Filmer autrui, the French documentary of the Trente glorieuses (1944 - 1973)
Jean Rouch International Festival
Featuring films by Yannick Bellon, Jacques Demy, Claudine de France, Jean-Luc Godard, Chris Marker, Agnès Varda and, of course, Jean Rouch, the program looks back at the founding period of documentary filmmaking, when filmmakers went out to meet their fellow human beings in France and around the world. At the same time, producers and distributors took part in the boom, thanks to new distribution possibilities: first-run screenings in cinemas, film clubs, festivals and television. Documentary thus established itself as a genre in its own right, while reaching a wide audience, and its influence became preponderant among the young guard of New Wave and direct cinema filmmakers.
With Laure Astourian, Lecturer in French, Bentley University, Laurent Pellé, General Delegate of the Jean Rouch International Festival
Session from 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Session 2 – 4:30 p.m.
5 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. session
Goémons By Yannick Bellon (France, 1948, 20 min.)
On a thankless farm on the island of Béniguet, off the tip of Finistère, live a couple with a young daughter and eight farmhands hired year-round to harvest the iodine-rich black seaweed. Yannick Bellon records gestures, the journeys of the cart loaded with slippery seaweed, the communal meal, where no one says a word, the men crushed by fatigue, misery and stupefaction, whose only distraction is listening to old records on a horn phono. The beauty and depth of the landscapes contrast with the oppressive atmosphere on the island.
International Grand Prize for Documentary at the 1948 Venice Biennale.
Goémons © Doriane films
Initiation à la danse des possédés By Jean Rouch (France, 1949, 22 min.)
In Firgoun, Niger, Zaba has been suffering for several months; she is permanently possessed by two genies: Niabéri and Malo. The Zima (priests) organize a ganandi, a ceremony in which the young woman learns the steps of the ritual dance to become a veritable “horse” of the genies. Once initiated, the woman will only be possessed at the priests’ request.
Short film prize at the 1949 Biarritz Festival du film maudit.
Initiation to the dance of the possessed © CNRS, CFE
Le Sabotier du Val de Loire By Jacques Demy (France, 1955, 23 min.)
A sabotier and his wife live simply and poorly on the banks of the Loire. Jacques Demy and his brother had taken shelter in their home during the bombing of Nantes. In his first short film, he wanted to describe the particular gestures of the sabotier and his wife, and pay tribute to their kindness and wisdom as they approach old age.
Le sabotier du Val de Loire © 1955 ciné-tamaris
Les Maîtres fous A film by Jean Rouch (France, 1955, 36 min.)
In the city of Accra, emigrants from Niger suddenly find themselves plunged into the hectic life of Western civilization. To remedy this uprooting, they gather in one of the city’s suburbs to worship the Haouka, a kind of modern-day genie.
Grand Prix at the 1957 Venice International Biennale.
Les Maîtres fous © Films du jeudi
Dimanche à Pékin A film by Chris Marker (France, 1956, 22 min)
A photo of the Ming Tombs Alley, seen by the director as a child, introduces Chris Marker’s stroll through the streets of Beijing. Marker wanders through different parts of the city, offering “different vignettes” of modern China in the 1950s. “Nothing is more beautiful than Paris, if not the memory of Paris. And nothing is more beautiful than Peking, if not the memory of Peking. And I, in Paris, remember Beijing and count my treasures.”
Sunday in Beijing © Tamasa Distribution
Salut les Cubains By Agnès Varda (France, 1963, 30 min.)
“Salut les Cubains […] is a tribute to Cuba. I’d been invited there by ICAIC, the Cuban Film Institute. I took a Leica, some film and a foot with me, because I had a project in mind. I really found the Cubans extraordinary and the forms of their socialism surprising and joyful. They’re the only Latin socialists. […] I brought back 2,500 photos, it took me six months to edit 1,500, but I was rewarded: in Cuba, they say it’s a Cuban film, that it has the ‘savor’.” Agnès Varda
Bronze medal at the International Documentary Film Exhibition, Venice 1964, and Silver Dove at the Leipzig Festival (FRG).
La Charpaigne or the birth of basketry By Claudine de France (France, 1968, 31 min)
After cutting wicker stems, a basket-maker from Châtillonnais (Côte-d’Or) debarks them in his workshop to make a basket. Shaping a hoop, adjusting the stems firmly attached by straps, and braiding are the first steps in shaping the object. Two handles are then carved into the work before the finishing touches are applied. All under the watchful eye of the house cat.
