Jean Rouch

Mad Mimes (2012)

An anthropological study of a cargo cult in a fictitious self-marginalized commune, which existed next to the Moscow Ring Road - a highway that marks the boundaries of the Russian capital - and survived mainly on roadside trash. Although the road provided ...

Le Rêve plus fort que la mort (2002)

Jean Rouch's return to Niger, to meet his African friends and the play "Perses" by Aeschylus provide him with the opportunity to relate his Dionysian vision of the world and Songhai mythology. Lam, the Fulani shepherd who is now deceased, once invented a ...

I'm Tired of Standing, I Lie Down (1997)

Two parts magical drama and one part straight documentary, this outing from famed ethnographic filmmaker Jean Rouch is set somewhere in Nigeria near a small village. ...

A Friendly Handshake (1997)

From the bridges of Porto to its estuary, two men are paying tribute to the elegant Douro River. Through Luís de Camões and Prince Henry the Navigator, through its Viking ships and dizzying bridges, the Douro is a great witness to the history and culture ...

Announcement (1997)

This film, made in one afternoon, is an "inspired promenade," the discovery of an exhibition with improvised text and commentary. Five shot sequences of ten minutes apiece, following the chronological order of the history of cinema as conceived by Henri La ...

Germaine et ses copains (1996)

In Sangha, through the window of her house, Germaine greets Djamgouno, her main informant. He then translates for her a conversation she has with a half-blind old man. She recounts her memories of a past party at which Amadigné worked with her as an infor ...

Germaine chez elle (1994)

In front of Jean Rouch's camera, Germaine Dieterlen recalls her ethnographic itinerary, at the Musée de l'Homme, in Mali and in the Paris of the 1930s. ...

Madame l'eau (1993)

"Their land drought-stricken, three Nigerien farmers (and their donkey) travel to Holland to investigate the possibility of importing windmill technology for use on the plains of Niger. A follow-up to JAGUAR, PETIT À PETIT, and COCORICO MONSIEUR POULET! � ...

Damouré Speaks About AIDS (1992)

When the male nurse Damouré Zika talks about AIDS with his two friends Lam and Tallou, under the admiring eye of his own wife Lobo, who is a nurse's aide, it is because he believes that AIDS is a "disease of love that can only be conquered by love." And t ...

Brise-glace (1990)

Collaborative experimental project on which three director made different films about the Swedish icebreaker "Frej". ...

Liberté, égalité, fraternité, et puis après... (1990)

On the occasion of the bicentenary of the French Revolution, a group of Haitians in Paris undertake a voodoo ritual in front of Les Invalides, to reconcile the spirits of Napoleon Bonaparte and Toussaint L'Overture, the Haitian revolutionary who died as a ...

Boulevards d'Afrique (1989)

A Film by Jean Rouch and Tam-Sir Doueb. ...

Brise-glace : Bateau givre (1987)

First part of the collaborative project "Brise-Glace" showing the diverse travels on the icebreaker "Frej". Directed by Jean Rouch. ...

Couleur du temps. Berlin, Août 1945 (1987)

Not much film stock, an inspired camera, a meditation on time, period songs: using contemporary images, shot at a time when the broken city was starting to heal its wounds, Jean Rouch recalls his impressions in Berlin immediately after the war. ...

Cousin, cousine (1987)

Mariama and Damouré, two cousins, are in Venice looking for a relic—or fetish—lost a long time ago, as in one of Gentile Bellini's famous paintings. Moving from the Grand Canal to the Niger River, the two mischievous cousins reveal to us that the rel ...

Enigma (1986)

An artist is invited to Turin and is asked to do a painting inspired by the city and the work of Giorgio De Chirico. ...

The Ordinary Madness of a Daughter of Ham (1986)

In Jean Rouch's cinematic reinterpretation of Julius-Amédée Laou's theatrical work, a freshly appointed nurse steps into the chaotic world of a psychiatric ward. Tasked with nurturing the minds within, she forms a profound connection with a patient from ...

