his wholiness the rev drjon ([info]drjon) wrote,

Forbidden Files

Many moons ago, here in Australia, SBS played a most unusual series: The Forbidden Files, a collection of short films from which The Blair Witch Project may have gain its inspiration.

It was subtitled from the original French. The series was actually called les Documents Interdits, and it was compiled by Jean-Teddy Filippe.

There were 14 episodes in total, but 2 have been lost. Here's a run-down.
  1. The Divers
    Rare and unexplained footage from naval commando archives reveals the distinct presence of a powerful figure in the ocean. As the commandoes' boats approach, a diver enters the water and is immediately taken under by the "creature". Diver and creature break the surface some 500 meters from the initial attack in a matter of seconds. Captured on film, it remains an unfathomable mystery to this day.
  2. The Child
    Only six weeks old, baby Peter is filmed levitating his teddy bear. at six months he's flinging cups off his high chair with a stare, and at six years old Peter has drowned the dog in the family's pool. Video tape highlights of Peter's telekinesis are sure to shame the most unruly poltergeists.
  3. The Ghosts
    Documented by an amateur camera operator, Miguel takes us and another passenger on a journey to the Nameless Ones. They are ghosts from the unknown who bring to us messages that sometimes we do not understand.
  4. Shipwreck
    The lone survivor of the wreck of the Véga that mysteriously went down on August 7 1950, has filmed his daily rituals. He goes for eighteen days without touching his provisions of food or drink and when the opportunity arises for him to be rescued he chooses not to shoot his flame thrower. As his camera documents for us, he is the witness to a supernatural phenomenon. When the boat becomes beached, the camera and this film, plus the words 'those who have seen it can never come back' which were scrawled on the tarpaulin, are his only remains.
  5. The Picnic
    In-camera edited film shot by Kevin Riley on July 11 1970. Cindy, Stephen, Karen and Kevin head off in a Kombi van for a night under the stars in the Roaxaca Zone. The native Indians call it 'The river of stones that runs over the sleeping forest'. One of the party, Stephen hears music in the distance. It is inaudible to the rest of the group. What Kevin accidentally documents is the disappearance of Stephen who is inexplicably drawn to the music he hears.
  6. The E.T.
    An encounter between earthlings and their guest from outer space took place and was documented in Takohamo. On July 19 1969 Olsen II (the guest) died in mysterious circumstances. But perhaps his fate was decided a long time ago. On the next day, July 20 1969 Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. The Takohamo mystery deepens a little more.
  7. The Ferguson Case
    This episode looks at THE AT ONCE SHOW which goes to air live on the WACN channel in the USA. Its anchor tells of how Mrs Ferguson had rung the station to get help checking out some mysterious sounds in the manor house. THE AT ONCE team send a reporter to investigate, and what we see is the live to air footage that was captured but which in itself heightens the mystery of THE FERGUSON CASE.
  8. The Crowns film the Youngs
    An amateur filmmaker carefully documented the growing relationship between them as neighbours; the Crown and the Young families. Both wives had babies born within days of each other. They grew into children and then adults that fell in love with each other and left home. This picture of domestic / neighbourhood tranquility is disrupted by the divorce and remarrying of one of the partners. Time passes and the filmmaker obsessively documents the daily ritual of the neighbours next door. In that process he films the family's puppy's unearthing of a bloodied glove which belonged to Maria Mendoza. The Mendoza Case was still a mystery until this footage was handed over to the authorities on the death of the husband.
  9. The Soldier
    In Sicily in 1943, an unknown soldier films two strange figures as they walk into the ocean and disappear. Leaving his camera on the beach, the soldier films himself as he walks into the water - crossing the unknown frontier.
  10. The Madman of the Crossroads
    The incredible story of Tibor Nagy who claims to have filmed his excursion to the moon when he and his family were abducted by aliens. Tibor shows his moon movie to fellow believers at a spot near where he was taken. He also pines for his aliens to take him back to the moon.
  11. The Witch
    A phantom terrorises the inhabitants of a Spanish village, that eventually is displaced. As this amateur film reveals, there is never any end to an exodus. A journey to the land of those 'one does not mention'.
  12. Siberia
    SCAR is the code name of a programme of bio-mechanics to improve human performance which could turn people into semi-robots. Piotr is one of the 12,500 who people this security camp. He lets the camera document how 'they' reconstructed his arm after it had been virtually crushed in a work accident. That footage was marked: STRATEGIC MATERIAL - TOP SECRET, and plainly reveals the harsh reality of the forgotten people of the Cold War.
  13. The Boat: (no information)
  14. The Lost People (Le point de vue des égarés): (no information)
So: how's your French? Because here they are... sans subtitles. (Bandwidth warning!!!)
Did you see these when they aired? Please feel free and share your memories.