Featuring films by Yannick Bellon, Jacques Demy, Claudine de France, Jean-Luc Godard, Chris Marker, Agnès Varda and, of course, Jean Rouch, the program looks back at the founding period of documentary filmmaking, when filmmakers went out to meet their fellow human beings in France and around the world. At the same time, producers and distributors took part in the boom, thanks to new distribution possibilities: first-run screenings in cinemas, film clubs, festivals and television. Documentary thus established itself as a genre in its own right, while reaching a wide audience, and its influence became preponderant among the young guard of New Wave and direct cinema filmmakers.
With Laure Astourian, Lecturer in French, Bentley University, Laurent Pellé, General Delegate of the Jean Rouch International Festival
Session from 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Session 2 – 4:30 p.m.
5 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. session
Goémons By Yannick Bellon (France, 1948, 20 min.)
On a thankless farm on the island of Béniguet, off the tip of Finistère, live a couple with a young daughter and eight farmhands hired year-round to harvest the iodine-rich black seaweed. Yannick Bellon records gestures, the journeys of the cart loaded with slippery seaweed, the communal meal, where no one says a word, the men crushed by fatigue, misery and stupefaction, whose only distraction is listening to old records on a horn phono. The beauty and depth of the landscapes contrast with the oppressive atmosphere on the island.
International Grand Prize for Documentary at the 1948 Venice Biennale.
Goémons © Doriane films
Initiation à la danse des possédés By Jean Rouch (France, 1949, 22 min.)
In Firgoun, Niger, Zaba has been suffering for several months; she is permanently possessed by two genies: Niabéri and Malo. The Zima (priests) organize a ganandi, a ceremony in which the young woman learns the steps of the ritual dance to become a veritable “horse” of the genies. Once initiated, the woman will only be possessed at the priests’ request.
Short film prize at the 1949 Biarritz Festival du film maudit.
Initiation to the dance of the possessed © CNRS, CFE
Le Sabotier du Val de Loire By Jacques Demy (France, 1955, 23 min.)
A sabotier and his wife live simply and poorly on the banks of the Loire. Jacques Demy and his brother had taken shelter in their home during the bombing of Nantes. In his first short film, he wanted to describe the particular gestures of the sabotier and his wife, and pay tribute to their kindness and wisdom as they approach old age.
Le sabotier du Val de Loire © 1955 ciné-tamaris
Les Maîtres fous A film by Jean Rouch (France, 1955, 36 min.)
In the city of Accra, emigrants from Niger suddenly find themselves plunged into the hectic life of Western civilization. To remedy this uprooting, they gather in one of the city’s suburbs to worship the Haouka, a kind of modern-day genie.
Grand Prix at the 1957 Venice International Biennale.
Les Maîtres fous © Films du jeudi
Dimanche à Pékin A film by Chris Marker (France, 1956, 22 min)
A photo of the Ming Tombs Alley, seen by the director as a child, introduces Chris Marker’s stroll through the streets of Beijing. Marker wanders through different parts of the city, offering “different vignettes” of modern China in the 1950s. “Nothing is more beautiful than Paris, if not the memory of Paris. And nothing is more beautiful than Peking, if not the memory of Peking. And I, in Paris, remember Beijing and count my treasures.”
Sunday in Beijing © Tamasa Distribution
Salut les Cubains By Agnès Varda (France, 1963, 30 min.)
“Salut les Cubains […] is a tribute to Cuba. I’d been invited there by ICAIC, the Cuban Film Institute. I took a Leica, some film and a foot with me, because I had a project in mind. I really found the Cubans extraordinary and the forms of their socialism surprising and joyful. They’re the only Latin socialists. […] I brought back 2,500 photos, it took me six months to edit 1,500, but I was rewarded: in Cuba, they say it’s a Cuban film, that it has the ‘savor’.” Agnès Varda
Bronze medal at the International Documentary Film Exhibition, Venice 1964, and Silver Dove at the Leipzig Festival (FRG).
La Charpaigne or the birth of basketry By Claudine de France (France, 1968, 31 min)
After cutting wicker stems, a basket-maker from Châtillonnais (Côte-d’Or) debarks them in his workshop to make a basket. Shaping a hoop, adjusting the stems firmly attached by straps, and braiding are the first steps in shaping the object. Two handles are then carved into the work before the finishing touches are applied. All under the watchful eye of the house cat.