THE FABULOUS LIFE OF ELISABETH VIGÉE LE BRUN
Arnaud Xainte
Besides the image of official painter and close to queen Marie Antoinette whom we tend to retain only with that of the pictorial representation of certain "douceur de vivre" of this end of the XVIIIth century in France. Which hides behind these too smooth, too pink feminine faces, in soft sketches smiles?
Born in 1755 and died in 1842, it is doubtless thanks to this exceptional longevity that Louise Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun will have time to live her different existences.
Born under the reign of Louis XV, she knew the beginnings of the revolution, lived under the first Empire, the Restauration and the return of the monarchy, was celebrated in the biggest courts of Europe and gained besides the offspring, paiment among the highest of her time.
Her exile during the French revolution will drive us in Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Russia and England in museums and private collections or we shall discover the portraits of the women and the most influential men of the European courts of this time.
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Docu drama 2 x 52’, 90' and 52’, produced by Illégitime Défense - Arte, France 5
LANA TURNER The Untouchable
Jean-Frédéric Thibault
Hollywood's reporters, the celebrated gossip columnists Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper, and a few studio moguls wanted to bury Lana Turner's career a little too quickly following each scandal.
It has to be said that she was pretty fair game: married lovers, mafia connections, a certain taste for sado-masochism, destructive alcoholism, a bloody murder and seven failed marriages were just a few of the hallmarks of the private life of Hollywood's most "glamorous" actress of the 40s and 50s.
Unalterable, rot-proof and, above all, invincible, Lana Turner was one of Hollywood's most famous actresses and most certainly the most adored by a public that always forgave her her peccadillos. With the blurring between her real life and the parts she played on the screen, she was the best actress of Hollywood's melodramas both in town as on the sound stage.
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Documentary 52’ produced by Illégitime Défense - France 5, Cine +
AVA GARDNER Life is Bigger than the Movie
Jean-Frédéric Thibault
A barefoot contessa, a restive Pandora, a screwed-up princess, an exquisite drunk, a bawdy aristocrat, a nightmare for the puritanical America and the moguls of Metro-Goldwin-Mayer, Ava Gardner never stopped loving those she loved.
She turned women green and made men sweat. And rejected with all her force the bulwark of normality.
Dependent, stubborn, temperamental, irascible and lazy, Hollywood understood the woman perfectly and saddled her with nickname like "The World's Most Beautiful Animal" or the "Hollywood Panther".
She had the nobility, beauty, freedom and nonchalance of a cat.
A nocturnal creature, Ava always preferred smoking and drinking to the wee hours of the morning and sleeping with whomever she wanted rather than working on a movie set.
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52’ ’, produced by Illégitime Défense - France 5, Ciné +
RITA HAYWORTH, AND MEN CREATED A GODDESS
Arnaud Xainte
This fresh and unique approach of Jean Cocteau’s life, unveils both the man and the artist. Through Cocteau’s influence on contemporary artists (visual artists and movie directors) we will discover Cocteau’s modernity. Each one will tell us about one period of the poet’s life, one artistic field in which he excelled. Director Arnaud Xainte created a set to evoke Cocteau’s fairy tale and surrealist atmosphere: shadows, set inside the set,apparitions/disparitions of characters, etc.
52’ and 70’, produced by Illégitime Défense - France 5, Ciné +
CARTIER- La petite boîte rouge.
Minou Azoulai & Marie Brand
To tell the story of Cartier is to cross through a mirror, going from the futile to the precious, from coquetry to provocation, from chic minimalism to outrageous extravagance. To tell the story of Cartier is to also talk about over 160 years of French history with a personal story as starting point. To tell the story of Cartier is to finally give voice to the passion, dreams for the future, the wildest bets, the love of art and technology, freely.
52’, produced by Illégitime Défense - Arte France
Cocteau, I’ll Stay with You
Arnaud Xainte
This fresh and unique approach of Jean Cocteau’s life, unveils both the man and the artist. Through Cocteau’s influence on contemporary artists (visual artists and movie directors) we will discover Cocteau’s modernity. Each one will tell us about one period of the poet’s life, one artistic field in which he excelled. Director Arnaud Xainte created a set to evoke Cocteau’s fairy tale and surrealist atmosphere: shadows, set inside the set,apparitions/disparitions of characters, etc.
52’ and 70’, produced by Illégitime Défense - France 5, Ciné +
Karl Lagerfeld .
​​Alain Teulère
A World War II child, Lagerfeld always wanted to become an adult. He hated other kids. As soon as he can remember things, he loved ceremonials. Christmas is for him a sum of marvelous souvenirs. As he arrives in France in the 50’s, Warhol is already well established. He is often told that he created a sort of “Factory”, Lagerfeld prefers to call it a “band of friends”. Then the Palace (a Paris well-known former nightclub) leaves its mark on a whole generation. In 1983, he succeeds Coco Chanel in the ageing “maison de couture”. He is the last of the Mohicans who learnt his art with Balmain and Patou. Since Saint Laurent’s death, Lagerfeld, like Dorian Gray, doesn’t stop becoming younger
52’, produced by April Snow Films & Capital
NRJ PARIS - 2012
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac
C. Bienaimé Besse and D. Carr Brown
Former “Petit prince” of fashion, now a major storyteller, Castelbajac plays with symbols, images and objects of the daily life. JCDC, as his worshippers call him, loves to play. Since the 70’s he managed to combine a certain naiveté with a great sense of luxury and exclusivity. This film goes behind the scenes of his creations, from his studio to the catwalk without forgetting to mention the friendship with Malcolm Macaren, Madonna, Katie Perry or Lady Gaga), The designer accepted indeed to be followed during about a year.