ED 21/12/2010: Now available on DVD. Here's an eBay seller with it.

ED 24/01/2012: The 14th File has surfaced.

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  • 11 comments

[info]jagwire

December 19 2006, 15:43:40 UTC 5 years ago

I wish I had seen them. The ones online aren't subtitled :( I love this sort of thing.

[info]drjon

December 19 2006, 21:44:47 UTC 5 years ago

Sorry, I should have been more explicit than just saying How's your French. I will amend the entry.

[info]jagwire

December 20 2006, 00:42:35 UTC 5 years ago

I gathered from your comment that they wouldn't have subtitles, btu I was still hopeful :p

[info]artbroken

December 19 2006, 19:46:18 UTC 5 years ago

I saw the 'Siberia' one at an SBS seminar year ago, which led to my involvement with the '(s)truth' project, which was trying to do something similar to the Forbidden Files series.

None of which is that helpful to you, I suppose.

[info]drjon

December 19 2006, 21:45:55 UTC 5 years ago

I think we had that discussion... I think I also mentioned at the time that I was impressed with your work ;})>

I wonder if it's on youtube...

[info]mittimus

December 20 2006, 08:25:59 UTC 5 years ago

EVERYTHING's on youtube ;)

[info]jiguzmanb

September 21 2010, 11:15:14 UTC 1 year ago

About "The Boat"

I saw them (no all of them) many years ago. "The Boat", as far as I can remember, is about a shipwrecked who has a camera and is filming a kind of documentary about his experience. Not every day he has the same attitude, some days he is optimistic, some others is depressed. As he is using his poor rations of food, film and water; he is making marks on the boat counting the days. I do not remember, but I think one day he saw a ship in the distance, but he did nothing to be noticed and rescued. Before running completely out his provisions, with no explanation, and in a very good mood, he filmed himself jumping from the boat into the ocean.

Anonymous

January 24 2011, 07:07:04 UTC 1 year ago

watcher

hello, i have seen all of these short films on sbs's eat carpet tv prgramme. to this day i am still haunted by what i saw, i mean not really disturbed but i am a believer in some such things. i wish i had recorded them & finding any such material relating is a hard task. did any 1 make the connection between the old man & carlos castaneda? spooky, true & hard reality hitting.

[info]drjon

January 24 2011, 07:26:22 UTC 1 year ago

Re: watcher

I know I did.

Anonymous

April 6 2011, 09:49:09 UTC 1 year ago

I watched these in fascination on Eat Carpet as well. I probably have a few of these on tape, but they would be buried within many boxes of unsorted and often unlabeled volumes. There is, in fact, a French website that has the original, unsubtitled episodes.

http://videos.arte.tv/fr/videos/les_documents_interdits_1_12_-3450430.html

I always found them creepy, and never quite knew whether they were supposed to be real or not. They helped make Eat Carpet one of the coolest programs on television.

[info]Nikos Ninolakis

January 23 2012, 12:21:21 UTC 4 months ago

Link with original English commentary: http://videos.arte.tv/en/videos/the_forbidden_files_7_12_-3450112.html
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