Society

What is happening in Europe in the name of the troika? A must-see for anyone who wants to understand the situation in Greece. The European Union and International Monetary Fund have lent more than 400 billion Euros to Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus to keep these countries solvent. The lenders granted enormous power to the three institutions of the so called troika: the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Commission. Without any public accountability, the troika is forcing the crisis states to implement policies that are tearing the social fabric of their countries apart. German journalist and best-selling author Harald Schumann travelled to Athens, Lisbon, Dublin, Nicosia, Brussels, Washington, New York and London, in order to find out who has actually benefited from austerity measures. He puts this question to ministers, parliamentarians, economists, bankers, doctors and also to the victims of these policies, the unemployed and the ill. Among the many people we meet are Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, IMF Director Paulo Batista and Yanis Varoufakis, the newly elected Greek finance minister. Schumann's revelations are often devastating

What's happening because of the Troika across Europe? A must-see for anyone who wants to understand the situation in Greece. The European Union and International Monetary Fund have lent more than 400 billion Euros to Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus to keep these countries solvent. The lenders granted enormous power to the three institutions of the so called troika: the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Commission. Without any public accountability, the troika is forcing the crisis states to implement policies that are tearing the social fabric of their countries apart. German journalist and best-selling author Harald Schumann travelled to Athens, Lisbon, Dublin, Nicosia, Brussels, Washington, New York and London, in order to find out who has actually benefited from austerity measures. He puts this question to ministers, parliamentarians, economists, bankers, doctors and also to the victims of these policies, the unemployed and the ill. Among the many people we meet are Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, IMF Director Paulo Batista and Yanis Varoufakis, the newly elected Greek finance minister. Schumann’s revelations are often devastating and shocking. Given

What is happening inside Iran? What became of the green movement? While reformists seem removed from the political scene, what do the Iranians want for the future of their country? What have become of the aspirations of thousands of Iranian men and women who revolted against an oppressive regime, only to be bloodily suppressed? Without necessarily questioning the notion of an Islamic republic, they just want to make their country a little more democratic. Have their hopes fizzled out? On this particular journey we have special access to insiders, allowing us to measure how things are bubbling in a country where nearly 70% of the population is under 25, where the youth and their thirst for freedom threaten to boil over. Documentary from the series "I Love Democracy" Director: Barbara Necek Length: 48' Year: 2013 Producer: Daniel Leconte

"We thought we were going to attend a U.N. meeting and we witnessed a racist hate fest instead". Anti-Semitic slogans, flyers praising Hitler to come back from the dead, fundamentalist propaganda etc. These are images that have haunted many NGOs since the 2001 Durban Conference in South Africa. It all happened a week before 9/11. As the United States waged war against terrorism and deserted UN regulations, Asian and African states took hold of the majority in the new Human Rights Council created in 2006. For the first time, a documentary explains the inner workings of Geneva’s UN premises. The documentary seeks to get to the bottom of what became of the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights. What we discover there seems very far from the miraculous consensus orchestrated by Eleanor Roosevelt 60 years ago. Nowadays, the Council hosts a direct confrontation between two visions of the world. Dictatorships and authoritarian states lecturing the few democracies present in the Assembly. As Robert Badinter - the father of death penalty’s abolition in France - puts it: "the question of human

What if « too much news killed the news »: today thousands of websites and thousands of blogs immediately spread the slightest rumor whether it talks about terrorist attacks, epidemic disease, conspiracy or anti-Semitism… the worst accusations, the worst excesses are now being magnified, misquoted and distorted by the Internet and its unregulated distribution of information. In these confusing times, the opinion of a militant ends up having the same value as the opinion of an expert. We now live in a world surrounded by rumor. This film dissects the dictatorship of rumors and points out the excesses of this infernal news machine. The Internet is the ideal place to spread the rumors. International rumors are globalized thanks to the Internet, a powerful tool. If the idea of disinformation is not a new thing, there was a need for costly means before it caught on. Today thanks to the Internet, any dictatorship can convey its ideas without any cost. But most rumors can be found in the alternative press, that is to say a press which is not kept under

When we think of Cuba, our minds land on Havana or the country's folklore. There is, however, a deeply controversial and complex political history behind Cuba's current situation today, especially since Fidel's brother Raul took the reigns. As the country’s general elections are heating up, this film, which takes the form of a road movie, allows us to travel across the island. A journey made at a key moment, as the debate surrounding post-Castro Cuba is more prevalent than ever before; Raul Castro himself has declared, “The country must change to avoid sinking.” It has indeed been a year since Cubans started being able to work for their own bread. Another proof of the “revolution” prompted by Raul Castro, Fidel’s brother and heir to his throne, is enabling his fellow citizens to legally acquire and sell their homes or even their vehicles. What impact does that hold upon the daily lives of Cubans? From Santiago de Cuba, the nation’s second most important city and starting point to its “revolutionary pathway”, we’ll be meeting a hairdresser who has just began working

