L'Homme de Pékin - The Last Secrets of Mankind

The Jardin d'Acclimatation will be screening an exclusive preview of French filmmaker Jacques Malaterre's remarkable documentary-drama L'Homme de Pékin - Les Derniers Secrets de l'Humanité in its Théâtre Rouge cinema.

This fascinating, educational film brings to life, before our very eyes, the appearance of Homo sapiens in China tens of thousands of years ago.

Its major asset: the scientific rigor of the world's leading paleontologist, Yves Coppens, who sadly passed away shortly before its completion. Peking Man is the true sequel, 20 years on, to The Odyssey of the Species, the previous film project by this exceptional duo, which was seen by over 500 million viewers.

This film bears witness to the successful encounter between cinematic fiction and scientific reality. We watch. We marvel. We learn. This immersion in the world of Peking Man, sometimes cold and dangerous, sometimes simple and warm, is an opportunity to better understand prehistory, its environment, its harshness and its beauty. This is the story of primitive existence. By recalling our species' capacity for invention and survival, its strength and fragility, it offers a look back at our common origins. Through the screening of this documentary, a marriage of science, art and fiction, the Jardin d'Acclimatation finally pays tribute to those artists, teachers and scientists who have chosen to devote their lives to unlocking the mysteries of our past.