Pierre Commault | Artists in Residence | Kamov Residency

Pierre Commault

Pierre Commault (1988) is a french film director. He holds a master degree in Film studies from the Sorbonne University (with a master thesis about Political violence in the work of Rainer Werner Fassbinder) and a master degree of Multimedia Conception  from the Institut National d'Audiovisuel. He has spent one year at the Freie Universität in Berlin as a student in Filmwissenschaft.

Having worked among the team of the documentary serie Mysteries in the Archives on the images shot by Eva Braun, he finally wrotes a study (translated in english and available online) about the work on the archives. He is a contributor of the filmcritic website Independencia and has organized film workshops about the industrial past of the Parisian suburbs. Besides, he also works as a projectionnist in theaters and film festivals.

His first documentary film, L'Esprit de la zone (Strolling in the ghost zone) co-directed with Nina Almberg, shows the wandering of a parisian ragpicker's ghost through the places where he has lived and worked. It has been selected by the festival Cinébanlieues and by the Festival International du Film Etudiant (Fidé).

He is now developping his documentary project La cité invisible (The invisible city), about the story of the city of Rijeka between september 1919 and december 1920, opposing the vision of a italian legionary from Genova and the one of a young croatian girl grown up in the town.

The invisible city /La cité invisible

02.-31.08.2016.

Pierre Commault will developp at the residence the script of his documentary project, The invisible city. The project intends to confront two different voices on the italian occupation of Rijeka in 1919-1920 through two diaries : one written by a young italian legionay from Genova, Carlo Otto Gugliemo, the other by a young croatian girl, Zora Blažić. The film will also look for echoes these voices could find in the actual Rijeka.

The invisible city refers to an expression used by Gabriele d'Annunzio shortly after he left the town he occupied for almost two years. In a speech he described his vision of an “invisible city, a vision of  inextinguishable flames, that has burnt, burns and will always burn in [his] heart, a vision that [he has] served and will always serve.” He has tried and failed to impose this vision, his vision of a dreamed idealistic italian town, to all inhabitants of the city. Today, the “invisible city” could be the city as it was in 1919-1920, lost for ever, only surviving through the texts, of which the archives permit us only to glimpse. One has to imagine the excitement, the fear, the despair and the hatred that ruled the town then. The “invisible city” could finally be the one born from the film, as a confrontation between the past and the present-day town : a city of worried and pompous ghosts strolling through touristic streets, on doks full of containers of vivid colour, or in crowded bars.

;text-indent:22.5pt'>He is now developping his documentary project La cité invisible (The invisible city), about the story of the city of Rijeka between september 1919 and december 1920, opposing the vision of a italian legionary from Genova and the one of a young croatian girl grown up in the town.

Makisapa-Doc

The association Makisapa-Doc is named after an amazonian monkey known for his dexterity and ability to move with astonishing rapidity up above the tropical forest. The goals of the association are to develop, create, produce, and promote all forms of artistic or cultural activities and creations in the field of documentary (films, sounds, photographs, drawings), including activities of education.

Since its creation, the association has led many filmmaking workshops intended for children, in primary school as well as in afterschool centres. The animated films or short movies thus created are the result of a collective reflection between the children and the organiser. Besides this activity of filmmaking education, the association has also collaborated, by providing the technical skills of its members, with various film projects.