On Nov. 4, Americans elect Barack Obama, a president who campaigned on global warming and the urgent need to act. Immediately, his administration sets up the "Green New Deal," a huge green energy initiative. America, the world's largest consumer of energy, is the worst polluter in the world... so does that mean they now are entering a new era? Sales of hybrid cars take off, wind farms and solar panels flourish throughout the country. Nike, Lewis, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Walmart: all large U.S. companies communicate their desire to reduce their "carbon footprint". Has America become green? This film investigates on the "Greening" of the USA. Original title: In green we trust Documentary from 2009

This documentary is a log-book of our crossing of the United States of America, few months before the Midterm elections of Barack Obama’s presidency. Our trip took us from the Gulf of Mexico at the worst time of the BP’s oil spill to the city of Chicago, home of President Obama. We tried to see what was left of the hope, dreams and great enthusiasm raised by his historical election. During our journey to the heart of the United States, we met with the man of the street and local personalities: fishermen affected by the oil spill, opponents to Obama’s Health Reform, fans of the president, close collaborators, disappointed supporters… Their testimonies are raw and honest, touching and profound, sometimes violent. One thing is sure: if Obama is the coolest president abroad, he remains a controversial figure in his own country. Original title: United States of Obama Director: Franck Guerin & Emmanuel Leconte Duration: 53' Year: 2010 Producer: Daniel Leconte

Turkey is stating as a model to be followed by the new Arab regimes, a model of democracy and secularism in the Muslim world. It is this Turkey, Muslim and modern that we will discover and query in this roadmap. The road movie will take us from Gaziantep, on the Syrian border, which represents the new Turkey AKP, liberal and Muslim, shown as a democratic model for the Arab world, to Diyarbakir in the center of a forgotten Kurdish region, to Ankara the capital which embodies the secular and Republican legacy of Ataturk, and Istanbul the sublime, between the East and the West, between modernity and tradition. These steps and sequences (indicative) were selected to highlight the following issues: Did the AKP, Islamist and Liberal, invented a true Muslim and secular democracy? Is this a model applicable to the Arab countries? What about freedom of expression? What about democracy when 101 journalists are in jail and 2/3 are Kurdish? (China comes in second position with 35 journalists imprisoned) Is Turkey a bridge between Europe, the Caucasus and Asia, or a

HIV will probably remain in the history of medicine as one of his greatest successes. Cause of a real slaughter in the 80s and the first half of the 90s, more and more doctors do not hesitate to talk about HIV as a chronic disease. If there is no cure for HIV, tritherapies, available since 1996 and continually improved, allow today to live with it: HIV is no longer synonymous with AIDS, more than 80% of patients are in treatment success; it's more than diabetes. Today HIV-positive parents can give birth to an HIV-negative child. But all is not rosy because HIV remains a social and cultural taboo and talk about their HIV status remains very difficult for the virus carriers. Beyond treatments, living with HIV is to live differently love, sex, and ones relationship to others. The promise of a vaccine being constantly postponed: what solutions to finally can talk about the end of AIDS? What preventive implement to make it effective? This film will report on the strong medical advances today and will investigate on the successes but

Internet is a new Eldorado for teenagers, whether they want to enjoy themselves, chat up or become a star. Welcome to the new "teen world", where one seems to be more comfortable with the digital jungle than with real life. To better understand this silent revolution going on among teenagers. Director : Stéphanie Kaim Duration : 48' Year : 2006 Producer : Daniel Leconte

Why does the universe even bother existing? Why is earth so unique? Why are we here? The scientific explanation of our surroundings and of our origins is probably one of the main achievements of our times. We can trace back our history up until the very first nanoseconds of the Big Bang! It is the same adventure that has started with the expansion of the universe and gave us birth: we descend from apes and bacteria but also from comets and galaxies: we literary originate from stardust! The movie is articulated around the three enigmas of origins: the vertiginous emergence of our universe, the very unlikely apparition of life and the extremely lucky origins of humankind. Each moment of this fascinating story will be told by a famous scientist specialized on the origins of the world that is around us: Pascal Picq, Hubert Reeves, Sylvie Vauclair and Jim Peebles. We will investigate in scientific sites related to each of these enigmas: we will go up to the Peak du Midi – the highest observatory in Europe; we will search the

