Tracks

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.

program_content

Culture From the Other Side of the Tracks

<p>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.</p>

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

program_playNext

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

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

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.

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

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

Video Game Art - computer games are the new El Dorado for artists; Dasha Ilinas is curing health problems caused by new technologies with crazy solutions; Dirty Shirt: a Metal and Folk band from Transylvania; DJ Arafat, an innovator of Coupé Décalé and trance; Paul Pfeiffer creates works of art from quizzes; Ronny Sen, photographer, and filmmaker from India.

DJ Arafat / Paul Pfeiffer/  Video Game Art / Dasha Ilina /  Ronny Sen

Video Game Art - computer games are the new El Dorado for artists

Tracks - Culture From the Other Side of the Tracks

program_recommendations

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

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

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

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

Acrobatics, crazy sets, unobtainable beauty standards. A lot of porn often lacks realism. But the industry is changing: audio pornography, which leaves room for the imagination while arousing the listener with erotic stories. The increasingly popular medium attracts feminist women who see the medium as more sensual and empowering than traditional porn.

The Sensual World of Podcast Porn

Audio pornography leaves room for the imagination while arousing the listener with erotic stories

Ayn Rand was a survivor of Communism, and as a result, her writings fiercely advocate uncompromising individualism. Her high profile fans include Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Angelina Jolie.

Ayn Rand, Capitalism Guru

Ayn Rand was a survivor of Communism, and as a result, her writings fiercely advocate uncompromising individualism

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

program_bonus

Bonuses and Extracts

program_external

Discover more

program_categoryMostViewed

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

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

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

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

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

Techno, house, garage or hip hop: electronic music is a driving force in pop culture today. Almost forgotten is its origins in the post-war classical avant-garde of Europe, with figures such as Pierre Schaeffer and Karlheinz Stockhausen. This documentary traces the history of electronic music from Europe to the great post-industrial cities of America, with exclusive interviews and little-seen archive footage.

The Sound That Changed Everything

This documentary traces the history of electronic music from Europe to the great post-industrial cities of America, with exclusive interviews and little-seen archive footage.

Electronic Vibrations

The loss of biodiversity is highly alarming: our planet is currently experiencing the greatest extinction since the age of the dinosaurs. This film documents the extinction of species currently happening around the world. But it also highlights hopeful initiatives as committed men and women on every continent fight to save endangered species and work towards improving biodiversity.

Mankind's Great Challenge

Biodiversity or Extinction

It is impossible for them to stay in Russia. For these Russian citizens opposed to the Kremlin, the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the new laws restricting freedom of expression have forced them to leave everything behind. Their destination: Istanbul, as Turkey did not require a visa. It is a difficult exile with a host country that does not consider them as refugees and a homeland that views them as pariahs.

Russians Seek Refuge in Turkey

Russian Journalists Report

A breakaway region of Moldova that is not recognised internationally, Transnistria is largely pro-Russian. The war in Ukraine has awakened fears that Russia will try to annex the region.

Moldova: Transnistria and Russia

ARTE Reportage

In 2020, for the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, Philippe Jordan and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra recreated the mythical evening of December 22 1808, when  the composer presented his Sixth Symphony, also known as his Pastoral.

Philippe Jordan recreates the evening of December 22, 1808, when Beethoven presented his Pastoral symphony

Philippe Jordan Conducts Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony

The internationally renowned bassist, singer and composer Avishai Cohen performs in an exclusive concert from the Maillon theatre in Strasbourg. Accompanied by drummer Roni Kaspi and pianist Elchin Shirinov, the jazzman presents his forthcoming album Shifting Sands.

Private Session at the Maillon Theatre, Strasbourg

IThe internationally renowned bassist, singer and composer Avishai Cohen performs from his forthcoming album Shifting Sands.

Avishai Cohen Trio

Live from the Teatro Real in Madrid, an adaptation of Prokofiev’s flamboyant masterpiece by the ever-radical Calixto Bieito.

An adaptation of Sergei Prokofiev’s flamboyant masterpiece by radical director Calixto Bieito.

Prokofiev’s "The Fiery Angel" at the Teatro Real in Madrid

Thirty years after the end of apartheid, South Africa has still not overcome its many problems: Endemic violence, economic and racial inequalities, state corruption. However, the rainbow nation has a lot to offer: tourism, natural resources and a leadership role on the African continent.

South Africa and its Demons

Mapping the World

At Lviv station, a convoy prepares to make its way to Kyiv. The driver in his cabin, is at the front of the train. In the other cars are volunteers and men going into battle. Without even picking up a gun, Evgeni, a train driver, is now on the de facto front line.

Ukraine: Keeping the Trains Running

Without even picking up a gun, Evgeni, a train driver, is now on the de facto front line

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

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

Tracks - Culture From the Other Side of the Tracks

Tracks

Tracks

Russian Artists Against the War

Tracks: Songwriting Special

Tracks: Songwriting Special

Pop Music: The Great Recycling Business

Tracks

Total Immersion Special

Tracks

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

Tracks

Tracks

Holo Life - Avatars and Holograms

Tracks

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

Tracks

Disability and Pop Culture

Tracks

French-German Hip-Hop Special

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

You may also like

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Van Gogh's Disappearing Colours

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Caravaggio, Genius - and Killer?

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

The Freedom to Cycle

Tracks: Songwriting Special

Tracks: Songwriting Special

Pop Music: The Great Recycling Business

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

The Scully Effect

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

The Sensual World of Podcast Porn

Tracks

Tracks

Russian Artists Against the War

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Ayn Rand, Capitalism Guru

The most viewed videos on ARTE

The New World of Xi Jinping

The New World of Xi Jinping

The Maginot Line

The Maginot Line

France's Defensive Barrier

Geo Reportage

Geo Reportage

South Korea: Magic Temple Food

Richard Strauss: Salome

Richard Strauss: Salome

Directed by Christof Loy in Helsinki

Ukraine: Kyiv in Spring

Ukraine: Kyiv in Spring

Petit ami parfait

Petit ami parfait

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Van Gogh's Disappearing Colours

Electronic Vibrations

Electronic Vibrations

The Sound That Changed Everything