Chronique d'un été (Chronicle of a Summer) (1961)

January 26, 2013 - 7:30 pm

Billy Wilder Theater

In-person:

Ayuko Babu, Pan African Film and Art Festival; Robert Lemelson, UCLA Dept. of Anthropology; Jackie Raynal, director UNE BRÈVE HISTOIRE DE CINÉMA; Michael Renov, USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Directed by Jean Rouch, Edgar Morin

Rouch and sociologist Edgar Morin set out to create a portrait and time capsule of Paris, following a small group of French and African acquaintances as they discuss geopolitics and daily life. The use of lightweight cameras and sound recording equipment, and the involvement of participants in the process of filmmaking gave the film a bristling aesthetic character, profoundly influencing the development of cinema verité and spurring debates about documentary practice.

Cast: J. Rouch, E. Morin, Marceline Loridan Ivens.

35mm, b/w, 85 min.

Preceded by

Une brève histoire de cinéma (2004)

Directed by Jackie Raynal

Shot shortly before Rouch's death in 2004, this film by his sometime collaborator Jackie Raynal captures the then-86-year-old documentarian visiting a café near his home in Paris.

Digital video, color, 16 min.

Tourou et Bitti, les tambours d'avant (Tourou and Bitti: The Drums of the Past) (1971)

Directed by Jean Rouch

A spellbinding work, achieved in a single take, this documentation of a possession ritual of music and dance in rural Niger builds to its climactic conclusion only after Rouch’s presence has been noticed and acknowledged by participants, complicating the meaning of the cinematic apparatus.

16mm, color, 10 min.

Part of:

Farther Than Far: The Cinema of Jean Rouch

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Chronique d'un été (Chronicle of a Summer) (1961)

Une brève histoire de cinéma (2004)

Tourou et Bitti, les tambours d'avant (Tourou and Bitti: The Drums of the Past) (1971)

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