Before Dawn 2012

Hidden away below stairs an army of people were once the vital cogs that kept the homes of the wealthy running smoothly. For little reward these men and women toiled from before dawn until after dusk. A century ago, 1.5 million British people worked as servants – astonishingly, more than worked in factories or farms. But while servants are often portrayed as characters in period dramas, the real stories of Britain's servants have largely been forgotten.
From Upstairs, Downstairs to Gosford Park and Downton Abbey, TV dramas and films have made us care about the characters below stairs.

"Images tell stories, we tell the stories of images." Mysteries in the archives, ten investigations into ten events of the twentieth century that have marked our memory and our imagination. In the French series, we learn about the historical events of the 20th century by closely investigating archive films. Who is in the picture, who is missing? Why was the camera pointed right here? Who is sitting next to whom?