Tracks

Peaches, M.I.A., Dorian Electra and King Krule: this Tracks special highlights the most impressive vocalists to have featured on the show. Gender fluid, subversive, and challenging, these are the artists that break boundaries across genres.

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Culture From the Other Side of the Tracks

The Best Vocalists of Tracks

Peaches, M.I.A., Dorian Electra and King Krule: this Tracks special highlights the most impressive vocalists to have featured on the show

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Russian artists have two choices: silence, or exile. There's been a mass creative exodus in recent weeks, including Russian rap stars like Face and Oxxxymiron. Art rockers IC3PEAK post protest videos that would get them arrested in Russia. TikTok star Nikita Sass bravely continues to post his opinion and stays. Few dare to do that.

Russian Artists Against the War

Russian artists have two choices: silence, or exile

Have you ever wondered why pop songs sometimes sound a little too familiar? Welcome to the world of pop-recycling where borrowing, sampling and interpolation are the order of the day. Featuring interviews with Placebo, Ed Sheeran, Charlie XCX and Lauv.

Pop Music: The Great Recycling Business

Have you ever wondered why pop songs sometimes sound a little too familiar? Welcome to the world of pop-recycling. Featuring interviews with Placebo, Ed Sheeran, Charlie XCX and Lauv.

Tracks: Songwriting Special

A total immersion into the world of sound: Sound engineer Nicolas Becker explains his craft featured in films such as Sound of Metal and La Haine. FUJIIIIIIITA, makes his own instruments to let his audience have new sound experiences. With more than 500 films (and 500,000 photographs), Boris Lehman is the first-person filmmaker par excellence.

Total Immersion Special

An episode dedicated to the world of sound. 

The art of klapping, where dance meets football.  Also in the programme: Artist couple Emilie Brout and Maxime Marion harvest the internet. Spanish multi-media artist Pascual Sisto talks about his new film ‘John and the Hole’ and Ami Yerewolo raps in Bambara to traditional African music.

Klapping / Emilie Brout & Maxime Marion / Sisto / Ami Yerewolo

The art of klapping, where dance meets football.  Spanish director Pascual Sisto talks about his new film ‘John and the Hole’ and Ami Yerewolo raps in Bambara to traditional African music.

Tracks dives into the world of augmented reality, avatars and hologram performances. With ABBA and others pioneering avatar performance, is nostalgia pushing technology forward? Also in the programme: Synth pop French musician Oklou and German DJ, Boys Noize.

Holo Life - Avatars and Holograms

Ugandan MC Ecko Bazz offers up the soundtrack of his worst nightmares. Also in the programme: Guatemalan artist and poet Regina José Galindo and Afghan artist Kubra Khademi, Jean Lecointre, the Frankenstein of collage and Russian filmmaker Alexei Guerman Jr.

Ecko Bazz / Political Bodies / Jean Lecointre / Alexeï German Jr

Whether it's extreme sports, stand-up comedy, breakdancing or music, disability isn’t an obstacle to pursuing your passion. Tracks' meets Aaron Fotheringham, Dergin Tokmak and Pone to understand the power of pop culture in empowering 'invisible' minorities.

Disability and Pop Culture

Tracks' meets Aaron Fotheringham, Dergin Tokmak and Pone to understand the power of pop culture in empowering 'invisible' minorities.

A look at the lively hip-hop scenes in France and Germany from the 1980s to the present day.

French-German Hip-Hop Special

Genre fluid music takes a swipe at musical categorisation. Argentinian artist Amalia Ulman presents her first film, El Planeta, at the Sundance Film Festival. Algerian-born artist Adel Abdessemed imbues his works with the violence of the world  and The e-sports team Karmine Corp has won the European League of Legends Championships.

Genre-Fluid Music / Amalia Ulman / Adel Abdessemed / Karmine Corp

 After gender fluid comes genre fluid as musical categorisation ends. Argentinian artist Amalia Ulman presents her first film and e-sports team Karmine Corp win big.

Truman Burbank, a 35-year-old skateboarder from Paris, has a sense of humor as sharp as his stunts; A visit to Erbil with DJ Zana, DJ Mustafa, singer Chopi and rapper Hawta, all exponents of Kurdish music; Fantasy realism in the theatre with Belgian company Still Life and the French playwright Philippe Quesne; German artist Christina Kubisch has been working with sound for 50 years.

Truman Burbank / Kurdish Paradise / Fantasy Realism

In this episode of tracks: Skateboarding, Kurdish music, magic realism on stage and the sound art of artist Christina Kubisch.

