A presentation of unpublished films by Jean Rouch and discussion with Jean-Pierre Dozon, Valerie Berty, Jamie Berthe, and Catherine Ruelle, moderated by Shanny Peer
To mark the 100-year anniversary of the birth of anthropologist and filmmaker Jean Rouch, the Maison Francaise presents a selection of unfinished, unpublished films by the filmmaker, including Monsieur Albert, Prophete (Cote dIvoire, 1962-63) and Moi fatigue debout, moi couche (Niger, 1966-97). These will be presented and discussed by three specialists of Jean Rouchs work. About half of his oeuvre remained unfinished and unpublished. Rouch was an adherent of improvisation, or creative disorder when filming and constructing his works in the editing process. Fluidity and indeterminacy are characteristic of his style, creating a dialogue and tension in his oeuvre between the finished and the unfinished.
Valerie Berty teaches French cinema and literature at NYU in Paris and has a forthcoming book on the cinema of Ousmane Sembene. Jean-Pierre Dozon is Scientific Director of the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (FMSH). Jean-Pierre Dozon works principally on West Africa, and was awarded the Prize for Rayonnement de la langue et de la litterature francaises by the Academie francaise in 2004 for his book, Freres et Sujets : La France et l'Afrique en perspective. Catherine Ruelle is President of the Association Centenaire Jean Rouch 2017. She met Jean Rouch as a journalist and film critic at RFI between 1972 and 2012. She has co-edited several important books about African cinema, including La nascita del cinema africano (1998), and Afriques 50, singularites dun cinema pluriel. Jamie Berthe holds a PhD from NYU's Department of Media, Culture, and Communication. Her research interests revolve primarily around film, visual culture, media, postcolonial theory, and histories of empire. In her dissertation, Jamie explored the legacy of the French filmmaker and anthropologist Jean Rouch, particularly in relationship to French colonial history and African cinema. She has been a fellow at the NYU Humanities Initiative and has also received a George Lurcy Fellowship for study in France. Jamie teaches courses on film, postcolonial theory, and visual culture at The Gallatin School (NYU), where she is also administrative director of the graduate program. She has recently published articles in Studies in French Cinema (2018) and a chapter in Dans le sillage de Jean Rouch (2018).
Event co-sponsored by the Maison Francaise, Institute of African Studie, Department of Anthropology and Columbia Global Centers/Paris.
This event is made possible thanks to support from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the Institut Francais, and the Association Centenaire Jean Rouch.
