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The passage

The Yucatan. A tiny corner of the world bathed by the oceans. A land of crystal clear waters and dense jungle linked by hitherto unexplored subterranean networks. The cradle of the Mayan civilisation and the point of impact of the Chicxulub meteorite, which is said to be the cause of the disappearance of the dinosaurs. To explore this land so steeped in history and discover its secrets: one man. The body of an athlete. An intense, hybrid character, with powers of adaptation beyond the norm: Guillaume Nery. Five times world champion for constant weight free diving. Astride the frontier of environments, half-man, half-fish, moving with equal delight over land or under the sea, he is constantly pushing the boundaries of his physical capacity to further his desire for exploration and, in the water, his quest for a unique form of beauty. It is in this surreal environment that Guillaume will attempt a rare performance with the promise of previously unseen images: a free dive into the heart of a legendary cenote. - Highly Commended Diploma of the Jury of the 11th Matsalu Nature Film Festival 2013 - Winner of the Best Cinematography Award and the Special Mention of the Public at the Paftachov Festival 2013 in Czech Republic - Winner of the Special Mention of the Jury at the European Underwater and Environment Film Festival of Strasbourg 2013 - Winner of the Special Mention of the Jury at the Festival of Antibes 2012 - Winner of the Special Mention of the Jury and the Public Choice Award at the Toulon Film Festival 2012 - Winner of the Special Mention of the Jury at the Marseille Underwater Film Festival 2012

The SPA boom

Massage with chocolate or spices, anti-stress cure, balneotherapy, grape seed modelling… the well-being and Spa market is booming. For the millions who now frequent these establishments, whether in France, or Bali or New York, the quest is the same: take care of yourself, give yourself a magical break, a few moments of happiness. Considered an extravagance only a few years ago, the Spa is now an obvious choice. To make a go of it you have to invest, innovate and know how to make that difference. Hotels get a makeover, new qualifications are created and the result is that clients, of all ages, fight to get in. With growth of 30% per annum, designer Spas may soon attract as many devotees in our stressful, bustling cities as the Roman baths did in Antiquity.

Alexandra Cousteau faces the sharks

Polynesia, in search of sharks… Alexandra Cousteau takes us to a dream destination. In this paradise on Earth more than anywhere else, urgent action is needed to save sharks, as they are crucial links in the marine ecosystem. With Alexandra our ambition is to measure the scale of the damage done but also put the spotlight on the people who are taking action and to look at solutions for the future.

The new luxury trades

1210… that’s the number of billionaires in the world in 2011… and that number is rising every day… In order to assist them in their excesses, some people have invented new trades to fulfil their expectations… Such as creating tailor-made perfume for $60.000… or running agencies that specialize in personal assistants, 24/7

The unsilent world

If you listen to “The World of Silence” with the super-powered ear of a marine mammal, you are immediately drowned in growling, groaning, wailing and whistling. In this world where vision is limited to twenty metres, everything is communicated by sound… a world that is one hundred times louder than a tropical forest. So imagine two dolphins in conversation: “Pikuit to Stuito”… “Pikuit to Stuito”… “Let’s go and fish at the same rock as yesterday!” “Stuito to Pikuit!”… “I’ll go ahead and I’ll send you the radar image!” It sounds like science fiction! And yet it’s totally real… As you will discover from the many experiments conducted “in the field” for “The Unsilent World” in Hawaii, Honduras and Florida by the foremost experts on whales and dolphins! It also explains how whales can converse at a distance of 4,000 kilometres… and much, much more! But beware! Danger! From the snowstorms of the Arctic Ocean to the naval base of La Spezia in Italy, we discover that the most sinister of pollutions is under way. Invisible, unknown to the general public, it is about to render this world mute. The 50,000 props of cargo ships Wildlife that permanently criss-cross the planet, the underwater seismic searches for oil that bombard the oceans’ floors with explosions twice as loud as a jet fighter taking off and, even worse, the low-frequency sonar used by NATO in the hunt of submarines, of which a single blast can “empty” a zone of 100,000 km2 of its inhabitants… are but the initial examples of the noises that these “sonar” animals are subjected to everyday. If this inferno of noise continues, then… no longer able to communicate or guide themselves, marine mammals will be forever condemned to wander where chance takes them in the permanent fog of the oceans! An inevitable decline! A revelation! Winner of the Dimitri Rebikoff Prize for Innovation at the Marseille underwater Film Festival 2012