David Guetta, Bob Sinclair and Martin Solveig take the charts by storm and become (very) mainstream. Argentine filmmaker Laura Casabé creates horror in the jungle. Kosovar artist Alban Muja’s works focus on his young homeland’s identity and American artist Lynn Hershman Leeson focuses on the relationship between humans and technology.

David Guetta, Laura Casabé, Lynn Hershman Leeson & Alban Muja

A special edition dedicated to childlike dreamers including Michel Gondry, director of ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’.

Tracks - Dreaming Special

Michel Gondry / Troll Rap / Pes / Flyboard / Steampunk

A special edition on artists who explore dream worlds: David Lynch talks about the disturbing and unique atmosphere in his films. A look at the creatures of the night, the gender fluid club kids drags. Also in the programme : Giant moles, hippies and twin sister harpists.

Tracks: Dream Creators Special

A special edition on artists who explore dream worlds featuring American filmmaker David Lynch.

David Lynch / Club Kid Drags / Gong

The Hong Kong artist Wong Ping mixes animation with explicit imagery; Julio le Parc designs kinetic art that plays tricks; the guys from SHHT place Belgium on the space rock map; and shibari, the art of bondage with artistically twisted rope that decorates those it seeks to restrain. 

Tracks: Wong Ping / Julio le Parc / Shht / Néo-Shibari

Dexter Wansel is a legend, and has worked with the likes of Patti LaBelle, Billy Paul and the Jackson Five. His work is now being sampled by American rappers; In her first film, "Murmur", Heather Young blurs the line between reality and fiction; in the face of mass survellience artists are getting creative; and we take a listen to Oneohtrix Point Never and his experimental electro.

Dexter Wansel is a legend, and has worked with the likes of Patti LaBelle, Billy Paul and the Jackson Five

Tracks: Dexter Wansel / Heather Young / Cyberinvisibles / Oneohtr

In this episode Brazilian filmmaker Gabriel Mascaro takes his country’s pulse. / Mexican-American metal band Brujeria are Donald Trump’s worst nightmare. /  Otim Alpha rocks Uganda / James Auger and Nelly Ben Hayoun reinvent design.

Gabriel Mascaro / Michael Snow / Nicole He / Brujería / Otim Alpha

Which of the nightmares in Black Mirror would the creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones like to experience? How did they dream it up? What scary stories did their parents tell them before falling asleep for them to be able to produce such a chilling (and binge-worthy) show?

The Black Mirror Special

An entire episode of Tracks that is dedicated to the prescient mind-trip that is Black Mirror

Divine is the queen of trash in underground movies. Also in the programme: Captivating chanting and electronic beats in Georgia; Lin Zhipeng's nude photography; Suzi Quatro, first lady of glam rock and Muthoni Ndonga, a rising star of Kenyan hip-hop.

Georgia / Lin Zhipeng/ Suzi Quatro/ Muthoni Drummer Queen/ Mix Queer

Discover captivating chanting and electronic beats in Georgia, and Lin Zhipeng's nude photography

Kiefer Sutherland looks back on his career as an actor, notably in the action-packed series 24. / New York painter Isaac Abrams was a pioneer of psychedelic art. / Focus on the female rapper kicking up a storm in the US, Doja Cat. / Meet Nigeria’s answer to Tarantino, Dare Olaitan. / Go surfing in the arctic on frozen boards with Norwegian artist Inge Wegge.

Isaac Abrams / Doja Cat / Kiefer Sutherland / Dare Olaitan

Bang Yong-guk, a survivor of the sometimes exploitative world of K-pop; art generated by artificial neural networks; Alexandre Franchis's Film Happy Face challenges our perceptions of beauty; the Flemish Performance Collective FC Miner; Swamp Dogg, the Ugly Duckling of Soul Music; Pongo, Queen of Neo-Kuduro in Portugal.

Bang Yong-Guk / Neural network art / Alexandre Franchi / FC Bergman

Bang Yong-guk, a survivor of the sometimes exploitative world of K-pop

Tracks - Culture From the Other Side of the Tracks

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Since its invention in the 19th century, the bicycle has allowed Western women to move around independently. Today, it is the turn of women in Arab countries to discover its power. Though at first glance innocuous and common, the bicycle is unexpectedly feminist.

The Freedom to Cycle

Though at first glance innocuous and common, the bicycle is unexpectedly feminist

Gymnastics

Why do the works of the Italian painter Caravaggio exude such violence? The answer is to be found in the eventful life of the artist, who just couldn't stay out of trouble and met a sticky end.

Caravaggio, Genius - and Killer?

