• Director(s):

    KLEINER (VERONIQUE)

  • Producer(s):

    ARTE FRANCE, KS VISIONS

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2006

  • Language(s):

    German, French

  • Rights:

    NON-THEATRICAL, TV, VOD, DVD, INTERNET

In France today, manufacturers, researchers and former silk manufacturers are inventing extraordinarily versatile "intelligent materials". Is this the future of the European textile industry?

In the industrial and commercial war which is raging, Europe has lost the cotton battle, but also that of several other traditional materials. On the other hand, perspectives are opening up for "intelligent materials". In France, the epicentre of this new world is in the Rhone Valley. Thanks to chemical progress, alongside progress in micro and nano technologies and the knowledge of the former silk manufacturers, we know today that textiles can be given new characteristics and functions. Through the processes of ennoblement, raw materials are now softer, more supple and more resistant. They can breathe, thermo-regulate and communicate, and can be antibacterial, anti-U.V., and act as a second skin. Now that they are intelligent, use of these materials is reaching out to new domains. They become the nose of an Airbus or the nozzle of Ariane. Is innovation the secret weapon of countries witnessing the disappearance of their old industries?