American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon became the basis for one of the biggest conspiracy theories born after September 11: for the authors, no plane ever crashed into the Pentagon, it was a missile that struck, with no trace of any plane crash. Considered to be the largest "disinformation machine" to grow out of the tragedy.As part of the 10th memorial of September 11th, the objective of this film is not to revisit the logic of the conspiracy but rather cut the conspiracy right in its tracks by going back to basics of the actual events that unfolded that day... investigating the facts, tracing the timeline of the tragic morning of Tuesday, September 11th. There will also be an effort to understand the purely American point of view on this event and, why, the information gathered from the investigation left so many questions unanswered. It will be largely based on witnesses of several family members of victims. The youngest victim was 3 years old; the oldest was 71 years...The film will simply concentrate on that fateful tragic

Greece is bankrupt. And its failure could also have severe repercussions for all of the euro zone countries. With Parliamentary elections scheduled for late April, we invite you to lay witness to history in the making. And as with the other episodes in this series, this documentary will take you on a journey that goes from deep in the countryside, all the way into the center of the capital. We'll test the temperature in the remote areas of the country and hear what the Greek citizens of the heartland have to say during this critical moment in their country's history. So how are people getting on in a country reeling from financial ruin? From there, we'll head to the capital, Athens, where we will ask the political leaders of Greece how the country found itself in such an untenable situation, with respect to its people but also with its European partners. On the eve of a crucial election, how can we trust a political class that has driven an entire nation into the abyss? Can people still believe in the

Gone are the days of the lone starry-eyed hackers in search of glory and self-satisfaction. Today hackers have become veritable covert foot soldiers of the state, leading the wars of tomorrow. They are put to work in ultra secret quarters, backed by budgets that exceed hundreds of millions of dollars. Wars that were once waged by land, sea, and air have now entered a new dimension: cyberspace... it's a global war that will forever change the landscape of the world. Wall Street (USA), Canada, France had been confronted with it.This film tells of this underground war, which is redrawing the contours of our future. We'll get an upfront look at the Stuxnet cyber attack which severely undermined the Iranian nuclear program, probably carried out by Israel, Russia's botnet war waged against Estonia and Georgia ... unleashing a network of hundreds of thousands of hacked computers around the world, and the brewing cyber cold war between the United States and China – full of offensives and counter offensives … A U.S. national security official explains how the Chinese have implemented "cyber

Today Islam becomes more radical and sometimes increasingly aggressive. Women are often the first victims of this radicalization. It constitutes a paradox for a religion which has dealt with beauty, sensuality and sexuality over centuries. This film directed by a woman from Algerian descent explores the relationship between the Prophet Mahomed and women. This film voluntarily promotes an «Enlightened Islam » that talks about love, passion and pleasure. The story of the Prophet is that of an open-minded, sensitive and tolerant man who has always loved women: a storyline very different from the Muslim hard-liners’ narrative that we too often hear today. This film will shatter every preconceived idea on Islam and the life of Prophet Mohamed. Director : Lila Salmi & Malek Chebel Author : Malek Chebel & Lila Salmi Length : 52' Year : 2007 Producer : Daniel Leconte

The successor of Mao in 1975, Deng Xiaoping is the architect of China’s economic miracle. He pursued ruthless capitalism under communist rule. Today, Deng’s version of socialism has forced the rest of the world to sit up and take note of China as a major economic power. Who was this man who preferred pragmatism versus ideology? What forged his personality while growing up? Who gave him strength to accomplish his destiny? Director : Barbara Necek Length : 50 ' Year : 2007 Producer : Daniel Leconte

Though it doesn't offer a holistically chronological breakdown of his life, this film seeks to explore Boris Yeltsin's political mind through first-hand accounts and perspectives, including those of the following: Alante Alfanderi, a Lithuanian director, who owes in part her freedom to the decisive action of Boris Yeltsin in the independence process of her country; Daniel Leconte who has attentively observed the Russian regime for more than twenty years. The film starts in Sverdlovsk in the 1930s and ends in 1989 when Eltsine won the first democratic elections of post-communist Russia. Through a search of Yeltsin’s background this film discovers the sources of a historical destiny and outlines the keys to an uncommon political behavior. In short, this film looks for an answer to the enigmatic nature of Eltsine. For better or worse, how did Eltsine become the founding father of Russian democracy? Based on the evidence of Boris Yeltsin’s close circle Naïma his wife, Gorbachev, etc., the film takes us through Eltsine’s career from his native Sverdlovsk to Moscow.

For years, Juan Carlos was a hero in his country. He remains an icon for the Spanish people, the living embodiment of the democratic transition and the face of Franco-released Spain. How was he able to become the ardent defender of democracy? How has he been able to form this progressive political ideal? Why did he believe in democracy at a time when few did? Or has he simply sought to remain on the throne at all costs, knowing that only a softening of the regime would allow this? This documentary attempts to answer these questions by analyzing his journey from childhood to the coup of 1981. (This film is part of the series "Education of a Leader" 6x52 ') Director: Daniel Leconte & Elisabeth Lodano Duration: 50 ' Year: 2008 Producer Daniel Leconte