René Vautier

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René Vautier (born January 15, 1928 in Camaret-sur-Mer , † January 4, 2015 in Brittany ) was a French documentary filmmaker and director .

Life

Vautier was born in Brittany in 1928 as the son of a factory worker and a teacher . In 1943 he joined the resistance movement. He was awarded the Croix de guerre and appointed by General de Gaulle for his services to the resistance in the " Ordre de la Nation ".

In 1946 he began to study film at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques in Paris . In 1949 he received his first major contract from the Ligue française de l'enseignement educational institute . He was supposed to shoot a report about the living conditions in the French colonies . Vautier was shocked by the circumstances. However, the footage was confiscated by the police, citing a decree from Colonial Minister Pierre Laval , and Vautier was charged with filming in Upper Volta without the governor's permission . Nevertheless, he managed to save some film reels and in 1950 released a short film entitled "Afrique 50". This earned him 13 additional charges and a one-year prison term.

After this experience, Vautier devoted himself entirely to socially critical documentary films and also made some fictional films. Vautier made 150 films, including works on the Algerian war, racism, environmental pollution, emancipation and right-wing extremism. Almost all films were confiscated by the censors. In January 1973 René Vautier went on a hunger strike. He called for the abolition of film censorship in France, which could ban films without giving a reason. In fact, the law was subsequently changed.

In 1998 René Vautier's memoir “Caméra citoyenne” was published, in which he describes his experiences from 50 years of film work.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1948: Journées de printemps
  • 1950: Afrique 50
  • 1951: L'Odet
  • 1954: Une nation l'Algérie
  • 1957: Algérie en flammes
  • 1963: Peuple en marche
  • 1965: L'aube des damnés
  • 1971: Mourir pour des images
  • 1972: Avoir vingt ans dans les Aurès , published in German dubbing as: At the age of 20 in the Aurès , (also: At 20 in the Algerian war )
  • 1974: La folle de Toujane
  • 1974: Le Remords
  • 1976: Alan Stivell
  • 1976: Frontline
  • 1984: La nuit du dernier recours
  • 1984: Cinéma d'exil et de luttes, extraits
  • 1987: Vous avez dit Français?
  • 1991: Allons enfants du bicentenaire
  • 1995: Hirochirac 1995 or Hirochirac et la colombe
  • 1998: Et le mot frère et le mot camarade
  • 1998: Dialogue d'images en temps de guerre

Fonts

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary for René Vautier in: Le Monde
  2. a b biography at arte ( Memento from April 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ^ Le cinéaste René Vautier se souvient , Le Monde, October 14, 2011