Caravaggio just couldn't stay out of trouble and met a sticky end

In 1973 choreographer and dancer Carolyn Carlson brought an breath of American fresh air into the Paris Opera. In true hippy style she brought barefoot dancing, improvisation and a relaxed attitude. Not everyone was ready for change.

Carolyn Carlson: The Day They Danced Barefoot at the Paris Opera

The paintings of Vincent Van Gogh are losing their colours. The paints he used were vibrant, but cheap, and degraded within months of painting. It's now impossible to appreciate the true beauty of his works, as his flamboyant flare for colours has slowly turned drab. If nothing is done, the Sunflowers which are still a beautiful gold today could well turn brown. Should we just accept they can't be saved?

Van Gogh's Disappearing Colours

The paintings of Vincent Van Gogh are losing their colours because the pigments used were vibrant but cheap

The humble accordion may not have a reputation as the coolest instrument on the block. But in the hands of Mario Batkovic it takes on another dimension. Since 2017 the Bosnian accordionist has been wowing audiences and recording film and game scores, notably for hit survival game, Red Dead Redemption 2.

Mario Batkovic: Superstar Accordionist

The humble accordion may not have a reputation as the coolest instrument on the block. But in the hands of Mario Batkovic it takes on another dimension.

Ancient Greek statues are white, pure and classical, just like the marble they are carved from. False. These statues were painted in fabulous bright colours. Archaeologists and art academics have known this for centuries so why does the white myth endure?

Ancient Greek Statues Were Not White

Brilliant FBI agent and scientist Dana Scully solved supernatural mysteries with her partner Fox Mulder in the TV series The X Files. She had significant influence on an entire generation of young women, inspired to become scientists.

The Scully Effect

The X File's Dana Scully had significant influence on an entire generation of young women

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An investigation into a little-known story from the Second World War. Having planned and executed their mass murders, the Nazis meticulously eliminated traces of their crimes against humanity between 1942 and 1944: The so-called Operation 1005.

How the Nazis Covered up their Crimes

The Nazis meticulously eliminated traces of their crimes against humanity between 1942 and 1944: The so-called Operation 1005.

Operation 1005

In 2017, Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseyev was living and working from the separatist region of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Critical of the self-proclaimed republic, he used pseudonyms to protect his identity. But one day he was exposed which led to his imprisonment and torture in the notorious Izolyatsia prison

The story of Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseyev who was imprisonment and tortured in the separatist region of Donbas.

The Torture Camp on Paradise Street

The planet's jet streams are being affected by rising temperatures in the Arctic. These streams are part of a wind system that circulates at high altitude around the Earth, and they have an influence on extreme weather events. Changes in them are bad news for life on Earth.

How Climate Change Makes Storms Worse

Changing jet streams are bad news for life on Earth

Winds of Change

Behind his polite exterior lies a formidable leader with a ruthless character, ready to do anything to make China the world's leading power by the People’s Republic’s centenary in 2049. This well-documented portrait of the Chinese president gives an unprecedented insight into his politics and shows how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

A portrait of the Chinese president giving an unprecedented insight into his politics and showing how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

The New World of Xi Jinping

It has its own currency, flag and government. Yet the state of Transnistria is not recognised by the international community. Wedged between Ukraine and Moldova, 450 kilometres long and a few dozen kilometres wide, it claimed independence in 1990.

Transnistria: Back to the USSR

It has its own currency, flag and government. Yet the state of Transnistria is not recognised by the international community.

ARTE Reportage

The literary source for Richard Strauss’s opera immortalizing the degeneracy of Herodes Antipas, King of Judea, and his step-daughter Salome, was supplied by Oscar Wilde. It tells of Herodes, who is keeping the prophet Jochanaan captive inside a cistern. Salome tries to seduce him and on being rebuffed, forces her stepfather to serve her the prophet’s head on a silver platter.

Directed by Christof Loy in Helsinki

Rejected by the prophet Jochanaan, Salome forces her abusive stepfather to exact revenge.

Richard Strauss: Salome

The Maginot Line is a giant: Thousands of underground bunkers and concrete defences lining the French border, from Belgium to the Mediterranean. In its time it was celebrated as a technical masterpiece and thought to be impregnable, today it also stands for the trauma of the French defeat in 1940. The documentary looks at a military construction that is as fascinating as it is controversial.

France's Defensive Barrier

Thought to be impregnable, the French defensive barrier did not halt the German invasion in 1940.

The Maginot Line

Far away from the South Korean capital of Seoul is the Buddhist Gameunsa Temple. Three nuns live, pray and cook together here as they preserve the knowledge of centuries-old temple cuisine. The abbess of this small monastery is the charismatic Wookwan Sunim, revered in Asia as one of the best cooks in the world.

