Name: The Cruel Embrace
Genre: Cinema
Duration: 5754 s
Cast: Marianne Basler, Thierry Fremont, Yves Coffon

Les noces barbares

Barbarische Hochzeit

The Cruel Embrace

Las bodas bárbaras

Barbarzyńskie zaślubiny

Le nozze barbare

<p>In her debut film, director Marion Hänsel presents the many questions that haunted her until her death in 2020. By tackling crucial issues like violence against women and abortion, the filmmaker has left an indelible mark on contemporary Belgian cinema.</p>

Nicole, a young mother haunted by the memory of a rape, refuses to be seen as a victim.

Polly Maggoo is a model from Brooklyn who lives a glitzy and glamourous life in Paris, fashion capital of the world. Conquering catwalks and the front pages of fashion magazines, she is starred on an episode of a TV show called “Who are you?”, acting as a pseudo-portrait of a super model.

For an episode of the French TV programme "Who are you?”, Polly Maggoo becomes the pseudo-portrait of a super model.

Who Are You, Polly Magoo?

Two young women escape a sinister 1970s reform school for girls in England. One in search for her daughter, the other to be reunited with her girlfriend. With her film "Scrubbers", Swedish director Mai Zetterling brings us a feminist interpretation of the women’s prison genre. Casting aside the voyeurism and violence often associated with the genre, Zetterling breaks the mould.

Two young women manage to escape a sinister 1970s reform school for girls in England.

Scrubbers

In her debut film, director Marion Hänsel presents the many questions that haunted her until her death in 2020. By tackling crucial issues like violence against women and abortion, the filmmaker has left an indelible mark on contemporary Belgian cinema.

Recently freed from prison in Russia, Valentina heads back to Estonia on a quest to find her son Jüri, who she had given up for adoption years ago. With the conviction that their reunion will be a happy ending, Valentina searches high and low until she finds her son in Tartu, adopted by a wealthy family. Reconciliation turns out to be more challenging than she had expected.

Free from prison in Russia, Valentina heads back to Estonia in the hopes of finding her son.

Stolen Meeting

During the Spanish Civil War, three men are arrested and put in prison by Franco’s guards. Facing a death sentence, they spend their last days together, accompanied by a Belgian doctor. But there may be a way out for one of them, if they agree to exchange information on the Republicans. Based on the short story “Le Mur” and directed by Serge Roullet.

During the Spanish Civil War, three men are arrested and imprisoned. There may be a way out for one of them.

The Wall

Ever since his wife ran off with a sailor, József Pelikán, a dam keeper on the Danube, has been struggling to feed his eight children. One day on the riverbank, he spots Dániel Zoltán fishing. An old friend who József saved from the Nazis by hiding him in his cellar during the war, Dániel is now a minister. Unfortunately for József, this reunion will lead him down a path of unforeseen troubles.

In this unbridled satirical comedy, a dam keeper on the Danube River suffers the absurdities of the communist regime in the 1950s.

The Witness

ArteKino Classics

Since the Elysée Treaty of friendship was signed between France and Germany in January 1962, the two countries have built ever closer ties. In this intimate documentary, individual Germans from both east and west share their experiences of French culture in the post-war era.

In this intimate documentary, individual Germans from both east and west share their experiences of French culture in the post-war era.

How the Germans Learned to Love France

If the truth is the first victim of war, many voices are trying to defend it in Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere. Alternative culture programme Tracks goes east to meet journalists and artists from Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia who have a different perspective on the war in Ukraine. On the programme: propaganda and counter-propaganda in times of conflict.

Propaganda and Truth

lternative culture programme "Tracks" goes east to meet journalists and artists from Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia who have a different perspective on the war in Ukraine

Tracks East

Why is femicide so prevalent across Europe? And what does it say about our societies? A look at the issue in Spain, France and Germany.

You Belong to Me!

At once seductive and dangerous, historical myth and male fantasy, the femme fatale represents both erotic promise and a death trap to the male observer. Conceived at the end of the 19th century in the works of Gustave Moreau, Franz von Stuck and Lovis Corinth, the femme fatale was completely reinvented in the 20th century by many female artists.

Seductive and dangerous, the figure of the femme fatale in art was completely reinvented in the 20th century.

The Femme Fatale in Art

France’s President Emmanuel Macron forced through an unpopular reform of the country’s pension system – and the French aren’t having it. We travel to Romania to find out about a possible law to ban gambling adverts, and look at how to protect Europeans from addictions.

France’s pension reform / Gambling / Photography

Protests erupt across France in response to the government’s pension reform bill, and we explore gambling across Europe.

ARTE Europe Weekly

Many governments and organisations are wary of their employers using the social media TikTok. Does the Chinese company really serve Xi Jinping’s regime?

TikTok: A Chinese Threat?

Mapping the World Essentials

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

Highly influential indie rockers from Boston, famous for such tracks as Debaser and Where is my mind perform in Paris as part of a European tour for their latest album Doggerel.