Dionysos (1984)

The story of an American drama teacher who after writing a thesis on Dionysus tries to combine Dionysian rites with the work at a car factory, in an attempt to create the world's first car built in joyous frenzy. ...

Ciné-Portrait of Raymond Depardon (1983)

A fortuitous meeting, late one afternoon, in the garden of the Tuileries, of one or two cameras, a tape recorder, and three cameramen/directors, Raymond Depardon, Jean Rouch, and Philippe Costantini. ...

Sigui Synthesis: The Invention of Speech and Death (1981)

Sigui 1967-1973: invention de la parole et de la mort is a never-before-seen synthesis of the roaming ceremony of the Dogon people living in Mali, the Sigui. It is celebrated for seven years every sixty years, and it is to commemorate the first forefather' ...

Ciné-mafia (1980)

Three pioneers of documentary filmmaking – Joris Ivens, Henri Storck, and the man behind the camera, Jean Rouch – recall the early days of the documentary genre and speak about their creative methods and sources of inspiration. This lively discussion b ...

Funeral at Bongo: The Death of Old Anai (1979)

In 1972, the Dogon of the Bandiagara cliff in Mali celebrated the funeral of Anaï Dolo, head of the Bongo Masks Society, who died at the age of 122. On this occasion, the large Bongo mask, is erected and for twenty days, family members, elders, men from n ...

Margaret Mead: A Portrait By a Friend (1978)

Jean Rouch filmed this loving and humorous portrait of anthropologist and filmmaker Margaret Mead in September 1977 while he was a guest of the first Margaret Mead Film Festival. As both a friend and colleague, Rouch reveals a glimpse of the legendary Mead ...

Makwayela (1977)

A group of factory workers in post-independence Mozambique perform a ritual of song describing their work in South African gold mines and decrying the evils of apartheid. ...

Ispahan: A Persian Letter (The Chah Mosque at Ispahan) (1977)

Jean Rouch's camera follows his friend, filmmaker/actor/critic Farrokh Ghaffari, as he walks and talks us through the famous Shah Mosque in Esfehan. While guiding him and answering his questions, Ghaffari makes Rouch discover the beauties of the architectu ...

Badye, the Storyteller (1977)

A Nigerian traditionalist who draws his inspiration from bird warbling to compose music to accompany his verse chronicles. ...

Hommage à Marcel Mauss. Germaine Dieterlen (1977)

Germaine Dierterlen talks about Dogon mythology at a conference on the Bandiagara cliffs. The Songo canopy is a sacred site in Bandiagara. Its walls are covered with paintings depicting the different phases of creation. A little further on, in a cave near ...

Babatou, Three Pieces of Advice (1976)

Once upon a time, in the middle of the last century, a great warrior named Babatou. Nigerian jumper from the region Dounga Gurunsi invaded the country and settled there. The brave prisoners were integrated into the army, women espoused. For fifty years, th ...

Zomo et ses frères (1975)

A portrait of Zomo, the second of Damouré Zika's many children. Employed at the zoo of the National Museum of Niger in Niamey, he offers us a tour, showing us the animals he takes care of. Then, when the work is finished, he invites us to an impromptu con ...

Cock-A-Doodle-Doo! Mr Chicken (1974)

The story follows three poultry sellers on a trip across the bush, attempting to deliver a load of chickens to a market in Niamey. ...

The Dama of Ambara: To Enchant Death (1974)

Every five years, the mask society of the Dogons of Sanga, Mali, organizes a great Dama, a ceremony to end the period of mourning and drive away "the dangerous thing". The Dama shown here is for seven dignitaries, one of whom was called Ambara Dolo. ...

