ARTE shows festive performances and concerts around Christmas and New Year and invites you to thrilling feature films and television films as well as outstanding documentaries. From December 14, 2024 to January 5, 2025, viewers can look forward to a diverse and festive program for the whole family.
Theme days and documentary highlights around the festive season
Theme days
Even before Christmas, ARTE is getting in the mood for the festive season and is dedicating the multi-faceted season to Great Britain on Saturday, December 14th Theme day Very British!: Included are, among other things, the three-part documentary series William Shakespeare – A genius and his time about the rise of the world’s greatest playwright, the documentary film William the Conqueror and the documentary Camilla – beloved. Wife. Queen.about the story of a strong woman and a great love.
It provides intimate insights into the lives and fates of animal protagonists Theme day Serengeti on December 28th: The three-part documentary series Serengeti Accompanies individual wild animals and family groups in the fight for survival in impressive images. In the six-part docu-drama Serengeti – Wild stories from the savannah With the help of the most modern camera technology, we manage to present the challenges of the savannah inhabitants up close in a way that they have never been seen before. Exciting and emotional experiences told from an unusual subjective perspective.
The Theme day with cloak and sword on January 2nd shows classic films about the brave protectors of the French kings. The American classic The Three Musketeers Based on the legendary original by Alexandre Dumas, it tells of intrigues surrounding the court of Louis XIII with a fast pace and impressive fencing scenes. The main character who actually lived is featured in the documentary D’Artagnan, musketeer in the service of the Sun King illuminated in more detail. My sword for the king and in Under the sign of the lily round off the theme day.
Dokuhighlights
ARTE is once again offering a wide variety of documentaries this year: During the documentary The freestyle of her life The animated documentary series takes viewers on the exciting journey of the German-French ice skating couple Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot The Legends of Paris Insights into the entangled fates of French Romantic artists, including Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac. They break with traditional norms and innovate writing, painting and composing.
On Christmas Eve, ARTE will also show the captivating documentary The Mongolian eagle hunter and takes the audience on a journey of discovery into the kingdom of the wolves with the documentaryA year among wolves.
Gripping feature films and television films with great classics
Exciting feature films and television films make the hearts of all film enthusiasts beat faster even days before Christmas Eve: from Above the rooftops of Nice directed by Alfred Hitchcock about the classic feature films My great friend Shane and Isn’t life beautiful? to musical films The Umbrellas of Cherbourg by Jacques Demy there is something for everyone.
On Christmas Day, ARTE offers the award-winning historical drama in prime time The Queen and the personal physician about the power and love triangle of Danish Queen Caroline Mathilde. ARTE has something very special in store for all fantasy fans this year: the visually captivating fantasy adventure The Magic Flute – The Magic Flute on Boxing Day awakens curiosity about unknown magical worlds. The feature film stages Mozart’s most famous opera in a completely new guise. The crook comedy provides comedic interludes on New Year’s Eve The (first) big train robbery with the two film greats Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland.
Atmospheric concerts by first-class artists
Festive sounds can be heard on Christmas Eve with the classical concert Christmas in Regensburg: The celebrated baritone Benjamin Appl invites you to the Alte Kapelle in his hometown Regensburg and warms up the evening with international Christmas carols. On Christmas Day, ARTE offers a brilliant concert for young and old: Lang Lang – favorite melodies presents rousing pieces from classical to Disney.
On December 31st, the ARTE audience can look forward to an atmospheric event as usual New Year’s Eve concert by the Berlin Philharmonic with Kirill Petrenko and Daniil Trifonov. The New Year’s concert from the Teatro La Fenice in Venice under the musical direction of Daniel Harding invites you to an atmospheric start to the new year on New Year’s Eve.
All music lovers can also look forward to one of the greatest masterpieces of classical music, four times over! ARTE celebrated the 200th anniversary of the premiere this year Beethoven’s Ninth in four European cities, interpreted by four top orchestras, each with top-class musical direction. While ARTE played one set from each city in May, all concerts as part of the festival program will be available entirely online.
ARTE is dedicating this December to the Italian composer and exceptional artist Puccini Focus on Giacomo Puccini on the 100th anniversary of his death. While Puccini – Mass of Glory Under the musical direction of Diego Fasolis, the La Scala in Milan pays tribute to the composer with a festive gala concert Netrebko and Kaufmann sing Puccini. When recording La Bohème from the Salzburg Festival 2012 The Salzburg Festival performed Giacomo Puccini’s “La Bohème” for the first time in its history, creating a musical masterpiece. Additionally, the documentary reveals Puccini: Love, Death and the Power of Women the astonishingly progressive, sometimes downright feminist side of Puccini.
Impressive dance and extraordinary performances
Around the holidays, all dance lovers get their money’s worth: from the romantic ballet classic Marius Petipas ” Giselle ” in Amsterdam of the Dutch National Ballet about the Christmas ballet A Christmas Carol after Charles Dickens from the Finnish National Ballet to “Peter I Tchaikovsky” by the Spanish choreographer Cayetano Soto from the Leipzig Opera.
Stunning performances are also shown in the documentary Rudolf Nurejews Schwanensee put on show: the only 26-year-old Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev choreographed Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” and thus became the ballet icon of the 20th century. Johan Ingers Swan Lake from the Semperoper Dresden focuses on profound relationship issues, including the very contemporary question of respect and freedom in human interaction.
On the evening of December 26th, ARTE will present this year’s edition at prime time World Festival of the Circus of Tomorrow again the best circus acts by talented young artists from all over the world. The captivating portrait also impresses Artistry from Another World: Gravity & Other Myths the internationally renowned Australian circus troupe, which celebrates world success with its virtuoso and innovative acrobatic performances.
Well-known films and series as Web Only on arte.tv
This year, ARTE is once again offering a strong web-only program around the holidays: all Charles Dickens fans can look forward to the television films The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Great expectations and Oliver Twist as well as the mini-series Little Dorit be happy. ARTE also shows the series named after Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy’s novel of the same name War and Peace.
>> The festive program in advance on ARTE-Presse
ARTE wishes you peaceful and happy holidays!