Un Hiver En été

Beautiful violin virtuoso Camille has two obsessions: the music of Ravel, and a friend of her husband's who crafts violins. But his heart seems to be as cold as her playing is passionate.

In the throes of World War II, French innkeeper Albert Quentin vows to stay away from alcohol if he and his wife and child survive. Many years later, Albert and his family are thriving in their small resort town of Normandy, and Albert has kept his promise to himself. However, when advertising professional Gabriel Fouquet comes to town, the limits of Albert's iron will are tested due to the young man's charming disposition and penchant for alcohol.

It’s summer and France is hit by a polar cold. Ten lone and lost souls find each other, a profound meeting as a last chance to hope and fear, to love and dream. Ten tales as tribute to Monet’s Water Lilies, ten tales portraying an impressionist painting of today’s France.

Six months after losing their five years old daughter in a fire in the barn of their little farm, Jean and his wife Laure are facing troubles in their relationship and financial problems. Laure grieves the loss of their daughter and blames herself for her absence and Jean for his negligence for the fire; Jean is trying to rise from the ashes and somehow rebuild his life; and the insurance company refuses to pay the prize for the accident. Jean asks for a job in a mill to a friend to make money and support the psychiatric treatment of Laure. In his new job, he meets and becomes friend of the Kosovo refugee's siblings Kastriot and Labinota, while the Laure's sister Valérie separates them. Jean feels the passion of love and sense of life in his relationship with Labinota, who had her life destroyed with the war.

A chance encounter on a park bench in early spring. Two takes on waiting and love.

Jean-Christophe Lafaille is the first mountaineer to attempt the solo ascent of the steep Himalayan face of "Shishapangma". As one of the 14 highest peaks in the world, Shishapangma peak rises over 8000 meters. Jean-Christophe defies the merciless conditions of the Himalayan winter. Without oxygen and exposed to extreme cold, Jean-Christophe, aware of the objective danger, is determined to achieve this long-held dream by reaching the summit by the magnificent British South West face course of 1982, with a new course on the first 1000 meters. He will reach the summit on December 11, some, like the Pole Krzysztof Wielicki, challenge him for the first. Jean-Christophe will be very upset and some of his relatives will be worried to see him then lock himself into an increasingly obstinate quest, some of whom were already guessing the outcome.

Editing excerpts from classical concerts «Winter Keyboards» Shot at the castle of Grand Jardin in Joinville in February 1993.

The director Félix Lamarche questions our relationship with the St. Lawrence River during the winter. Aboard the Amundsen, a Canadian coast guard icebreaker, we follow passionate scientists who explore the mysteries of an inaccessible nature. Combining the landscapes of the ice floe and the invisible movements of underwater life, the film takes us on a documentary journey to the heart of this still little known river.

Guy Gilles' 1962 short on the wintertime in Paris.

Rugged ice sheets. Shapes in black and white, gently moving towards each other – softly concealing their potential threat. While the coast is in constant motion, a scientist recounts her unique experience of a winter on a ship stuck in Greenland’s ice.

Un jour l'hiver finira is an episode of Gérard Courant's filmed notebooks which is mainly devoted to the recording of three programmes on Radio France Berry Sud. In the first, on 17 March 1986, Gérard Patrigeon invited Pierre Laudijois and Dominique Marchès to talk about the retrospective of Gérard Courant's films that would take place a few days later. In the second, on 21 March 1986, Gérard Patrigeon invited the same two as well as Gérard Courant to discuss the screenings. In the third, Christian Daumas invited Pierre Laudijois, Dominique Laudijois, Gérard Courant, the child Martin Laudijois and the artist Philippe Vacher to make a positive assessment of this retrospective. In this programme the announcement is made of the organisation of a future independent film festival.