2012 Edito Edito
To reaffirm the necessity of criticism is undoubtedly to affirm the necessity of thought on cinema and its inscription within history: the history of film, of criticism, of the world... our histories. It means establishing a dialogue with films, their authors and their viewers and claiming the importance of a space, a critical space — a public space — where the experience of a film can be shared and discussed. In short, the project of the États généraux du film documentaire, that of questioning and defending by our choices a certain idea of cinema, a certain idea of the encounter.
The proposed seminar "Necessity of criticism?" will set the tone of this edition, and the critical discourse it produces will infuse the totality of this year's workshops and programmes.
“Building a Political Point of View?” will select some of the films of the “Viewing Experiences” programme in order to distinguish and understand what aspects of style and approach reveal an intention, a political way of seeing. "Assembled Territories" will explore the fruitful encounter of image, music and sound in the creative process of a film with those who compose it, musicians and filmmakers. We will also be measuring the inventiveness in this area displayed by Bogdan Dziworski in his films. The "Fragment of a filmmaker's work: Ben Russell and Jean Rouch" will confront the work of a contemporary author with his influential predecessor. The dialogue between films from the past and the present will be prolonged in "Doc History: The Baltic Countries", and the Portuguese documentaries of "Doc Route" will reveal a common approach expressing some kind of kinship.
In all the proposals of this edition, looking at what connects or distinguishes films incites us to exercise our critical faculties, a sharpened awareness to what we see and hear, and presupposes the use of words as we address one another. An invitation to partake of shared speech on these films, speech that is open, generous and committed.
Pascale Paulat and Christophe Postic