Social & External
Marseille, a city with a dual identity, is seen both as the setting of Pagnol’s films and as a hub for powerful organized crime. Often labeled France’s crime capital, its contemporary history is marked by recurring violence and media portrayals that clash with political leaders’ responses. Jérôme Pierrat examines the roots of this violence, exploring two centuries of social and political challenges that have shaped the city.
June 11, 2016: Marseille in Chaos. As the European Football Championship kicks off, a mysterious group of Russian hooligans launches a brutal attack on thousands of British fans, all in front of the world’s cameras. France and England are humiliated, the incident sparks global outrage, and immediate action is demanded.
Off the coast of Marseille, near a rocky cliff, a Greek ship was discovered at a depth of forty meters in Mediterranean waters, loaded with amphorae and other pottery. The cargo has been lying on that sandy stretch of seabed for more than two thousand years. The documentary follows the dives of divers who recover cups, vases, plates and jars still full of wine. We are also witnessing new recovery systems, with the use of compressed air.
The works of Marcel Pagnol are a veritable monument of French cultural heritage. Based on previously unseen archive material, film extracts, novels, plays, interviews and letters, the film pays tribute to the major author and popular filmmaker, who made his life a work and his work a life's project.
"Welcome to my life", Sylvie Hofmann repeats this sentence almost all day long. Sylvie has been a nurse for 40 years at the North Hospital of Marseille. Her life is running. Between patients, her sick mother, her husband and her daughter, she has always devoted her life to helping others. What if she decided to think a little about herself? To retire? Does she have the right, but above all, does she really want to?
In 2014, Tsai Ming-Liang was invited to make a film for the MarseilleFID, Marseille International Film Festival. Since he was not familiar with Marseille, he decided to make a film as tourist, capturing the beautiful Mediterranean sunshine in the late summer of that year. He also invited famous French actor, Denis Lavant, to appear alongside Lee Kang-Sheng playing Xuanzang. "Journey to the West" was invited to be the opening short film at the Berlin International Film Festival the same year.
Lara, a German au pair, recently arrived in Marseille, where a new life is beginning for her. Being an introverted young girl, she nevertheless throws herself into the unknown, into the twists and turns of a city whose codes she still does not know.
In the streets of Marseille, René Allio encounters, once again, the spaces of his childhood, and remembers his family history.
