ARTE Documentaries

With his grizzled moustache and chiselled features, Charles Bronson is the embodiment of virility, the man who exudes an aura of barely suppressed violence, near-animal sexuality, relentless honesty. But who is he really? What is his secret? What is it that men and women, young and old, of all languages, find so fascinating? Often hired to play marginalised Native American or Mexican characters before he was typecast as the image of a lone killer, Bronson was a major figure in the popular cinema of the 1960s and 70s. Charles Bronson's rise to Hollywood stardom may have taken a circuitous route, but his success was clear and in your face. Bronson's penchant to be cast as a lone killer ultimately ended up trapping Bronson in a spiral of typecast roles that brought the actor fame and fortune yet left the actor curiously unfulfilled over time. His enigmatic stone face persona, physical acting and career in Hollywood are worthy of a second look. Known as a revenge-seeking anti-hero who take

For the first time archaeologists from around the world come together in search of funerary sculpted portraits of Palmyra disseminated around the world to recount the story of the ancient city in a way that has never been done before: through the faces of the city's inhabitants. 2000 years ago Palmyra was a flourishing city in the desert and an important trading centre between Europe, the Middle East and Asia. This prosperous past can be seen in the many funerary portraits of Palmyrene citizens made at this time. Today these fascinating works of art are scattered across the globe in public and private collections. Danish archaeologist Rubina Raja wants to catalogue these portraits and hopes to give a better insight into this unique artistic tradition.

Unexpected findings open up a new chapter on Darwin's theory of evolution. In our cities of all places, animals and plants adapt particularly quickly to new living conditions, often in a few decades. The researchers are amazed.

Sur les traces des loups pécheurs, cette race endémique du Canada qui vit au gré des marées.

Nourri par la parole de victimes et par l’éclairage d’experts, un panorama, aussi poignant que documenté, de la série des contaminations qui ont émaillé un siècle de radioactivité dans le monde.

What did the sea mean to the ancient Romans? to the Vikings? How did the Hanseatic League use the North Sea and how do people look at it today, which is now also perceived as a natural space?

After eight years of restoration, The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of painting, has regained its original splendor. Created by Hubert and Jan Van Eyck in 1432, this monumental painting and its troubling realism have never ceased to raise questions until today. Through a spectacular staging and thanks to the interventions of the greatest art historians and artists as prestigious as David Hockney, the film offers a journey to the heart of this revolutionary work, which marks the shift of our civilization towards modernity.