52’, produced by April Snow Films & Capital
NRJ PARIS - 2012
Jean-Paul Gaultier
Alain Teulère
30 years after his first fashion show, the “Enfant terrible” of fashion did not lose a bit of his enthusiasm. He knows how to make people laugh but can also be very serious and sad when he evokes his companion who died from aids in the 80’s. The only child in the family, he is raised by his grand mother, an unpredictable nurse full of fantasy. She was sometimes forgetting to put on her skirt and was receiving patients in petticoats. Very young, he was already drawing everything he could and created his first collection when he was 8: a series of clothes for his teddy bear! 10 years later, his drawings raise the attention of Pierre Cardin who hires him… Now, at 60 and after 30 years of creation, it’s time to look back.
52’, produced by April Snow Films & Capital
NRJ PARIS - 2012
Marlene Dietrich: Twilight of an Angel
Dominique Leeb
May 6, 2012 is the 20th anniversary of the death of Marlene Dietrich. On this occasion, this film will take a new look on this mythical figure of the 20th century. Before her death, Marlene had been hiding from the eyes of the world for 15 years, secluded within the four walls of her apartment, avenue Montaigne. The idea of the film is to discover the woman, her demands, her losses, her grandeur and her shortfalls. The witnesses in the film tell of a Marlene at the end of her life, some with affection and emotion, and others, such as her daughter Maria or her grandson Peter, with cold indifference and distance. Those who knew her or accompanied her in the last few years of her life are rare. They sometimes evoke the Marlene of the past, with the wounds hidden by the legend.
52’, produced by Illégitime Défense - 2012 France5, Ciné+, SVT, RTS, NRK, TV5 Québec, Odeon UK
Harcourt Paris, Story of a Myth
M. Azoulai and N. Maupied
For over 75 years, the Harcourt studio has been doing portraits of the world’s most famous stars. We should not forget that it has also photographed just as many, if not more, anonymous people and families. This mythical photo studio was created and has been run by an exceptional woman, who named herself Cosette, after Victor Hugo’s character in Les Misérables. Did she consider herself “miserable”? Through witnesses and numerous photos of movie stars and more surprising ones, we will tell the story of the Harcourt Studio, one of the most famous photography studios in the world. Special guest: Charlotte Rampling.
52’, produced by Illégitime Défense - 2012 France 5, Ciné +, AVRO.
The Most Beautiful Bays in the World
Jean-Marc Leblon
In three episodes, we visit three of the most beautiful bays in the world: Baie des Chaleurs in Quebec, Bay of Santander in Spain and Bay of Morbihan in French Brittany. In the middle of nature, how do the inhabitants live? Why did they choose to live there (sometimes in a remote place like in the Canadian Gaspesia)? What is their relationship to nature?
3x52’ HD, produced by Dreamway Productions - 2007-2008
The Extraordinary Journey
C. Robion
Marc, Stanislas and Yan are artists and sailors. They set off on a journey around the West Indies and South America to Cape Horn and back. Leaving Saint Barthelemy, with 10 floating Sculpture-Buoys containing messages to the world, they gradually release them along the way. During their short stays in the visited islands, harbours and villages, they not only meet new friends, allowing us to discover these wonderful people, but they create a piece of art, a happening.
10x6' and 52’, produced by Telemac for Liberty TV - 2005
Mutiara, the Legend of the Pearl
M.A. Garcia and L. Degen
In Jakarta, Mr. Gie is choosing, with his son-in-law and his daughter, the best pearls that will be sent to an auction in Kobe. He knows that in the islands of Aru and Pulau Kenari, where his first diving platform is located, his employees are working like crazy. He started like that, diving himself, before creating his empire.
52’, produced by JMH - 2010
Jean-Marie Périer – My 60’s
C. Lamet and N. Maupied
Jean-Marie Périer, son of famous French actor François Périer starts his professional life as a photographer. Hired by Filippachi, he soon becomes friends with all the singers and many actors of the 60’s. He then discovers that his real father is in fact another French star: singer Henri Salvador, one of the ambassadors of Bossa Nova. He then works in the USA as a photographer and a director… His souvenirs are an immense part of the Sixties
52’, produced by Dreamway Productions - 2008
Emir Kusturica, a Tender Barbarian
M.-C. Malbert
A portrait of the "bad boy" of the silver screen. Emir Kusturica is a two time winner of the Palme d’Or in Cannes. In 2005 he was granted the privilege of being the Jury president of the Cannes International Film Festival. We followed him over a period of three years, while he was shooting his last opus, "Life Is A Miracle". On the set, in his editing room, in Cannes as president of the Jury of short films, on stage while having fun with his rock band “The No-smoking orchestra".
50', produced by Illégitime Défense for Ciné cinéma and Arte - 2004
Rap in Bamako
C. Robion, N. Bénac
The story of Rap music in Mali. In this region of Africa, Rap is a bridge between occidental influences and local musical tradition. Several artists use their fame to help children who live in the streets. In Mali, behind an apparent democracy, freedom of speech is a constant battle. Because of their lack of objectivity, the youth no longer turn to mainstream media, and find in Rap music a way to express their feelings, their fears and their hopes. Special guest appearance: Amadou and Myriam.
52’, produced by Telemac - 2005