Pam Kuso Kar (Breaking Pam's Vases) (1974)

In February 1974, Pam Sambo Zima, the oldest of the priests of possession in Niamey, Niger, died at the age of seventy-plus years. In his backyard, the followers from the possession cult symbolically break the dead priest's ritual vases and cry for the dec ...

Sigui 1973: The Canopy of Circumcision (1973)

The seventh year of the Sigui ceremonies, celebrated every sixty years by the Dogons of the Bandiagara cliffs, Mali. ...

The Year 01 (1973)

The film narrates a utopian abandonment, consensual and festive of the market economy and high productivity. The population decides on a number of resolutions beginning with "We stop everything" and the second "After a total downtime will be revived-reluct ...

VW-Voyou (1973)

A man rides a VW Beetle through the plains of Niger. ...

Giraffe Football or “The Alternative” (1973)

It's the final of the giraffe football world championship. The 403 and the 504 are in the final. The referee gives the instructions and the cars rush in pursuit of the giraffe. ...

Boukoki (1973)

Scene of possession during a ceremony to appeal for rain in Niger. ...

The Burial of the Hogon (1973)

Burial of the Hogon of Sanga, Dogon religious leader of Lower Ogol, Mali. ...

Funeral Rites for Women in Bongo (1973)

In Mali, women's funeral rite takes place in the village of Bongo, in Dogon country. ...

Sigui 1972: The Loincloths of Yamé (1972)

The sixth year of the Sigui ceremonies, celebrated every sixty years by the Dogons of the Bandiagara cliffs, Mali. ...

Horendi (1972)

A seven-day initiation ceremony is documented in which two women undergo ritual healing following a diagnosis of spirit possession, presented without narration, intertitles, or explanatory commentary. ...

Un lion nommé l'Américain (1972)

A film about a lion. ...

Sigui 1971: The Dune of Idyeli (1971)

The fifth year of the Sigui ceremonies, celebrated every sixty years by the Dogons of the Bandiagara cliffs, Mali, takes place in the village of Idyeli. ...

Drums from the Past (1971)

Filmed in May 1971 in Niger, this short documentary records a possession ritual performed by the Simiri people in response to a locust invasion. The ceremony centers on the beating of the archaic drums Tourou and Bitti, used to invoke spirit forces through ...

Sigui 1970: The Clamours of Amani (1970)

The fourth year of the Sigui ceremonies, celebrated every sixty years by the Dogons of the Bandiagara cliffs, Mali, takes place in the village of Amani. ...

Little by Little (1970)

An African travels to Paris to learn about the construction of tall buildings, but is soon taken up with the oddities of French life. ...

Mya - la mère (1970)

A short film about two mothers from Niger and how they care for their children. ...

Architects of Ayorou (1970)

Traditional houses and new architecture in Ayorou, an island on the River Niger in the archipelago of Tillaberi. The village and its activities; the building of the house of a newly-wed young man. ...

Sigui 1969: The Cave of Bongo (1969)

The third year of the Sigui ceremonies, celebrated every sixty years by the Dogons of the Bandiagara cliffs, Mali, takes place in the village of Bongo. ...

Sigui 1968: The Dancers of Tyogou (1968)

The second year of the Sigui ceremonies, celebrated every sixty years by the Dogons of the Bandiagara cliffs, Mali, takes place in the village of Tyogou. ...

Ayorou Singing Stones (1968)

On the Niger River, the island of Ayorou is home to a "singing stone," an imposing boulder rock covered with cupules. It is used as a percussion instrument by local musicians who have come in a canoe. After long rehearsals, the artists will play their comp ...

Yenendi de Ganghel (Rain Dance at Ganghel) (1968)

Lightning struck the hut of a Fulani shepherd near a village of settled fishermen, Ganghel, in Niger. A yenendi, a purification ceremony to obtain "water from the sky but not fire from the sky", is organized, with Sorko priests, ritual musicians and dancer ...