Legendary and highly influential indie rockers perform in Paris as part of their European tour.

Pixies - Live at the Paris Olympia

At first glance, it's an image of innocence. A motherly milkmaid pouring out the milk in a kitchen, preparing snacks from our childhoods. But there's actually far more to her than meets the eye.

The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer

A famous image that at first glance looks totally innocent, but is in actual fact full of innuendo

Look but Don't Touch

Bonuses and Extracts

Discover more

The decisive moment in 1618 that triggered the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants and changed the course of European history.

The decisive moment in 1618 that triggered the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants. 

The Defenestration of Prague

Tensions between Moldova and Russia are escalating over the breakaway region of Transnistria, an investigation on how prepared Europe is for another summer of wildfires, and a report from the Dissident Club in Paris.

Tensions in Moldova / WildFires in Europe

Tensions between Moldova and Russia are escalating with street protests and controversy over Russian secret documents.

Lyubov, which means love in Russian, is 80 years old and lives alone on the shores of Lake Baikal. She bears witness to this wonder of nature and possesses and unbreakable bond with the world’s deepest lake in Siberia. Her life here is hard, especially in winter, but she would not live anywhere else.

On the shores of Lake Baikal, an old woman lives alone in a beautiful place that is dear to her heart.

The Old Woman and the Lake

An exclusive investigation into the Russian paramilitary organisation Wagner, headed by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. 2,500 documents were leaked from Prigozhin’s servers by anti-Putin hackers, shedding light on this secretive group of mercenaries, a key element in the war in Ukraine.

Data Sources

An exclusive investigation into the Russian paramilitary organisation Wagner, headed by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. 

The Prigozhin Papers

Working her way out of poverty as a sex worker all while supporting her family in Romania. That’s Andrada’s goal. She speaks confidently and openly about her work in a red-light district in Germany’s Ruhr region.  
This programme by German channel ARD is part of The European Collection, a joint initiative of European public media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Portrait of a sex worker in the Ruhr region, Germany.  

Hard Life – I sell sex for money

A look at how we are getting better at managing and conserving water supplies in drier parts of our planet like southern Spain, Israel and the desert city of Las Vegas.

Water

 A look at how we are getting better at managing and conserving water supplies in drier parts of our planet like southern Spain, Israel and the desert city of Las Vegas.

Good News From Our Planet

Music director of the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru takes his musicians on a tour of his homeland, Romania. A tour stopping in Timişoara, his hometown. On the programme: The Piano Concerto No. 2 by Johannes Brahms with soloist Simon Trpčeski.

Concert from the European Capital of Culture 2023

Conductor Cristian Măcelaru and the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne perform Brahms and Klaus Lang in Romania.

Cristian Mācelaru in Timişoara

In El Salvador, gangs have terrorised the country for decades. But when Nayib Bukele was elected president in 2019, becoming the youngest head of state in Latin America, he vowed to take back control from the gangs by installing a state of emergency.

El Salvador: The coolest dictator in the world?

When Nayib Bukele was elected president in 2019, he vowed to take back control from the gangs by installing a state of emergency.

ARTE Reportage

The new Windsor agreement between the EU and the UK is hoped to improve relations and solve the Northern Ireland issue.

Northern Ireland: Windsor Agreement

Eclectic American singer-songwriter Ben Harper performs from his latest album, 2022’s Bloodline Maintenance. Filmed at Ground Control in Paris.

Ground Control

Eclectic American singer-songwriter Ben Harper performs from his latest album, 2022’s Bloodline Maintenance.

Ben Harper

“You can let yourself go and give up, or you can keep fighting.” That is Daniel’s motto. After many years spent incarcerated and homeless, he is now a magazine salesman and is managing to get by.

This programme by German channel ARD is part of The European Collection, a joint initiative of European public media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Better than prison. Portrait of a street magazine seller.

Hard Life – I spent half my life in prison

Far from the metropolitan centre of Tel Aviv, Sderot show another side of Israel. One with high-levels of social deprivation and strong support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s controversial judicial reforms.

Sderot - The Other Israel

Far from the metropolitan centre of Tel Aviv, Sderot is a different Israel with strong support for Netanjahu and high levels of social deprivation.

Mustafa is 28 years old and grew up in the Ratingen-West district in Düsseldorf, his “hood”. It’s an area with high unemployment rates and is home to people from many different nationalities, both a melting pot and socially deprived. Mustafa now runs a kiosk in the middle of the district, on Berliner Platz. Between high-rises, friendships and poverty, we discover his life.
This programme by German channel ARD is part of The European Collection, a joint initiative of European public media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Portrait of a kiosk owner in a socially deprived area of Düsseldorf, Germany.

Hard Life – I work in the middle of the ghetto

With all the religious wars, the 17th century was a tense time in Europe. And in art one theme caught everyone’s imagination: the Virgin Mary.

ArteKino Classics

Who Are You, Polly Magoo?

Scrubbers