Mysteries in the Archives

The man known in Europe as "Commander Massoud", the military leader of the Afghan resistance against the Soviets and then against the Taliban, was killed in an attack two days before those of September 11, 2001 in the United States. The images of Massoud's funeral in his birthplace in the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul testify to an important day in Afghanistan's recent history. According to Muslim rites, he should have been buried on the day of his death. So why was there a week wait? What was at stake at this funeral? And what was the connection between the attack on Massud and 9/11? Over ten Afghan cameramen filmed the funeral. But who did they work for?

April 1897. For the first time in the history of very young cinema, a cameraman is invited to follow a president on an official trip. When French President Felix Faure arrives in western France after a nine-day journey by ship and train, Charles Moisson captures his performance for eternity. He just has a year of experience behind the camera. His works are called "living photographs", the apparatus is called the cinematograph – an invention of the Lumiere brothers that is captivating more and more people. And the President? Does he understand that his picture is being recorded "in motion"? Has he ever seen "living photographs"? Why did he choose Charles Moisson for this work? And how did it happen that this political event of all things became the subject of one of the first major cinema reports?

Tokyo Bay, Sunday, September 2, 1945, aboard the Missouri, an American warship. Eleven high-ranking Japanese government and army officials are expected. Four weeks earlier, on August 6 and 9, 1945, atomic bombs leveled Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan announced its willingness to lay down its arms. At 9:00 a.m. this morning, Japan is to sign its unconditional surrender. On the deck of the warship, the American General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allies, steps up to the microphone. He had planned the ceremony down to the last detail. An army of military personnel and around 170 cameramen, photographers, radio reporters and journalists had been invited to experience the final moments of World War II up close here in Asia. But suddenly there is unrest, and the ceremony is interrupted shortly before it ends. The Japanese are offended and refuse to accept the document. What happened? Why this sudden refusal?

Flaky and blurry images, which show nothing spectacular. However, the one who is filmed realizes one of the wildest dreams of the 20th century. On Wednesday, April 12, 1961, for the first time, a man traveled into space. He is a Soviet citizen; Name: Yuri Gagarin. Barely four years after the first Sputnik satellite was put into orbit, the cosmonaut's exploit confirms the lead of the Soviets over the Americans. It's a great victory in the space race and, in the middle of the Cold War, it's also tremendous propaganda for the communist regime and a snub for the United States. But how did Yuri Gagarin been chosen? By who ? And why him? Another question: who shot the quantities of footage of Gagarin filmed before the day of the flight and after? After the "Sputnik shock" the USA had to accept another embarrassment. The recovery of the lost film treasures sheds light on how, by whom and why Gagarin was chosen.

Washington, Tuesday, January 20, 1981 at about noon. Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the 40th President of the United States of America on the terrace of the Capitol. On the same day, the release of 52 Americans, who had been held hostage for 444 days in Tehran by students and accomplices of Ayatollah Khomeini, ended the most serious US foreign policy crisis since the Vietnam War. The release was no mere coincidence. The US media reported the failed release affair around the clock, which had put a lot of pressure on Jimmy Carter in the last months of his tenure and destroyed his chances of re-election. But how exactly did the hostages return at such a special time as the change of president? And how was the release portrayed in the country's media?

On November 11, 1918 at dawn, the armistice marking the end of the fighting in the First World War was signed between Germany and the victorious Allies. But in France as in England, the news is not announced until 11 am sharp. The devastating First World War had lasted 1,560 days when, on November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m. sharp, church bells rang all over France. They announced the armistice signed at dawn between Germany and the victorious Allies. On the other side of the Atlantic, the armistice was celebrated a little earlier due to the time difference. As in New York and Washington, numerous cameras in Paris and London captured the cheering on the streets for eternity. But were these victory celebrations really that spontaneous, or were they staged? Were reporters free to choose where to film and show what they wanted? On whose behalf were they working? Has the censorship that prevailed during the war already been lifted?

Sunday, December 4, 1977 in Bangui, Central African Republic. His Majesty Jean-Bedel Bokassa I crowns himself and, a few moments later, crowns his wife according to a staging directly inspired by the coronation of his favorite emperor: Napoleon I. The coronation of Bokassa I was a spectacle the likes of which had not been seen in Africa. Floor-length, ermine-trimmed coats, magnificently dressed riders in hussar uniforms and rides through the capital in imperial horse-drawn carriages – the backdrop and costumes of this outrageous spectacle had nothing in common with African tradition. Of course, the press had been invited to follow everything, but numerous foreign dignitaries had also accepted the invitation. Despite Bokassa's distrust of the media, the streets were lined with foreign reporters. How were they chosen? Could cameramen and photographers move freely? Which of the invited emperors, kings and queens, heads of state, prime ministers attended the festivities?

Germany, April 1945. When the Nazi camps were liberated during the final offensive launched against the German Army, the Allies discovered with horror multiple mass graves and a few starving survivors. A few days before the end of the war, Allied troops advancing on the western front liberate numerous labor and concentration camps - and show the whole world the horrific evidence of Nazi terror. The discovery of the Polish death camps of Majdanek and Auschwitz by Soviet soldiers in July 1944 and January 1945 had hardly caused a stir among the Allies. It was only when the Americans discovered the German camps in Ohrdruf, Buchenwald and Dachau that the full extent of Nazi cruelty was revealed. As an immediate reaction, the three Allied generals made the following three decisions: the immediate and comprehensive documentation of the atrocities the confrontation of the German population with the Nazi crimes the inspection of the camps by other politicians.

We are in February1945 on the southernmost tip of Ukraine, the Crimean Peninsula. War is still raging in Europe. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and United States President Franklin Roosevelt left London and Washington D.C. in the greatest secrecy. They go to a summit meeting with Joseph Stalin, the man at the head of the USSR. In a palace near the seaside resort of Yalta, the three heads of state allied against Nazi Germany discuss how to end the war and how to prepare for the time that follows. Before one of the last talks, the politicians pose with big smiles for photographers and cameramen to capture this moment of – at least officially – perfect unity forever. But were they really able to overcome their different interests and come to an agreement? Why did they decide to have a secret meeting in the furthest corner of Europe, where the press was not allowed?

A new issue dedicated to the very controversial Olympic Games opened by Hitler. Saturday, August 1, 1936, in Berlin. In the modern, monumental Berlin sports stadium, which can accommodate 100,000 people, Chancellor Adolf Hitler opens the 11th modern Summer Olympics, officially called "Games of the XI Olympiad". Never have there been so many participating countries and athletes despite the many protest movements and calls for a boycott, especially in the United States. How were the black American athletes, whose achievements were particularly eagerly awaited, received in the racist totalitarian regime? What importance did Hitler and other leading Nazis attach to these games? What means of propaganda did they use and how did they use the media? And under what conditions were the foreign journalists allowed to report on the major sporting event?