ARTE Distribution

This film offers you the opportunity to learn about the composer's life through his letters, his handwritten notes and the testimonies of great musicians and artists of our time. 

Through writing and music, this film offers an intimate approach to Beethoven's life and work: discover the struggles of a man who never gave up.
Beethoven's correspondence and diaries make for a unique material. It sheds a light on the composer to reveal a side of him that has never been seen before. His temperament, his struggles, what he admired, what he hated, how he lived his life... Most of these precious writings are rarely talked about.

Looking back through archives on the extraordinary journey of a rock giant. A singer adored by multiple generations of fans who never ceased to question his icon status and America.

Springing from a humble childhood in New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen becomes a global rock icon. Despite his fame, he remains a man shrouded in mystery and at times a victim of his own success. Balancing between a desire for celebrity and a need for intimacy, he grapples with contradictions and frequently challenges his icon status. Fidelity best defines Springsteen, as his loyalty to his band, the E Street Band, and his unwavering fans is unwavering. Through his evocative writing, Springsteen transcends the boundaries of rock to become an emblematic figure of American culture, influenced by artists such as John Steinbeck, Terrence Malick, and Robert De Niro. Our film delves into Springsteen's body of work, revealing a man whose music embodies the soul of a nation.

At the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, Céline Dion surprisingly represented Switzerland, but this has nothing to do with chance. From Quebec to international star, this portrait traces the singer's career to rediscover a character and an image that is all too familiar, yet more complex than it may seem.

How did Céline Dion, a worldwide star who went on to become the world's most famous Quebecker, find herself representing Switzerland at the most memorable edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in the late 80s?
 
Yet this has nothing to do with chance. In fact, in more ways than one, it reveals the singer's career, and the couple she formed for over 40 years with René Angélil, both her manager and her one true love. It's both romantic and carefully thought through, over-the- top and yet confoundingly sincere.
 
This adventure, which was an opportunity to conquer new markets as it was a gamble on the part of the producer. It was to reveal to 500 million viewers the transformation of an artist, illustrating how she went from a little girl with a cheesy look and crooked teeth to a young woman ready to seize the moment. Less than 10 years after this victory, Céline Dion was chosen to sing "My Heart Will Go On", the song from Titanic which, like the film, became a worldwide hit. A stunning career!
 
Through this contest and its breathtaking Grand Final, the portrait of a female competitor emerged. And so it was Switzerland that first gave Céline Dion her champion title and attributes.

Walk down memory lane with pop icon Damon Albarn, whose career spanned 30 years of British history as the singer of mythic groups Gorillaz and Blur.

He has gone from being Blur’s charismatic frontman to the brains behind Gorillaz, the producer of African artists, and the composer of post-modern opera. With sales of around 35 million records, and 24 albums with six different line-ups, the global success of this man ahead of his time is undeniable. In the UK, he is perhaps more than just a star; he’s a public persona. And his vertiginous career tells an intimate and intense story of his relationship with his home country over the past 25 years. From popstar to anonymous cartoon character, he shifts effortlessly between musical genres, but his style always seems to stay true to his British roots.

The reopening of the cold case of Jim Morrison’s death... Was it a heart attack? A CIA plot? An overdose? With exclusive interviews, we discover the truth about the artist’s mysterious death.

Fifty years ago, in Paris, during the night of July 2 to 3, 1971, the body of rock star Jim Morrison was found lifeless in the bathtub of an apartment by his American girlfriend Pamela Courson. The circumstances of his death were mysterious, but it was not made public until a few days later. Heart attack? CIA plot? Overdose? The police having, strangely, not ordered any autopsy, the questions do not end up feeding the myth. Only one thing is certain, that night, Jim Morrison joined 27 Club , these libertarian idols, such as Janis Joplin, Brian Jones or Jimi Hendrix, destroyed by their excesses at the age of twenty-seven years old.

Indra Rios Moore’s music is tinged by gospel, an earthy side of the blues and a pop spirit. elegantly mixing the genres for a simple and charming but elegant approach to her style.

Her voice and music come from the heart and convey the depth of being.
Indra is a chief warrior in Hindu mythology, god of the sky, rain, lightning, storms and fertility. Such a name could only place the singer above all the chapels.
 

His concerts are moments of grace. More than a concert, it is always a colorful, joyous and festive symphonic ceremony.

Omar Sosa stands out as both the great reformer of contemporary Afro-Caribbean music and as one of the most emblematic fusion musicians who revolutionize the global musical landscape.

 

The incredible collision between Serge Teyssot-Gay’s electric guitar (Noir Désir), Gaspar Claus’ cello and the indescribable art of the Japanese Kakushin Nishihara, traditional biwa virtuoso and shamanic singer.

Kintsugi is three musicians whose heterogeneous musical backgrounds mix Japanese stories drawn from the depths of time: the epic life of Yoshitsune, sung and played by Kakushin Nishihara, a Tokyo sub-modern and underground artist.

 

"Take Jazz Seriously" was the watchword Maurice Ravel addressed to the Musical Digest magazine readers and, by extension, to all the composers of his generation, during his trip to the United States in 1928. Maurice Ravel had just focused on jazz, a music genre that will influence his latest compositions.

What musician other than Lionel Belmondo could better celebrate Ravel's sensitivity to Jazz, its melodies and its blue notes expression? Alongside his brother Stéphane Belmondo (trumpet), pianist Jacky Terrasson, bassist Thomas Bramerie, drummer Lukmil Perez and the Orchestre National de Lyon, Lionel Belmondo weaves new musical bridges with compositions by Érik Satie, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.
 

Jacky Terrasson is one of the best jazz piano players of his generation. His love for re-adapting the jazz, pop and classical standards and his own compositions are always extremely inventive and unique.

The programme features a Jacky Terrasson solo performance during an extraordinary night in march 2017.

 

Filmed during the 17th Jazz à St Germain des Prés Festival Edition, Linda Lee Hopkins, accompanied by « The Spirit and Truth Singers » formation,... 

... presents her two new albums « The Soul of Gospel » and « The Road Ahead ».

 

Mixing experimental music, jazz, diphonic khoomei and mongolian singing, Sainkho's exceptional voice brings the chamanic traditions to life on the international scene.

The duo, with saxophone player virtuoso Ned Rothenberg, creates a dialogue nourished with improvizations, the Tuvan traditions & the New-York urban vibes.