Isabelle Pasco

Marcello Mastroianni, Isabelle Adjani, Alain Delon, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen... the biggest stars in cinema were welcomed by Christian Defaye on his show Spécial cinéma. Between intimate confessions from actors and immersion in the world of the greatest filmmakers, Christian Defaye took viewers on a journey into the fascinating world of cinema for nearly thirty years.

Charlemagne, le prince à cheval is a 1993 television miniseries about the life of Charlemagne. It consists of five episodes and covers the period from the death of his father, Pepin the Short in AD 768 until Charlemagne's corronation as the first Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day, AD 800. However, there is a minor chronological anachronism: in an earlier episode, we see Widukind, the king of the Saxons surrender and convert to Christianity, which didn't happen until AD 803. This program was directed by Clive Donner and based primarily on the contemporary biography of Charlemagne written by Einhard, who knew Charlemagne personally.

After learning that her sister, Faith, has committed suicide in Portugal, Phoebe, an 18-year-old hippie, decides to uproot from her San Francisco home to travel to Europe. Phoebe hopes to discover and experience the life that led to her sister's death by retracing her footsteps, which eventually leads to Wolf -- Faith's boyfriend. However, as Phoebe's journey continues, a series of visions of Faith pushes her mind to the brink.

An exiled magician finds an opportunity for revenge against his enemies muted when his daughter and the son of his chief enemy fall in love in this uniquely structured retelling of the 'The Tempest'.

Before being judges, attorneys, or jury members, they are first of all men and women at a crossroads in their lives, with their dreams and their secrets, their hopes and their limitations, all beneath the same sun, each with their own dark side. In a lovely provincial town, during a jazz festival, life will juggle with their destinies.

Reporter Marcello has a brief encounter with Irene while waiting for a train. A young woman who has lost her sight finds herself falling for the voice of a ship's captain she hears over a radio broadcast. Egle, a massage therapist who is soon to be married, finds herself pursuing one last fling with Gabriele -- though the odds are not in her favor, since he happens to be gay. Elena is a young woman with a child who wants to abandon her husband. And Carla wonders if she has any future at all with her lover -- who is married to someone else.

After the death of her father, 22-year-old Céline inherits most of his estate, but gives it to her stepmother, causing her greedy fiancé to leave her. Following several failed suicide attempts, Céline is hospitalized and comes to the attention of a nurse, Genevieve, who has struggled with depression. Under her personal care, Céline gradually recovers, and the two women grow close.

The annual film festival in Venice is, of course, an ideal place to make a film (how come no-one has thought of it before). Everything is there in Pupi Avati's Festival: the famous hotels Des Bain and Excelsior on the Lido, the shimmering sandy beach which captivated Visconti. The film was made last spring and exploits the presence of passing film stars such as Jack Nicholson. We see the hysterical press conferences, where journalists and experts ask intelligent questions-without listening to the answers.

A short made for TV with director Peter Greenaway discussing the dazzling 3.5 minute opening sequence from his film, 'Prospero's Books'. As Prospero (John Gielgud) walks through his library, Greenaway comments on the historical, mythological, biblical & fictional characters occupying the library.

Joëlle, a simple and energetic young woman, works as a hairdresser for Mrs. Delbarre. When Professor Thibaud, a great bone specialist, asks her to donate her bone marrow for a transplant, on the condition that she does not seek to know the recipient, she accepts without hesitation. But the temptation is too strong and she investigates in order to discover the person who benefited from her generous gesture. It is a handsome young man with whom she immediately falls in love.

Charles Madigan visits Alice, to tell her that her father died in an accident while the two professional treasure hunters were diving at the coast of Gibraltar. Whilst practicing, Madigan finds a car wreck underwater with recently stolen diamonds in it, which he keeps. This gets him the attention of the gangster Arman Campana and finally lets him find out the truth about his friend's death. He tries to win police officer Paul Valence - who's competing with him for Alice's love - to help him use the diamonds in his revenge.

A boy who operates a ham radio and a man who works at a satellite relay station witness the same murder thousands of miles apart and have to figure out how to warn the next potential victim.

A penniless countess falls in love with a cad, unaware that he is also involved on the side with her beautiful daughter.

Astrophysicist Lorenzo returns to Sicily from Milan to sell his childhood home. Upon arrival, he meets Salvatore, whom he enlists to help with maintenance work. Lorenzo discovers that he does not have the funds he hoped for to continue the research he was working on. At the same time, he also discovers the world of the therapeutic community for psychotics, where Salvatore's son is a guest.

Thierry drops out of school to apprentice as a lion tamer at the zoo where he meets Roselyne, who shares his passion. They fall in love and when he loses his job, the young lovers journey across France finding odd jobs at several circuses. In Germany, they fall under the tutelage of ageing big cat trainer, Klint, and while they are closer to realising their dreams, they find that their success drivers them part.

In this Canadian psychological drama a repressed young man struggles with his phobia of sex. It began when he was a sensitive 11-year old awakened in the night by the sound of his parents making love. Not understanding the nature of the groans, he peeks in and is horrified by the sight. Things get worse the next day when he and his mother discover that daddy died in his sleep that night. The boy, confused by it all deduces that it was the sex-act that killed his father and so refuses to mature so he will never have to die. This goes on several years and for some reason his mother doesn't seem to mind. Things seem okay until his mom's new boy friend moves in. The teen and the lover constantly fight. Late at night, the boy begins spying on his mother and the man and in so doing comes to realize that sex is not as deadly as it seemed. Once this light dawns, the boy is able to grow up and become normal.

A child, secret war refugee, deceived by his father, is taken in by a man living in the solitude of a garden between sea and mountain. Left to his own devices, he must find his own way as he is shunted around between untrustworthy adults. A modern tale.

A handful of teenagers, boys and girls, escape from a reform school and go round town. They go to a ball, the owner asks them to pay the bill.This man is very unpleasant, he hates the youth of today and he is a racist.The incident turns into free -for-all, then into a massacre.The runaways become chased criminals. One of the boys want to take his mates to a deserted village where they would find a refuge. Policemen and farmers are hot on their heels .

Lola, a young lawyer, is raising her little boy Bolivar, and sustains his family. Diagnosed with cancer, she decides to fight against this disease as it has always done in life with strength, determination, and above all with humor. In his fight, it is supported by Ferdinand, his fiery lover and naive who is a journalist. In the hospital, treated by Prof. Tobman, deeply human doctor, she met a group of women, all living with the same bad but each following a different social environment. This group will become his new "family".

In 2008 French filmmaker Julie Gali traveled to the US to film the election of Barack Obama. In spite of this victory for civil rights, it soon became apparent that the rights of another minority were under threat. In California the passing of Proposition 8 marked the only time in U.S. history that a civil right was actually taken away after it had been granted. Upon seeing this, Ms. Gali decided to immerse herself in the growing grassroots struggle of the gay community, which culminated in the October 11, 2009 March for Equality in Washington DC.