2019 Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée
Right from the first shots filmed by the Lumière brothers, cinema was documentary. Their cameramen traveled the globe to “offer the world to the world” to use Bertrand Tavernier’s happy expression. This need to document, testify, think with images of reality has accompanied the whole length of audiovisual and film history. Today, the genre is experiencing a period of intense ferment thanks to the multiplication of digital platforms and the possibility, induced by new technology, to enrich the narrative by mixing different forms of expression (animation, virtual reality…).
All this wealth of documentary creation is to be found at the Lussas États généraux du film documentaire, an event which, since 1989, has been a reference for the art, bringing together professionals and a public curious about our cinematic heritage as they are about new documentary expressions.
The CNC quite evidently supports the creation of documentary films and in particular the most ambitious. Consequently, I am happy to announce that documentary is henceforth eligible for the “parity bonus” set up at the beginning of this year. We strive also to facilitate the distribution of documentary on all possible media. In addition to being henceforth more rapidly accessible after their screenings in cinemas, thanks to the new media chronology, we have accompanied since its creation the Tënk platform, entirely dedicated to creative documentary. In an increasingly polarised and fragmented contemporary society where the transmitters of fake news manipulate opinion and weaken democracies, documentary responds to a true social need: to decipher all the complexities of the world, to better understand the issues of today, to get to know our environment better in order to be able to invent together, in full conscience and freely, a future guided by our aspirations.
There in a few words are the reasons for our commitment to documentary. I wish all participants a fruitful États généraux du film documentaire and thank Pascale Paulat, Christophe Postic, their team, as well as all the members of the association Ardèche Images for their action in favour of documentary cinema.
Dominique Boutonnat
President of the CNC