The 45th edition of the Jean Rouch Festival, of which the CNRS is a long-standing partner, will take place from 7 to 30 May in Paris at the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Musée de l’homme and the Reflet Médicis cinema.
The Comité du film ethnographique has been organizing the Jean Rouch International Festival in Paris for 40 years. Initiated by filmmaker and ethnologist Jean Rouch (1917-2004), this event is a unique opportunity in France to screen documentaries that reveal the social and cultural evolution of human societies and man's relationship with the environment. Around 26 films in competition from every continent, 8 prizes awarded, tributes to ethnological documentary filmmakers, themed screenings and debates. The Festival is a lively place for discovery, encounters, reflection, collaboration and debate between filmmakers, scientists, production professionals and the general public.
This year, the CNRS invites you to rediscover the digitised and restored films of our colleagues, CNRS researchers in ethnology and anthropology, whose heritage films are managed by CNRS Images, which is partnering with two events this year:
- On 10 May, from 2.30 pm to 6.30 pm, there will be a day of tribute to the ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp, who passed away on 3 January 2026, featuring a screening of the film *Une fanfare africaine* (2004, 74 min), from the CNRS Images collection; the screening will take place at the Musée du quai Branly –Jacques Chirac;
- On 21 May, from 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm, an archive screening will take place, during which we have given free rein to Joëlle Robert-Lamblin, a filmmaker and anthropologist at the CNRS. Three films will be shown, two of which have been re-digitised and restored for the occasion:
Banquise d’été (1968, 19 min)
La saison du crabe royal (1971, 14 min)
L’appel de la toundra (2003, 22 min)
view the selection here
Filming in the field... During the 1960s, the ethnology course offered by the Musée de l’Homme encouraged future researchers to use a camera in the field. Following in the footsteps of Jean Rouch, film-making courses were then offered to students. The camera was to be regarded as the natural complement to the pencil in the collection of information and observations. It was only once the researcher had become well established within the community being studied that he could begin to use the camera without risking disruption to daily life. I therefore took my first shots in 1968, in East Greenland, using a 16 mm Beaulieu camera. Then, from the year 2000 onwards, I came to appreciate the ease of use of small digital cameras, which are lighter, more discreet and capable of filming in low light. Ultimately, these vivid accounts shed a unique light on field research; they ’humanise’ scientific publications and help to make them accessible to a wider audience.” Joëlle Robert-Lamblin
All screenings are followed by a discussion with the researchers and filmmakers.
You can find the festival programme online and on the festival’s Facebook page,
Admission is free, subject to availability.
