Arte Distribution

Anti-Judaism, Judeophobia, hatred of Jews... Anti-Semitism is a long-standing phenomenon – but where does it come from?
It has evolved for more than two thousand years, while many different societies rose and fell.

This investigation retraces the genealogy of anti-Semitism, from its origins to the present day – and for the first time with images. Some thirty leading international experts have created a fresco that will explore the multiple facets of the phenomenon and its evolution through the ages. To do so, they have been drawing on the traces left throughout the world and the 3D historical reconstructions developed by Ubisoft for its Assassin's Creed series.

In the Middle Ages, Paris gave birth to the world’s most famous stone edifice: Notre-Dame. 7 centuries have passed since its construction. Watch history come alive thanks to 3D reproduction of the monument. A dramatic tale of ambition, talent, destruction, blood and rebirth. 

We tell the incredible 700 year saga of the builders and Church’s Men who invented modern day architecture in France and throughout Europe. Driven by the quest for perfect harmony, they created one of the most emblematic sacred monuments known today. 3D animation and documentary will come together in a history film to give an accurate representation of this great historical fresco. Indeed, the fictional tale, entirely in animation sequences will be the backbone of the film, around which the documentary scenes will be built to provide specific historic and technical explanations.
 

After the success of the first season of THE GREAT GREEK MYTHS, we bring you the next chapter! An adaptation of Homer's Iliad. An epic poem which recounts the Trojan War.
 
 

The Greeks cross the sea to lay siege to Troy and reclaim the beautiful Helen, abducted from her husband King Menelaus of Sparta by Prince Paris of Troy. After a ten-year siege of the city walls of Troy, the war turns in the Greeks favour thanks to the heroics of the famous Achilles. But were these mortals really the heroes of this war or were they merely pawns in the hands of the Gods?
Following on from the first season, each episode alternates scenes of original animation created in 3D and a rich iconography chosen from the whole of art history, from Antiquity to the Modern era.

In 1945, Nasser’s project to build a lake in Southern Egypt threatened to submerge hundreds of ancient temples, including of Ramses II and Cleopatra. Thanks to an unprecedented international mobilization, discover how this exceptional heritage was saved.

When they returned from southern Egypt, travelers reported the existence of temples between the Nubian desert and the Nile. Majestic stone colossi emerging from the sands kept the doors and their secrets. For centuries, Abu Simbel, Dendur, Amada and other monuments were victims of looting, earthquakes, desert encroachment and floods, only to end up almost being swallowed up by the waters in the 20th century. In 1954, the announcement of the construction of a dam threatened the whole of Nubia and more than 20 ancient shrines. Some temples were dismantled in a hurry and relocated to artificial islands, others were even shipped abroad in places such as Madrid, Turin or even New York. Former construction site workers attest to the grueling working conditions during operations. We also present archives revealing the ingenious rescue plans explained in 3D animations.

Almost 100 years after the discovery of King's Tut's Tomb, it is time to tell the story in a new light. This film uses 2D and 3D imagery to reconstruct the tomb, the mummy, the funerary objects and the topography of the famous valley of the Kings. 

Ninety years later, for the first time, most of these objects will finally be brought together in the precinct of the great Museum of Giza. Some of them will make their way to the U.S.A. and Paris, where they will be exposed at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industries in the autumn of 2018 - and then in London, Berlin, Tokyo and Sidney. This film is the story of the discovery of a treasure of which we know only a few artefacts. It is also an investigation, and these objects will be so many clues along the way. What do these artefacts tell us about the king and the period of his reign ? In what circumstances were they discovered and taken away from the pharaoh’s tomb ? These are some of the many elements of this documentary narrative. 
 

THE TRUE STORY OF RASCAR CAPAC is a science documentary led like a police investigation into pre-Colombian mummies from Chile and Peru, one of whom, RASPAR CAPAC, inspired The Seven Crystal Balls from The Adventures of Tintin by famous Belgian cartoonist Hergé. 

In reality, the mummy Rascar Capac arrived at the Art & History Museum in Brussels in the middle of the 19th century under unknown circumstances. By uncovering the origins of Rascar Capac, the film will reveal previously unknown facts about his life, the reasons for his death and even which illnesses he had.
 
The documentary will follow the investigation in the field, in specialised laboratories in Belgium and France and along the wild Pacific coast of Chile and Peru. Using modern technology to research and carry out tests on Rascar and other similar mummies will allow us to understand a lot more about these pre-Columbian mummies who, compared to their Egyptian counterparts, we still know very little about. 
©Panoramique Terre/Un film à la patte

Saqqara, Egypt, 1850. Auguste Mariette discovered the Serapeum, the burial place of the Apis bull, one of the most sacred sites in ancient Egypt. Today, a mission mandated by the Louvre museum picks up the work where the french Egyptologist had left off.