South Korea: Magic Temple Food

Far away from the South Korean metropolis of Seoul is the Buddhist Gameunsa Temple where three nuns live, pray and cook together 

Geo Reportage

Lockdowns, crop failures due to climate change and the war in Ukraine are all to blame for soaring prices around the world.

Geopolitics of Inflation

Mapping the World Essentials

To celebrate 50 years of French radio station FIP, Sting gives a special performance in the monumental surroundings of the Pantheon in Paris.

50 Years of FIP Radio

Sting at the Pantheon in Paris

After two months of fighting, the Russian troops had their advance towards the West blocked by fierce Ukrainian resistance. Forced to leave the suburbs of Kyiv, the occupying army left behind mass graves and horrific accounts of rape and abuse in their wake. Russia is now turning its efforts to the Dobas and the coastline along the Sea of ​​Azov. In Kyiv, the return of spring is also the return of many residents who had fled.

 In Kyiv, the return of spring is also the return of many residents who had fled

Ukraine: Kyiv in Spring

"They called us: 'Tutsi! Tutsi!' They took you out of the tent and did what they wanted with you." 

Prisca, Marie-Jeanne and Concessa say they survived the Rwandan genocide and sought safety in refugee camps, only to be repeatedly raped and abused by the French soldiers sent there to protect them. All describe similar horrors: abduction from their tent, the gang rapes, and the photos of the assaults taken by the soldiers. “We naively thought that the white man was a saviour, that he would bring peace,” sighs one of the women. While French army denies all accusations of rape, the three women filed a complaint with the French courts in 2004 and 2012. The investigation is now at a standstill.

Rwanda: The Silence of Words

Three survivors of the Rwandan genocide level terrible accusations at the French army

Three Japanese men have fallen under the charms of high school student Rinko, a character from the video game Love Plus. The game finally leads them to the seaside resort of Atami, where the virtual world and real life collides.

Three Japanese men have fallen under the charms of high school student Rinko, a character from the video game Love Plus

Petit ami parfait

ARTE Concert Festival welcomes a legend, Damon Albarn. He performs his new album live: The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows.

ARTE Concert Festival 2021

ARTE Concert Festival welcomes a legend, Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn

Pianist Maria-João Pires joins the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra at the Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival in a concert featuring the music of Mozart, Mendelssohn and Schumann.


Programme:
Felix Mendelssohn - Ein Sommernachtstraum (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Overture, Op. 21
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major, K. 271

Robert Schumann - Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, "Spring", Op. 38

Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival 2022

Pianist Maria-João Pires joins the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra at the Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival in a concert featuring the music of Mozart, Mendelssohn and Schumann.

Maria-João Pires plays Mozart

Ordinary Ukrainian citizens are preparing to resist the Russian invader by joining the army and helping the resistance in any way they can.

Ukraine: Resisting the Agressor

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought the people of Kyiv together like nothing else. Calling on the spirit of the Maidan Revolution of 2014, they are ready to resist.

Ukraine: Maïdan Spirit

Sting was an ecologically-conscious yogi hipster before it was even a thing. He's always been fighting for our right to enjoy a better future than the one we are making for ourselves. Perhaps a strange mission for someone with punk musical roots?

Tape

Sting was an ecologically-conscious yogi hipster before it was even a thing

Sting

Located about 100 km east of Odessa, in southern Ukraine, the city of Kherson was quickly taken by Russian forces on 2 March. Since then, the inhabitants have been living under Russian occupation. Our Ukrainian colleague Svitlana Pavuk reports on daily life there for TSN 1+1.

Kherson: Life under Russian Occupation

Dispatches From Ukraine: Local Journalists Report

Undermined by the corruption of its leaders, the country is going through one of the worst economic crises in its history. Since the collapse of the banking system, Lebanese people have seen their living standards plunge. The local currency has lost up to 90% of its value, and inflation is soaring. There are also shortages of fuel, electricity, and medicines. Some citizens even say Lebanon is on the brink of becoming a failed state. 

Lebanon: A People in Crisis

Since the collapse of the banking system, Lebanese people have seen their living standards plunge

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Tracks - Culture From the Other Side of the Tracks

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Russian Artists Against the War

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Tracks: Songwriting Special

Pop Music: The Great Recycling Business

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Total Immersion Special

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Klapping / Emilie Brout & Maxime Marion / Sisto / Ami Yerewolo

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Holo Life - Avatars and Holograms

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Ecko Bazz / Political Bodies / Jean Lecointre / Alexeï German Jr

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French-German Hip-Hop Special

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