2015 We are documentary We are documentary
“We are documentary” is a collective founded after the publication on March 13, 2015 of an op-ed signed by 1,800 professionals in the newspaper Le Monde. By placing films at the centre of our concerns, we aim to create a transversal gathering of directors, producers, technicians, festival directors, critics and people involved in cultural action who defend a documentary cinema freed from the constraints of formatting. Our goal is to open up a space for discussion, proposals and actions aimed at promoting new policies in favour of documentary creation which has been under attack for several months.
The Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image animée (CNC) seems to want to break with the balance between art and industry on which it is historically founded. The reform of financial aid for films coproduced with a television company has produced a selective commission giving undue weight to the industry. At the same time, its services have launched an attack on local broadcasters, blocking a large sector of documentary film production, imperiling the existence of works outside the mainstream as well as more fragile production companies. This attack is taking place at the same time as the CNC is toughening all its rules, from access to feature length production to support for distribution in cinemas with the result that documentary cinema is destabilised.
This worrying movement can only make the existence of the genre more precarious as it is already suffering from the disengagement of national television companies and above all, of public service companies. France Télévisions does not meet its mission contract and shows far too few creative documentaries on its stations.
Finally the announced reform of regional funding will have a considerable impact on the future audiovisual and cinematographic situation in France. What possibilities will we still have tomorrow to write, direct, produce, accompany and show films which combine with the Real in diverse and innovative ways? Variety is the wealth of this cinematographic genre, the driving force behind its existence which is to look at our realities with singular and critical points of view. Perhaps that precisely is its crime...
This time to which the Lussas États généraux du film documentaire is associated will provide the opportunity to detail this context and reflect collectively on future actions...