Armistice Day films, documentaries and remembrance events to watch on French television

The 106th anniversary of the end of World War One on November 11, 2024 will see French television broadcast special programmes to mark the event, including President Macron’s visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as well as films and documentaries.

Coverage of Armistice Day starts on Sunday, November 10 with a special edition of the 13h15, le dimanche (France2) telling the story of Augustin Trébuchon, last French soldier to die in the war.

Then at 21:10, France 2 will broadcast classic French war comedy La Grande Vadrouille (set during World War Two).

Read more: How to buy a 2024 remembrance poppy in France

Commemorations in Paris

On Monday (a bank holiday in France), President Emmanuel Macron will lead the commemorations, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe.

The Elysée has placed a special emphasis on the celebration of "Franco-British friendship" this year to mark the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale alliance and the 80th anniversary of Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle relighting the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on November 11, 1944.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is scheduled to join Mr Macron for the occasion.

France 2 will broadcast the event from 09:25 to 11:55, including the inauguration of a reconstructed trench in Meaux, Seine-et-Marne.

News channels BFMTV, LCI, Franceinfo and CNews will also show coverage of the Paris commemorations.

Special documentaries and films

Several documentaries will be broadcast in the evening, including:

• Les sentinelles de l’oubli (20:40 on TV+), visiting the monuments to war dead in villages around France

• Le confiné de 14-18, mémoires d’un postier (20:55 on Planète +)

• Les sentiers de la gloire (Paths of Glory) (20:55 on Arte)

• Débat doc: 1914-1918 les sentinelles d’une boucherie (21:40 on LCP), 

• De Gaulle, l’homme à abattre (23:30 on LCP)

Programming to commemorate World War One will continue through the week, with France 2 dedicating an evening to the subject on November 12.

The evening will feature:

• 1914, et soudain la guerre (21:05) composed entirely of archive footage, 

• Quand la Grande Guerre rend fou (22:40) recounting the psychological trauma of the war.

• Les sentinelles de l’oubli (23:30) 

On Wednesday November 13, France 3 will broadcast the documentary De Verdun aux plages du débarquement... Traces de guerre at 21:05 looking at the scars left by the two world wars on the French landscape.

On Sunday November 17, France 5 will rebroadcast its documentary Apocalypse Verdun at 21:05, recounting the horrors of the 1916 battle, which lasted 300 days and claimed more than 700,000 victims.