Auguste Escoffier, a chef, businessman, and genius inventor, changed French culinary arts forever. Director Olivier Julien has retraced the history of this man in touch with his time in a thorough, original docudrama to discover on TV5MONDE USA on October 14. France-Amérique: Did you know about Escoffier before looking deeper into his story? Olivier Julien: I had heard of him,...

Director Olivier Garouste followed the inventor of the red-soled heels as he traveled around the world and prepared his retrospective show, L’Exhibitionniste, through January 3 at the Palais de la Porte Dorée in Paris. The result is a unique new portrait that showcases the designer’s personality and the inner workings of his empire. France-Amérique: What led you to this project?...

He dressed Naomi Campbell, Sharon Stone, and the Beatles. He designed the interior of a famous American sports car, stepped into Buzz Aldrin’s spacesuit, and posed bare-chested on the cover of Time. Pierre Cardin, the all-rounder, the man who was the subject of a remarkable retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum last year, is now the focus of a U.S. documentary,...

What if rock was not born with Elvis Presley, but with Edith Piaf? This is the starting point of the toe-tapping documentary Oh les Filles, presented at Cannes in 2019, which tells the story of French rock through its female leaders from Françoise Hardy to Charlotte Gainsbourg, Vanessa Paradis, Lou Doillon, and Christine & The Queens. Ahead of the broadcast...

Without knowing him, we all recognize his photos of Elvis Presley and John Kennedy. After immigrating to the United States at the age of 17, French photographer Henri Dauman helped develop American photojournalism. A documentary about his singular life, directed by American filmmaker Peter Kenneth Jones, is now streaming on Amazon Prime, iTunes, and  Youtube. Finding himself orphaned after World...

In this autobiographical documentary filmed in 2018, the iconic New Wave director who passed away on March 29 at the age of 90 takes one last look at her life and work. The movie will be released in a selection of American theaters starting on November 22. “I'm disappearing into a blur, I’m leaving you.” These prophetic words accompanied by...

Before being colonized by the Dutch, who renamed it New Amsterdam in 1624, New York was actually called Angoulême. Forgotten by the history books, this homage to King Francis I, Count of Angoulême, was revealed in 1950 in a thesis by historian Jacques Habert. An investigation-style documentary looks back over this French odyssey in America. A former officer from the...

From Marie Antoinette to the Gold Rush and Grace Kelly, the French perfume house Lubin has gone down in history and left its mark on generations of wearers. Produced by Sonia Medina and directed by Myriam Touzé, the documentary Lubin, un parfumeur d’excellence retraces the story of the genius behind the perfumes and explores the rebirth of the brand from...

Just a few miles from Lafayette, Louisiana, six musicians are putting their all into passing down the heritage of the French language and Cajun music. Their band, the Lost Bayou Ramblers, was formed in 1990 by brothers Louis and Andre Michot, and received a 2018 Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album. Director Bruno Doria has made a "rockumentary"...

A documentary aiming to shed light on the Salafist ideology while showing the daily horrors of living under Sharia law in the Sahel region of Africa has caused controversy in France. It was initially banned for anyone under 18, before the age-limit was dropped to under 16s. The polemical movie will be shown in certain cinemas in New York and...

The French director and producer behind nature documentaries Microcosmos and Winged Migration (nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary in 2003) is preparing a new film on the national parks of the great American West. Research has begun in the field and at Stanford University in California. The scouting mission was given to co-director Thierry Machado and Antoine de Cazotte,...

In this documentary made using never-before-seen archive footage, out in the U.S. on November 2, French director Tom Volf pays homage to opera singer Maria Callas, who was born to Greek parents in New York in 1923 and passed away in Paris at the age of 53. The cantatrice who won the hearts of opera enthusiasts and the general public...

A documentary project about the Cajun rock band The Lost Bayou Ramblers has been awarded the French Culture Film Grant by the #CreateLouisiana industry-building initiative and the TV5 Monde television network. “On va continuer !” (We will go on!). These words conclude every concert played by The Lost Bayou Ramblers. The sound of his instrument is still resonating when Louis...

"Fluctuat Nec Mergitur." She is tossed by the waves but doesn't sink. The Paris motto was on everybody’s lips on the day following the terror attacks that killed 130 people on November 13, 2015. This is also the (French) title of a three-part documentary series about the evening, available for streaming on Netflix since June 1. French documentary-making brothers Gédéon...

Frenchman André René Roussimoff was worshipped in the United States as the greatest wrestler in living memory. He passed away in 1993, and remains a figure shrouded in mystery. In an HBO documentary beginning on April 10, American director Jason Hehir offers an intimate portrayal of the man everyone knew as "André the Giant." Twenty-five years following his death, André...

Documentary filmmaker Raymond Depardon gives a voice to people in a psychiatric hospital interned without their consent. The movie shines a light on the line between sanity and madness, and the limits of the justice system. In the past in France, the decision to intern someone against their will was the sole responsibility of a psychiatrist, and was not subject...

Promoting Francophone culture in the United States is the mission of TV5 Monde. And as part of "le Mois de la Francophonie" (French Month) celebrated every March, the channel will be screening a series of documentaries and movies showcasing the diversity of the French language in the United States. Here is our selection. Rendez-vous d’Amérique March 10, 6:25 pm EST...

Five American designers and five French fashion hotshots went head to head for a runway show at the Château de Versailles on November 28, 1973. The event’s objective was to raise money to restore the château, and saw the United States make its grand entrance onto the international fashion scene. "By the time the curtain came down on the evening’s...

Iconic Nouvelle Vague director Agnès Varda recently roamed across France with JR, an artist renowned for his giant, black-and-white photos displayed in public spaces. The resulting poetic road movie received the award for Best Documentary Film at Cannes this year and will come out in U.S. theaters on October 6. “Are you game?” asks JR at the start of the...[Subscriber]

A pair of French teachers have spent two years following the key players in the rebirth of the French language in Louisiana, including teachers, activists, politicians, students and parents. The duo’s resulting documentary, Theo’s Choice, will premiere in Lafayette, Louisiana on January 26, 2018. Théodore Brode is one of the rare French teacher from Louisiana. He is part of the...

Rosé wine has been rising fast in popularity among wine lovers, carving out a place for itself as an equal to white and red wines. The United States, the second largest rosé drinker next to France, has seen an exponential rise in imports of the drink from its birthplace, the region of Provence. Rosé sales have surpassed white wine in...