Track: underwater feasts

Every year, Rob Torelli, famed spear fisherman from Melbourne, Australia, prepares for the opening of the abalone fishing season. In October the pressure mounts. He has to confront an obstacle of considerable size: the great white shark. Sabine is getting ready to join him, to share this unique and perilous moment. A few months later and a mere few cables lengths away, a fascinating spectacle is played out in secret below the water. Dozens, then hundreds and finally thousands of crabs gather together to assure their mutation. Sabine takes up a new challenge: make the rendezvous for this magical and exceptional event…

When the mermaids are singing

Inoffensive and difficult to observe, dugongs are mysterious creatures. Although often described as unsightly, a number of myths and legends are attached to them, earning them the name of Sirenian. Little known to humans, the mermaid of the sea is now an endangered species. However, contact with fishermen and Torres Straits Islanders has helped us to understand their ancestral practices and the reasons why they continue ritual hunting. With some gripping contributions from scientists, this documentary is a beautiful story that turns the myth into reality.

In the eye of the crocodile

In Madagascar, the tiny village of Ambalavuntaka lives in fear of killer crocodiles. For eight years, one or more creatures have been circling this tiny peninsula, isolated in the middle of the Pangalanes canal in the East of the country and each day they bring terror. In the last few years, five people have been eaten. As the canal is the only source of water, it’s impossible to lead a normal life… washing up, bathing or simply crossing the canal - all these simple, everyday acts have become a bold and risky adventure. They have stopped counting the number of cattle and poultry that have disappeared, victims of these fearsome predators. Too poor to buy a gun, the villagers are unable to defend themselves. But even if they did have a rifle, they would still be helpless against these monsters that have to be approached by water and hit in the eye to be sure to kill them. It’s a skill that only a few accomplished hunters possess. Responding to the call of such a terrible curse on this tiny village lost in the distant bush, a renowned young Madagascan hunter and a French crocodile expert join forces to try to rid this village of the plight the curse has brought upon it.

Ghana, Coffins to order

The coffins made by the Ga Company represent the occupation of the deceased, his interests, his social status or whatever he meant to his loved ones. A greengrocer will depart in a tomato or an onion… A soccer player in a studded boot, a carpenter in a plane, a fisherman in a fish, a doting mother hen in a hen, and a cop in a cop. A fleeting and sumptuous funereal art, it all ends under the ground, but collectors are starting to get interested.

Caviar, the black gold

As the world economy collapses on every continent, there remains one sector that is not experiencing any crisis… and surprising as it may seem… we are talking about caviar! The world’s leading producers have set up there and are grabbing huge shares of the market thanks to their farm-raised fish. From their labs where the tiny eggs are assembled to the 5-star hotels of Abu Dhabi, from the kitchens of the greatest Parisian chefs to the highly exclusive caviar-tasting clubs, our cameras shoot , for the first time, the people who have turned caviar into a real business… and also into a way of life. A trip into an astonishing world… where luxury and gastronomy are but one...

Tales From the End of the World

Antartica. The glaciers and the mystery of this far-away and unknown land have always given cause to dream. And yet, Antarctica is not hospitable to people. Antarctica is beyond human norm. Its winds are super powerful, its temperatures the lowest in the world, its glaciers are fearsome. With my film crew I sailed aboard the Admiral Viel, a Chilean Navy icebreaker, for an exceptional voyage to the white continent. We had the good fortune and the dazzling experience of encountering the wild life, of sharing the lives of the sailors and scientists living in the most total isolation, surrounded by Nature at its most sublime. To see and to understand the exciting work these men and women accomplish every day in the protection of nature is to receive a simple, yet wonderful lesson in humanity.

Beneath the Lingerie

100, 400, 500, 1000 dollars for a complete outfit and sometimes a lot more… women the world over no longer hesitate at spending a small fortune on bras and panties. Lingerie is one of the rare sectors that is not suffering from the crisis. They’re innovating with new textiles, shapes are changing and trends are increasingly naughty. What is even more surprising is that one can now tell the condition and behaviour of a society by taking a closer look at its market in panties and suspender belts. In the Emirates, women make up for their austere outer clothing… by wearing ultra-daring underwear. In France they insist on the highest quality of lace and other materials. In the United States practicality takes precedence over aesthetics and in Russia lingerie is the ultimate trump card in seduction. How did lingerie become the mirror of a society and does it reveal the evolution of women on different continents? An investigation beneath the lingerie…