possible to these pint-size creatures to reveal how they have become such amazingly adaptable animals.

NATURAL HISTORY

RACCOONS: SURVIVAL WARRIORS

Documentary Film 52’ 4KBy Emma Baus

Produced by Nord-Ouest Documentaires for France TélévisionsDelivery: Summer 2021

19

NATURAL HISTORY

A FASCINATING LOOK AT THE LEGENDARY YET ENIGMATIC HOLLYWOOD ICON.

Al Pacino is a living legend of the cinema, with more than 40 theatrically-released movies to his credit. With the 50th anniversary of his big-screen debut fast approaching, our film probes the talents - and the demons - of this charismatic actor, while incorporating rare archives such as filmed essays and photos along with historical footage specifically related to his iconic films.

Famous for embracing content that exposes the hidden worlds of the Italian mafia, gay rights activists, law enforcement and bank robbers, Pacino has created many characters that we will never forget. From Michael Corleone in The Godfather to Tony Montana in Scarface, his dynamic, powerful range spans from Broadway to television in addition to theaters throughout the world. A journey through his meteoric rise and tempestous story from the beginning - until present day.

ART & CULTURE

LOOKING FOR AL PACINODocumentary Film 52’

By Jean-Baptise PérétiéProduced by ZED for ARTE France

Delivery: September 2021

20

FROM HONGKONG TO HOLLYWOOD: A PORTRAIT OF THE KING OF ACTION COMEDY.

Jackie Chan is a true icon of Asian and Chinese culture. Over a 45-year-long career, he has carved a niche for himself as an actor, stuntman, director, and screenwriter, but also singer and formidable businessman.

After starring in almost 200 films, Chan has reconciled fans of genre film and Hollywood blockbusters, whilst bridging the gap between Asian and Western cinema.

Through film excerpts, archive footage and images, and an offbeat approach inspired by the visual codes of the golden age of kung fu films, this documentary will take a look back at the creation of a popular hero who has come to be an icon for China, and the entire Asian continent.

ART & CULTURE

JACKIE CHAN: BUILDING AN ICON

Documentary Film 52’By Antoine Coursat

Produced by Bonum Productions & ZED for ARTE FranceDelivery: Spring 2021

ART & CULTURE

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PRESALES - WINTER 2020 / 2021

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