Pierre-Henry Salfati
A documentary about Robert Redford directed by Pierre-Henry Salfati.
Auguste Lumière directs four workers in the demolition of an old wall at the Lumière factory. One worker is pressing the wall inwards with a jackscrew, while another is pushing it with a pick. When the wall hits the ground, a cloud of white dust whirls up. Three workers continue the demolition of the wall with picks.
Hailed in France as a national treasure, Serge Gainsbourg was beloved both for his music and for being the country’s favorite ’enfant terrible’. This poetic documentary presents Gainsbourg entirely in his own words, accompanied by carefully selected archival footage, including musical performances and Gainsbourg’s previously unreleased personal films.
The life of the Jewish jazz musician Eddie Rosner, who fled Nazi Germany and settled in Russia, only to be arrested and imprisoned there after the war.
In the 18th century, English aristocrats had, among their better known strange customs, one really strange one: they kept "ornamental hermits" for their gardens. These were actual people who were willing to live in squalid conditions and serve as something like museum exhibits for the amusement of the wealthy. This movie takes that notion and transfers it to 18th century France. In the story, an English hermit Rupert Everett) has somehow been brought to France in the period following the French Revolution, and prior to the Napoleonic Era, a period (1795-1799) known as "The Directory." He eventually comes down out of his tree into a chateau owned by an Italian nobleman (Ugo Tognazzi) and his wife. Before long, the hermit has washed and bathed and become quite presentable, even charming. However, his appearance in their midst is like a sentence of death for many of those who associate with him.
Filmmaker Pierre-Henry Salfati (Gainsbourg by Gainsbourg) offers an accessible and eloquent introduction to the life and ideas of Martin Buber, one of the most influential modern Jewish philosophers and a contemporary of Albert Einstein, Franz Kafka and Theodor Herzl. As an ardent Zionist, Buber’s vision for the Jewish state and its peaceful coexistence with its neighbours was one of humanism and socialism.
