Pierre Carles

The roundabout in Aimargues is one of the first emblematic places of the Yellow Vests’ movement, the symbol of an outlier France. The story of this mobilisation is told through nothing more than the images they shot with their mobile phones.

The former shepherd, Jean Lassalle, decides to run in the presidential election. Neither one nor two, Pierre Carles and Philippe Lespinasse, two filmmakers labeled left, but a bit politically lost, decide to take action: They proclaim themselves his campaign advisers, with the secret ambition to reveal his true nature, that of an anti capitalist revolutionary, lost among the centrists for 30 years.

Since 2007 in Ecuador, Rafael Correa's government has refused to pay a part of the public debt, recovered sovereignty over the country's natural resources, defying multinationals. Thanks to redistribution policies, poverty and inequality have been greatly reduced while the middle class has doubled in eight years. Wildly enthusiastic, Pierre Carles, Nina Faure, and their team land in this new Eldorado. But upon their arrival, the populace takes to the streets, in a state of unrest. By traveling throughout this country in turmoil, our two directors learn different, sometimes conflicting lessons : one would like for Correa to come and straighten out France, the other questions the need for a 'right man for the job' kind of leader.

The french mainstream media ignored the last visit in Paris of the leftist Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. It's however this small country of Latin America, Equator, that serves as a model for Greek activists who are taking part in Syriza party or for non-orthodox economists from the spanish movement Podemos in order to solve the issue concerning the public debt. The Correa government declared a part of this debt « illegitimate » to implement public investment, and social inequalities reduction policies.

The french mainstream media ignored the last visit in Paris of the leftist Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. It's however this small country of Latin America, Equator, that serves as a model for Greek activists who are taking part in Syriza party or for non-orthodox economists from the spanish movement Podemos in order to solve the issue concerning the public debt. The Correa government declared a part of this debt « illegitimate » to implement public investment, and social inequalities reduction policies.

Pierre Carles questions the privatization of the leading French televisions channel : is it not scandalous that the TFI-Bouygues concession has been automatically renewed since 1987 ? Taking up the anti-television fight he initiated with "Pas vu Pas pris", his first film, he confronts the people responsible for the news who have always avoided tackling this taboo subject. But the investigation does not go as planned : the old dinosaurs and young guardians now how to handle this media critic. To find his "fighting spirit" again, Carles calls to arms his friends and changes methods : Henceforth, no more concessions !

Pierre Carles questions the privatization of the leading French televisions channel : is it not scandalous that the TFI-Bouygues concession has been automatically renewed since 1987 ? Taking up the anti-television fight he initiated with "Pas vu Pas pris", his first film, he confronts the people responsible for the news who have always avoided tackling this taboo subject. But the investigation does not go as planned : the old dinosaurs and young guardians now how to handle this media critic. To find his "fighting spirit" again, Carles calls to arms his friends and changes methods : Henceforth, no more concessions !

Georges Bernier, alias Professor Choron, died January 10, 2005. He was 75 years old. The few death notices that appeared in the French press mainly focused on the scatological nature of his humor, or on the good man's provocative side. No one recalled the essential, which was that with his passing not only had one of the great proprietors of the French press disappeared, but he'd taken with him an artist in his own right, quite unique in his own way : Professor Choron.

Georges Bernier, alias Professor Choron, died January 10, 2005. He was 75 years old. The few death notices that appeared in the French press mainly focused on the scatological nature of his humor, or on the good man's provocative side. No one recalled the essential, which was that with his passing not only had one of the great proprietors of the French press disappeared, but he'd taken with him an artist in his own right, quite unique in his own way : Professor Choron.

Georges Bernier, alias Professor Choron, died January 10, 2005. He was 75 years old. The few death notices that appeared in the French press mainly focused on the scatological nature of his humor, or on the good man's provocative side. No one recalled the essential, which was that with his passing not only had one of the great proprietors of the French press disappeared, but he'd taken with him an artist in his own right, quite unique in his own way : Professor Choron.

In this economic war, promised to us many years ago and which advances like bulldozer, does there still exist a surge of imagination offering resistance ? Ordered to choose between the breadcrumbs of precarious employment and the meager charity still offered by the system, some abandon the society of consumption to claim back their lives. “Neither exploitation nor handouts!” many of them exclaim. They’ve chosen another path, that of autonomy, of consciously choosing to undertake certain activities, and of uniting together with other like-minded people.

In this economic war, promised to us many years ago and which advances like bulldozer, does there still exist a surge of imagination offering resistance ? Ordered to choose between the breadcrumbs of precarious employment and the meager charity still offered by the system, some abandon the society of consumption to claim back their lives. “Neither exploitation nor handouts!” many of them exclaim. They’ve chosen another path, that of autonomy, of consciously choosing to undertake certain activities, and of uniting together with other like-minded people.

In this economic war, promised to us many years ago and which advances like bulldozer, does there still exist a surge of imagination offering resistance ? Ordered to choose between the breadcrumbs of precarious employment and the meager charity still offered by the system, some abandon the society of consumption to claim back their lives. “Neither exploitation nor handouts!” many of them exclaim. They’ve chosen another path, that of autonomy, of consciously choosing to undertake certain activities, and of uniting together with other like-minded people.