Sigui 1967: L'enclume de Yougo (1967)

Beginning of the sextenary festival of the Sigui among the Dogon of the Bandiagara cliff in Mali. This first ceremony takes place at the village of Yougo Dogorou. The men, shaved and dressed in ritual clothes of the Sigui, enter the public square dancing t ...

Jaguar (1967)

Jaguar, a kind of road movie on foot, tells of the journey of three friends, Damouré, Lam and Illo, on their way to the Gold Coast where they hope to make a fortune in order to return to their village in a few months. ...

Daouda Sorko (1967)

In the village of Simiri, Niger, fisherman Daouda is also a priest of the cult of Dongo, the god of Thunder for the Songhay people. He tells the god's legend by illustrating his account with drawings sketched in the sand at his feet. ...

The Lion Hunters (1966)

Etnographic documentary about lion hunting in Africa. ...

Dogon Drums, Elements of a Study in Rhythm (1966)

The young goat herders from the cliff of Bandiagara practice on the stone drums of their ancestors. An ethnomusicological film experiment describing the subtle plays of the right and left hand of Dogon drummers. ...

The Goumbé of the Young Revelers (1966)

The film shows the members of a voluntary association of young people from Upper Volta who work in Abidjan, Ivory Coast - first at their work, then at a reunion that ends on a dance floor in Treichville. The young people who come to work in Abidjan often f ...

Six in Paris (1965)

Six vignettes set in different sections of Paris, by six directors. St. Germain des Pres (Douchet), Gare du Nord (Rouch), Rue St. Denis (Pollet), and Montparnasse et Levallois (Godard) are stories of love, flirtation and prostitution; Place d'Etoile (Rohme ...

Gare du Nord (1965)

In a busy, noisy neighborhood, a frustrated young wife in a failing marriage is offered her freedom by her indifferent husband, but has second thoughts after meeting an intriguing stranger. ...

The Fifteen-Year-Old Widows (1964)

Filmed in Paris in 1964, this documentary short follows two fifteen-year-old girls from the city's 16th arrondissement as they move through leisure, conversation, and social encounters. The film records their views on adulthood, relationships, and the futu ...

L'Afrique et la recherche scientifique (1964)

This documentary offers an overview of French scientific research in Africa French scientific research in Africa: hydrology, botany, biology oil palm and coconut cultivation, industrial sea fishing and and urban planning. Film montage taking stock of scie ...

Monsieur Albert, prophète (1963)

Life in a community of Harist disciples in the village of Bregbo, Côte d'Ivoire, under the aegis of their "prophet" Alberto Atcho. 50 km from Abidjan, magician Albert Archo treats the sick, most of them mentally ill. Through a combination of public confes ...

Rose et Landry (1963)

A young African couple discusses the influence of the West on their traditions. They discuss at length love, polygamy, bourgeois marriage, the contribution of the West and African heritage. ...

Le palmier à l'huile (1963)

Directed by Jean Rouch. ...

Les cocotiers (1963)

Directed by Jean Rouch. ...

Hampi (1962)

A ritual vase, the hampi, is placed in the center of the Musée de plein air de la République du Niger in Niamey, during a ritual ceremony featuring possession dances. With this film, Jean Rouch continues his ethnological and cinematographic study of Song ...

The Punishment (1962)

An aimless young woman is sent home from school with nothing to do. Drifting through the streets of Paris, she comes across a variety of people. ...

Niger Festivals: December 1961 - Niger Independence Days (1962)

Commemorative celebrations of the independence of the Republic of Niger filmed in December 1961 and 1962. ...

Abidjan, port de pêche (1962)

Directed by Jean Rouch. ...

Urbanisme africain (1962)

Directed by Jean Rouch. ...

Le mil (1962)

Directed by Jean Rouch. ...

Les pêcheurs du Niger (1962)

Directed by Jean Rouch. ...

Chronicle of a Summer (1961)

Paris, summer 1960. Anthropologist and filmmaker Jean Rouch and sociologist and film critic Edgar Morin wander through the crowded streets asking passersby how they cope with life's misfortunes. ...

