ZDF-Enterprises

ARTE was founded in 1991 and operates as a German-French joint venture, financed by television licence fees. ZDF is a participator with 25% of the shares.

ARTE’s program charter stipulates that it should engage in the conception and transmission of television broadcasts that possess, in the most comprehensive sense, a cultural and international character that will contribute to the creation of a European identity. This involves maintaining high standards of quality with innovative program formats, supplying the in-depth background to straightforward issues and making complex issues comprehensible.

The Sunday, Tuesday and Friday theme evenings, which have become established as a trademark of the channel, present emotionally engaging and comprehensive information from various perspectives on a specific theme from the realm of culture, science, economics, politics, society and history, while the contemporary context and relevance of historical themes is always depicted.

ARTE aims to address viewers of every generation with high-quality, sophisticated and emotionally relevant documentaries. The themes are closely connected to the great scientific, cultural and historical events and discoveries of human history, which are presented in an accessible fashion. While the methods of popular science are employed here, experts from the relevant fields are also called upon to confirm the scientific accuracy of the points that are made. Re-enactments, extracts from archive material and computer animations may also be employed, in order to create a more appealing and accessible tone for the documentary.

The feature film slots present significant examples of contemporary world cinema that display a high degree of artistic originality and individual cinematic styles, as well as definitive modern classics of film histories drawn from a wide range of countries, epochs and genres. However, films displaying a complex dramatic approach and provocative content that sets them apart from the purely commercial cinema are also featured. Furthermore, once a month a place is reserved for masterpieces of the silent cinema, and for this purpose copies from film archives are brought back to prime quality by eminent restorers, or even reconstructed completely.

As a rule the slot devoted to short films is turned over to one or more examples of contemporary European short film production. Here there is a place for innovative and daring formats as well as examples of classical short film narrative technique.

When it comes to television films ARTE is dedicated to presenting a selection of the best German and French TV film productions, as well as outstanding examples from other, predominantly European countries. A large number of these are TV premieres, mainly of ARTE coproductions.

In addition, cult genres such as concerts, theatre and ballet have a regular place in ARTE programming. The features here include dance, theatre and concert events, while there is also a slot for the world of art and culture where works from the visual arts, architecture, design or photography are presented in an accessible manner.