• Director(s):

    PARISOT (Claude-Julie)

  • Producer(s):

    ARTE FRANCE

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2010

  • Language(s):

    German, English, French

  • Rights:

    NON-THEATRICAL, TV, VOD, DVD, INTERNET

This film focuses on what is small and commonplace to take viewers on a voyage of scientific discovery into the spectacular realm of hairiness.

All over the Earth, living things breathe, touch, move, reproduce, defend themselves, listen, stay warm and keep cool. In each of these essential life situations, we find - whether plainly visible on top of a head, evenly spaced along the stem of a plant, or hidden deep in viscera - hair. Present in much of the living world, from mammals to plants, and from paramecia to insects, hairs are part and parcel of the most complex functions. They wave, stand up, sense vibrations, catch hold of things, transmit data, conceal, resist - as discreet as can be.

All of us know what hair is, or so we think: every day, like millions of other human beings, we comb, brush, plait, wash, cut, shave, dye, pluck or stimulate the growth of our body hair. But what do we really know about hair?

This film focuses on what is small and commonplace to take viewers on a voyage of scientific discovery into the spectacular realm of hairiness. It leaves our habits, cultural conditioning and squeamishness behind, brushes aside mirrors, razors, scissors and tweezers to plunge into the wilds of hairy forests and abysses. Enchanted realms - majestic and magical - full of surprises and prodigies. And where we soon learn that however flimsy and fragile a single hair may seem, it is a force of nature.