The Human Pyramid (1961)

Jean Rouch gives a group of black and white teenagers a "what if" question: what if they socialised with each other? The teenagers then improvise their own characters and situations. ...

Funérailles au Ghana (1960)

A woman's funeral in Ghana. ...

The Sons of the Water (1959)

A compilation of black and white excerpts from five previous color films by Jean Rouch: Yenendi, the Rainmakers, Cemeteries in the Cliff, The Millet People, The Circumcision, Battle on the Great River. ...

I, a Negro (1959)

Winner of the prestigious Prix Louis Delluc in 1958, "Moi, un noir" marked Jean Rouch's break with traditional ethnography, and his embrace of the collaborative and improvisatory strategies he called "shared ethnography" and "ethnofiction". The film depict ...

Moro Naba (1958)

Funeral rituals for the traditional leader Moro Naba of the Mossi at Ougadougou, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso). Election ceremonies for his successor. Preparing the feast for the end of mourning. Ceremony in the palace, the people of Ougadougou, the warri ...

Une sortie de novices de Sakpata (1958)

Sakpata is one of the main deities of the "Vodoun" pantheon in Benin (Dahomey at the time of filming, in 1958). Initiation into the cult of the Vodoun gives rise to a long seclusion in a "convent" where young neophytes learn the sung dances specific to the ...

Baby Ghana (1957)

Shows independence festivities in Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast, which on 6th March had become the first African colony to gain independence. ...

The Mad Masters (1955)

The subject of the film was the Hauka movement. The Hauka movement consisted of mimicry and dancing to become possessed by French Colonial administrators. The participants performed the same elaborate military ceremonies of their colonial occupiers, but in ...

Mammy Water (1953)

"Mammy Water" is mother sea, source of food. Jean Rouch filmed this short documentary in the Gulf of Guinea, in Ghana, where is held a colorful festival, the Chama, in which the participants offer cassava, gin and tobacco to the spirits of water and sacrif ...

The Rainmakers (1951)

Rain rituals with possession dances among the Songhay and Zarma of Simiri, Zermaganda, Niger. Dry Season: The village of Simiri; water carriers, the rainbow tree. Possession of the faithful making their way to the spirits' hut on the seventh day of the sev ...

Cemeteries in the Cliff (1951)

Dogon funerary rites in the village of Ireli at the foot of the Bandiagara cliffs, Mali. ...

Les gens du mil (1951)

A film by Jean Rouch. ...

Battle on the Great River (1950)

After an unsuccessful attempt in 1946 to film a traditional bangaoui (hippopotamus hunt) on the Niger River, Jean Rouch returns several years later to document the ritual in full. The film records the ceremonial preparations, spiritual practices, and seaso ...

Circumcision (1949)

Rites and operation of the circumcision of thirty Songhai children on the Niger. Material of this film has been used to make "Les Fils de l'Eau". ...

Initiation into the Dance of the Possessed (1948)

Filmed in Firgoun, Niger, the film documents an initiation ceremony in which a young Songhay woman undergoes ritual preparation for the dance of possession. Led by zima (ritual priests), the ganandi ceremony teaches the structured movements and ritual prac ...

The Magicians of Wanzerbé (1948)

Filmed in Wanzerbé, Niger, this short documentary records ritual, market exchange, and ceremonial practices, documenting divination, sacrifice, and collective rites intended to protect the village and its inhabitants. ...

Hombroï (1948)

A film by Jean Rouch. ...

In the Land of the Black Magi (1947)

Rouch's earliest surviving film, which depicts the Sorko of Niger on a hippopotamus hunt. ...

My Conversations on Film (2013)

This distinctly personal journey into the artistic possibilities of independent film is not to be missed. Jonas Mekas, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Robert Kramer and many other visionaries and mavericks of the silver screen – as well as a book seller, a critic and ...

