Jean Rouch (French: [u]; 31 May 1917, Paris 18 February 2004, Niger) was a French

filmmaker and anthropologist.

He is considered to be one of the founders of cinma-vrit in France, which shared the
aesthetics of the direct cinema spearheaded by Richard Leacock, D.A. Pennebaker and Albert
and David Maysles. Rouch's practice as a filmmaker for over sixty years in Africa, was
characterized by the idea of shared anthropology. Influenced by his discovery of surrealism in
his early twenties, many of his films blur the line between fiction and documentary, creating
a new style of ethnofiction. He was also hailed by the French New Wave as one of theirs. His
seminal film Me a Black (Moi, un noir) pioneered the technique of jump cut popularized by
Jean-Luc Godard. Godard said of Rouch in the Cahiers du Cinma (Notebooks on Cinema)
n94 April 1959, "In charge of research for the Muse de l'Homme (French, "Museum of
Man") Is there a better definition for a filmmaker?" Along his career, Rouch was no stranger
to controversy. He would often repeat, "Glory to he who brings dispute."
The Films Of Jean Rouch: Background
Jean Rouch's prolific film career began in French West Africa, where he worked as a
civil engineer during World War II, supervising road and bridge construction.
Previously, in Paris, he had attended the lectures of Marcel Mauss and Marcel Griaule.
In 1946, traveling down the Niger River, Rouch shot his first film with a 16mm Bell
and Howell camera, developing an original style after the tripod fell in the water.
Later, he enlisted the help of Damoure, a Sorka friend, to film a hippopotamus hunt,
and thus began a productive collaboration that has lasted almost four decades.
Damoure took sound for Les Maitres Fous, was a central character inJaguar, and
worked with Rouch on many other films, as did several of Rouch's long-standing
African friends and co-workers.
Rouch's innovative approaches effected more than anthropological film. In the
summer of 1960, Rouch and sociologist Edgar Morin shot Chronique d'Un Ete'
(Chronicle of a Summer), a film dealing with Parisians' thoughts and feelings at the
end of the Algerian war. In Chronique, now considered a pioneering "cinema-verite"
film, the formerly invisible barrier between the "objective" filmmaker and his subject
dissolved. The viewers see the filmmaker approach his subjects on the boulevards of
Paris, inquiring, "Are you happy?" Technically, Chronique also furthered the
development of a more efficient, portable, synchronous sound system that permitted
the filming of longer, unbroken sequences.
Although Rouch is best known for Chronique, and for the inspiration that it offered to
New Wave filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Goddard and Francois Truffaut, his most
striking contributions to film remain more than seventy ethnographic films made in
West Africa. From the 1940s until the present, Rouch has produced films in Ghana,
Niger, Mali, and Upper Volta, ranging from straightforward portrayals of
extraordinary ritual events, such as Les Maitres Fous, to "collective improvisations"
such as jaguar, or, more recently, Cocorico! Monsieur Poulet, based on a Niger folk
tale.
In the West, Rouch's distinctive vision of the cultures of West Africa has influenced
students of anthropology, of ritual, and of Africa. But his influence has been
significant on the African continent as well, where he consistently attempted to
introduce film technology and to train technicians as he worked. Moustapha Alassane
and Oumarou Ganda of Niger, Safi Faye of Senegal, and Desire Ecare of Ivory Coast
are among the contemporary filmmakers who once worked with Rouch.
Sadly, Jean Rouch died in a car accident in Niger, on February 18th, 2004, at the age
of 86. We at DER are among the many who remember him with great affection. As the
primary North American distributors for Jean's films, we were privileged to work with
him over many years. Jean's exceptional and long-term engagement with his subjects,
and the intimacy and authenticity of his filmmaking, exemplify the qualities we look
for in all of the work we represent. Above all, in Jean's films there is a sense of
adventure and humor, and a respect for people. As John Marshall, DER's founder, said
of Jean, "Underneath it all, he was always about persons."