This tale depicts the strange religious traditions practiced in ancient times under the reigns of the pharaohs: the incarnation of a preeminent divinity of the Egyptian pantheon into a sacred animal; the process required to select the young bull; the worshipping rites performed within the great temple of Ptah; the procession along the avenue bordered with sphinxes when taking the animal's mortal remains to their final resting place within the necropolis; as well as the throngs of pilgrims depositing offerings and inscribed tablets by the animal's sarcophagus. 
Through their investigational field work, the scientists will bring life to a lost and unknown chapter of Ancient Egypt, and write the next one of the greatest adventures in the history of archeology. 

It was in the 12th century that the foundation stone of Notre-Dame was laid in Paris, under the impetus of Bishop Maurice de Sully. Thus began a gigantic construction site: stonemasons, blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, all the guilds were involved in building the monument. 

Motivated by faith, driven by the ambition to build a cathedral whose dimensions would outshine even their wildest dreams, the builders of Notre-Dame invented a new architectural style that soon inspired the entire West: ars francigenum, or French art.

A golden apple inscribed "for the fairest" is sent to a feast at Olympus by Eris, the Greek goddess of strife and discord. Unable to decide between the goddesses Aphrodite, Hera and Athena, Zeus decides to let a mortal choose, and that man is Paris, the young son of King Priam of Troy...

Paris gives the apple to Aphrodite who, in exchange, promises that he will have the love of the fairest mortal woman of them all. A few days later, Paris is invited to the house of Menelaus, the king of Sparta, where he falls in love with the king's wife, Helen. The two of them run away back to Troy under Aphrodite's spell. Filled with rage, Menelaus goes to see his brother, Agamemnon, the most powerful of all the Greek kings. At first, he is tempted to be wise and prudent, but then he is manipulated by Hera and Athena, who still harbour a grudge against Paris for not choosing them. Agamemnon finally summons all the kings of Greece to go and wage war on Troy.

In the 13th century, when the construction of Notre-Dame de Paris had just been completed, its builders had to push themselves even further: the new cathedrals that were springing up all over Europe offered them new grandiose technical challenges and competition. 

Hundreds of men and women put in countless hours to embellish Notre-Dame de Paris and enable this jewel of stone, wood, iron and glass to stand the test of time. For her trials were not over: she would have to face wars, revolutions and, above all, the ravages of time. In the 19th century, two men in particular have made the cathedral more relevant than ever: Victor Hugo magnified it in his novel Notre-Dame de Paris, and the architect Viollet-Le-Duc thoroughly restored it. His passion for the cathedral brought it back to life. Thanks to him, Notre-Dame became the beating heart of Paris, once again.

All of the Greek kings and their armies have responded to Agamemnon's call... All except two, that is: Odysseus, who pretends to be mad to avoid having to fight a war he does not believe in, although he is quickly found out, and Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior of all, who has never been fond of Agamemnon...

It is Achilles' mother, the sea nymph Thetis, who inadvertently causes him to change his mind. She tells him that his fate lies in his hands. He can fight and become a hero who will be remembered forever but die young, or he can live a long life, surrounded by his loved ones, and be consigned to oblivion. Achilles does not hesitate and goes off to join the Greek forces. Meanwhile, the seer Calchas reveals that, offended by Agamemnon, the goddess Artemis is preventing ships from leaving port. Agamemnon agrees to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia so he can assemble the largest fleet ever in order to attack Troy.

Ten years have passed since the Greek forces disembarked on the shores of Troy. But King Priam's city has still not fallen. Inside its walls, the king's eldest son, Hector, reproaches his brother Paris for causing this war with no end...

But Paris loves Helen and will hear nothing of it. In the Greek camp, a mysterious plague has been raging for several days. Calchas the seer tells the assembled kings that Apollo sent it as revenge for Agamemnon enslaving the beautiful Chryseis, the daughter of a priest who complained to the god. Achilles demands that Agamemnon return the girl to her father. Agamemnon finally accepts but says that Achilles must give him his protégée, Briseis, as compensation. Seething with rage, Achilles swears that he will fight no more and goes into isolation. His mother, Thetis, goes to Zeus and asks him to defend Achilles. Remembering who he once loved, the mighty Olympian god decides to take the side of the Trojans and sends a dream to Agamemnon to set a trap for him.