Freddy Buache, le cinéma (2012)

A documentary film in which Fabrice Aragno assembles a range of footage from the archives of Radio Télévision Suisse, the Cinémathèque suisse and Cinéma en tête by Freddy Buache's partner Marie-Magdeleine Brumagne. ...

Maya Deren, Take Zero (2012)

This documentary interweaves films and voice recordings by Maya Deren with interviews featuring colleagues and contemporaries who worked with or knew her firsthand. Drawing on archival material and commentary from figures such as Jean Rouch and Jonas Mekas ...

Jean Epstein, Young Oceans of Cinema (2011)

This portrait of the French film theorist and avant-garde director Jean Epstein (1897-1953) concentrates on the period when he filmed in Brittany, the spot where he became inspired by the sea. Using rare archive footage, Jean Epstein, Young Oceans of Cinem ...

Sodankylä Forever (2010)

The Midnight Sun Film Festival is held every June in the Finnish village of Sodankylä beyond the arctic circle — where the sun never sets. Founded by Aki and Mika Kaurismäki along with Anssi Mänttäri and Peter von Bagh in 1985, the festival has playe ...

The Dreamed Films (2010)

Belgian filmmaker Eric Pauwels' meditation on dream, travel and film. ...

Jean Rouch, des mensonges plus vrais que la réalité (2004)

Encountering Jean Rouch (2003)

This short film was shot in 2002 during Bilan du Film Ethnographic for the purpose of introducing Jean Rouch to the audience at 2003 Taiwan International Ethnographic film festival. Unexpectedly, Jean Rouch passed away in 2004. In this film Jean Rouch talk ...

Mon père c'est un lion - Jean Rouch pour mémoire (2002)

Nouvelle Vague : El cine sin dogmas (2000)

Cinéma, de notre temps: Mosso, mosso (Jean Rouch comme si...) (1999)

Ciguri - Tarahumaras 99 - Le dernier chaman (1999)

Rites of winter, rites of peyote. A creative documentary based on texts by Antonin Artaud read by Jean Rouch, and the words of the last shaman's peyote, translated by Raymonde Carasco. ...

Pierre Fatumbi Verger: Messenger Between Two Worlds (1998)

Inspired by the life of the french-born photographer and ethnographer, Pierre Verger, the movie follows his journey between Bahia, Brazil and Benin, Oriental Africa, showing places and people he met and his life study project: the Candomblé culture. ...

Ciguri – Tarahumaras 98 - La Danse Du Peyotl (1998)

A documentary cycle involving the Rarámuri or Tarahumara people of Northern Mexico. This film addresses rites of winter as well as peyote and bakaka rites. Its commentary, read by Raymonde Carasco and Jean Rouch, is drawn from texts by Antonin Artaud. ...

A Friendly Handshake (1997)

From the bridges of Porto to its estuary, two men are paying tribute to the elegant Douro River. Through Luís de Camões and Prince Henry the Navigator, through its Viking ships and dizzying bridges, the Douro is a great witness to the history and culture ...

Son of Gascogne (1995)

You're a provincial kid in Paris and suddenly you're the center of attention: Movie stars, famous directors and sexy women are doting on you because they all think you're the son of their long-dead legendary friend. You never knew your dad, but the facts o ...

Rouch in Reverse (1995)

Malian filmmaker and New York University professor, Manthia Diawara critiques visual anthropology through the work of Jean Rouch. ...

Germaine chez elle (1994)

In front of Jean Rouch's camera, Germaine Dieterlen recalls her ethnographic itinerary, at the Musée de l'Homme, in Mali and in the Paris of the 1930s. ...

Cinéma! Cinéma! The French New Wave (1992)

An intimate window into one of the great movements in film history that brought about an evolution in the art of cinema. The documentary portrays the movement with insight on the lives and works of Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut and other principal pl ...

