Documentaries
GIRL CULTURE
They are 13 years old. They enter the 8th grade, and will go through a year filled with « first times »: boys, hormones, the changing body. Who are these young girls from high school? What do they do, what do they talk about, what do they dream about? Girl culture is the chronicle of these teenagers...
The Summer Street Traders
With their patter and their gift of the gab, they sell products with revolutionary promises... The stars of the holiday season, they’re known as street vendors, hucksters, pedlars or hawkers. There are more than 30,000 of them in France. In the winter, they work the fairs; in the summer, the markets...
Cafés in Peril: the Villages Fight Back
Bars and cafés are an institution in France. But over the years, their popularity has waned and their number has fallen from 200,000 in the 1960s to about 35,000 today. The reason: high costs and too few customers.
The closure of a café, which enables social contact, encourages a sense of communi...
OLD BUSINESSES REFUSING TO SHUT UP SHOP
Despite the stranglehold of the internet, the proliferation of supermarkets, the desertification of town centres and the gradual loss of interest in local shops, some of France's oldest businesses are still managing to survive.
At the head of these establishments, the ever-vanishing reminders of ...
One Summer in a Holiday Club
Every year, 1.5 million French people choose to spend their holidays in clubs, where everything - accommodation, catering and entertainment - is included. There are dozens of different options in this market, from small family-run businesses to giant clubs that sometimes cater for more than 1000 hol...
Revenge of the Charcutiers
After the numerous health controversies that have hit the ham and sausage industry, it’s easy to imagine that traditional pork butchers are now on the verge of bankruptcy. At the centre of the debate: nitrite, the additive that gives ham its pink colour and allows products to keep longer.
Fifty g...
Welcome To Auntie – The Crédit Municipal
In a gloomy economic climate, the end of the month can be a difficult time for many people, and some have no other option than to part with their personal belongings.
This is why, since 1637, a socially responsible public institution has been coming to the aid of those in urgent need of cash: the...
Everyone’s a Winner
Standing on the highest step of the podium, holding up a trophy, proudly displaying a gold medal... As children, many people dreamed of being champions, and some have never given up hope of becoming the best in their category.
You don't have to be a great athlete to reach the top. There are as ma...
Home-party selling: a booming business
With or without a diploma, young or old, in the city or the countryside, anyone can have their own home-party selling business. This system of direct selling was created in the 1960s in the United States, and in recent years has seen a resurgence in France. For some, it's a way of supplementing thei...