Chronique d'un été (Paris 1960) (1961)

Chronique d’un été (Paris 1960): Directed by Edgar Morin, Jean Rouch. With Angelo, Nadine Ballot, Catherine, Céline. A documentary about the everyday lives of ordinary Parisians, done in the style of cinéma vérité.

“By 1960 the documentary had evolved with new sound equipment and lighter cameras. In a direct line from the ideas of Flaherty and Vertov, Canadian filmmakers as Michel Brault had made significant shorts as u0026quot;Les raquetteursu0026quot; (1959), while in the United States Robert Drew created his seminal work, u0026quot;Primaryu0026quot; (1960.) All this activity helped the launching of u0026quot;cinéma véritéu0026quot; in France, with this film manifesto made by anthropologist Jean Rouch and sociologist Edgar Morin. With a u0026quot;caméra vivantu0026quot; (living camera) and the question u0026quot;Are you happy?u0026quot;, they went out to the streets of Paris to make a survey, showing passages in the life of students, workers and migrants (including Joris Ivensu0026#39; future wife), with a short escapade to the St. Tropez beach, and a final confrontation of the creators and subjects with the footage and the idea of constructing objective pieces of reality on film. Rouch and American Frederick Wiseman believed in a kind of documentary open to emotional spaces and fantasy (as opposed, for example, to Richard Leacocku0026#39;s more naturalistic approach), and eventually changed the tone of their works, while the movement finally identified with the concept of u0026quot;direct cinémau0026quot;, developed by Canadians and American filmmakers.”