An Egg with No Shell (1992)

A male diva sings in a countertenor voice while massacring chickens brought to him by his butler, Jean Rouch, until a slave provides proof of his love for the chicken, which he has tucked under his arm. A film-opera based on a poem and musical theme by Rin ...

Letter to Jean Rouch (1992)

This film is a moving tribute to French filmmaker Jean Rouch. Pauwels, a former collaborator of Rouch, accompanies him on a trip to Japan. In this cinematic letter, which he himself calls "a journey into the memory", Pauwels philosophises about the essence ...

Jean Rouch: First Film 1947-1991 (1991)

The first film in Jean Rouch's filmography is not his first film at all. It was edited by a French news company, using images he had shot but organised into a very different sequence from his own. On top of that, it was accompanied by a colonialist comment ...

Ciné-Portrait of Raymond Depardon (1983)

A fortuitous meeting, late one afternoon, in the garden of the Tuileries, of one or two cameras, a tape recorder, and three cameramen/directors, Raymond Depardon, Jean Rouch, and Philippe Costantini. ...

Ciné-mafia (1980)

Three pioneers of documentary filmmaking – Joris Ivens, Henri Storck, and the man behind the camera, Jean Rouch – recall the early days of the documentary genre and speak about their creative methods and sources of inspiration. This lively discussion b ...

Cinématon (1978)

Cinématon is a 156-hour long experimental film by French director Gérard Courant. It was the longest film ever released until 2011. Composed over 36 years from 1978 until 2006, it consists of a series of over 2,821 silent vignettes (cinématons), each 3 ...

Samba the Great (1977)

Based on a traditional folktale, this animated film follows the hero Sambagana, who must complete a succession of arduous trials in order to make a princess laugh and earn her consent to marriage. Combining drawn animation and stop-motion puppetry, the fil ...

Ispahan: A Persian Letter (The Chah Mosque at Ispahan) (1977)

Jean Rouch's camera follows his friend, filmmaker/actor/critic Farrokh Ghaffari, as he walks and talks us through the famous Shah Mosque in Esfehan. While guiding him and answering his questions, Ghaffari makes Rouch discover the beauties of the architectu ...

Civilisation: L'homme et les images (1967)

Collective contribution to a history of cinema, this issue of the "Civilisations" collection also takes part in the genesis of Deux ou trois choses que je sais d'elle and La Chinoise ...

World Without a Game (1966)

Documentary portrait of Dziga Vertov, father of documentary cinema. ...

La Nouvelle Vague par elle-même (1964)

Made for Cinéastes de notre temps series. In 1964, several French New Wave auteurs discuss the success and crisis of the wave. Featuring Claude Chabrol, François Truffaut, Jacques Rivette, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rozier, Jacques Demy, Agnès Varda, Jean ...

The Lovely Month of May (1963)

Candid interviews of ordinary people on the meaning of happiness, an often amorphous and inarticulable notion that evokes more basic and fundamentally egalitarian ideals of self-betterment, prosperity, tolerance, economic opportunity, and freedom. ...

The Doll (1962)

An avant-garde political satire that takes place in a mythical country in South America. The dictator has been replaced by a look-alike revolutionary, and the dictator's wife has been replaced by a robot. ...

Chronicle of a Summer (1961)

Paris, summer 1960. Anthropologist and filmmaker Jean Rouch and sociologist and film critic Edgar Morin wander through the crowded streets asking passersby how they cope with life's misfortunes. ...

The Sons of the Water (1959)

A compilation of black and white excerpts from five previous color films by Jean Rouch: Yenendi, the Rainmakers, Cemeteries in the Cliff, The Millet People, The Circumcision, Battle on the Great River. ...

The Mad Masters (1955)

The subject of the film was the Hauka movement. The Hauka movement consisted of mimicry and dancing to become possessed by French Colonial administrators. The participants performed the same elaborate military ceremonies of their colonial occupiers, but in ...