Pierre Carles and Georges Minangoy go to meet former French and Catalan partisans engaged in the anti-Franco anarchist struggle of the 1970s.

Pierre Carles and Georges Minangoy go to meet former French and Catalan partisans engaged in the anti-Franco anarchist struggle of the 1970s.

Pierre Carles and Georges Minangoy go to meet former French and Catalan partisans engaged in the anti-Franco anarchist struggle of the 1970s.

Dos vecinos viven uno frente a otro sobre un camino rural en algún sitio en el norte de Francia. Se odian mutuamente y la vida para ellos es nada más que una dolorosa confrontación diaria. Un día, durante el transcurso de una violenta discusión, un remolque agrícola los atropella y les envía al hospital. Al cabo del tiempo, ambos personajes dejan la clínica en silla de ruedas, paralizados de la cintura para abajo. Desechando la idea del suicidio, cada uno de ellos decide embarcarse y emprender un viaje personal. Sin embargo, antes de que lo sepan, ambos terminan en la misma estación de ferrocarril esperando el mismo tren... Vecinos otra vez, para mejor o para peor... Comienza una odisea imprevisible, llevándolos hacia Finlandia, donde pretenden obtener una compensación económica por parte de los fabricantes de la maquinaria agrícola responsable de su accidente.

With the energy of the dying, those in power apply themselves to reasserting the value of work – with force, if need be. But more and more workers have understood that, to truly value their work, they have to do without it. They also have to get rid of the society of consumption that goes along with it. It may not be easy, but it is certainly amusing. We present a panorama of a mass desertion destined to spread.

Pierre Carles, the dispenser of justice seen in “Pas vu, pas pris,” is back in the saddle. After attacking French television star reporters, his new target is television critics as represented by Daniel Schneidermann, host of the "Arrêt sur images" show. “Enfin pris ?” analyzes censure at work in television. It is also a thought-provoking look at how power changes people and the intimate forces between ambition and loyalty. A cruel, biting comedy from which no one really comes out unscathed.

Pierre Carles, the dispenser of justice seen in “Pas vu, pas pris,” is back in the saddle. After attacking French television star reporters, his new target is television critics as represented by Daniel Schneidermann, host of the "Arrêt sur images" show. “Enfin pris ?” analyzes censure at work in television. It is also a thought-provoking look at how power changes people and the intimate forces between ambition and loyalty. A cruel, biting comedy from which no one really comes out unscathed.

Pierre Carles, the dispenser of justice seen in “Pas vu, pas pris,” is back in the saddle. After attacking French television star reporters, his new target is television critics as represented by Daniel Schneidermann, host of the "Arrêt sur images" show. “Enfin pris ?” analyzes censure at work in television. It is also a thought-provoking look at how power changes people and the intimate forces between ambition and loyalty. A cruel, biting comedy from which no one really comes out unscathed.

"I often say sociology is a martial art, a means of self-defence. Basically, you use it to defend yourself, without having the right to use it for unfair attacks." (Pierre Bourdieu) The world has witnesses who speak out loud what others keep to themselves. They are neither gurus, nor masters, but those who consider that the city and the world can be thought out. The sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu is one such witness." Over a three- year period, Pierre Carles' camera followed him through different situations: a short conversation with Günter Grass, a lively conference with the inhabitants of a working-class suburb, his relations with his students and colleagues and his plea that sociology be part of the life of the city. His thinking has a sort of familiarity, which means it is always within our reach. It is the thinking of a French intellectual who has chosen to think his times.

"Pas vu, pas pris" starts with a subject filmed 2 years ago ; ordered then forbidden to broadcasting by Canal + : it was "Pas vu à la télé". Bernard Benyamin, Henri de Virieux, Patrick de Carolis, Anne Sinclair, Charles Villeneuve (amongst others) appear before the candid camera of Pierre Carles, for once subjected to an investigation that concerns their profession. After proclaiming that there is no taboo subject on television, they discover a pirate document showing Étienne Moujeotte and François Léotard in a business discussion about the destinies of TF1. Question asked : would they have agreed to broadcast this document and if not, why not ? The investigation itself is objectively searching : anything can be said on TV except one thing, the more or less close collusion of journalists and the political powers. Pierre Carles gives us a sharp reflection on the scope of this "fourth power" that the media have become, and on the compromises of those who are its masters.

"Pas vu, pas pris" starts with a subject filmed 2 years ago ; ordered then forbidden to broadcasting by Canal + : it was "Pas vu à la télé". Bernard Benyamin, Henri de Virieux, Patrick de Carolis, Anne Sinclair, Charles Villeneuve (amongst others) appear before the candid camera of Pierre Carles, for once subjected to an investigation that concerns their profession. After proclaiming that there is no taboo subject on television, they discover a pirate document showing Étienne Moujeotte and François Léotard in a business discussion about the destinies of TF1. Question asked : would they have agreed to broadcast this document and if not, why not ? The investigation itself is objectively searching : anything can be said on TV except one thing, the more or less close collusion of journalists and the political powers. Pierre Carles gives us a sharp reflection on the scope of this "fourth power" that the media have become, and on the compromises of those who are its masters.