Jean Rouch

Known For

Directing

Born

May 31, 1917

Died

Feb 18, 2004

Place of Birth

Paris, France

Credits

130 titles

Jean Rouch

Biography

Jean Rouch (French: [ʁuʃ]; 31 May 1917, Paris – 18 February 2004, Niger) was a French filmmaker and anthropologist. He is considered to be one of the founders of cinéma-vérité in France, which shared the aesthetics of the direct cinema. 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 Cinéma (Notebooks on Cinema) n°94 April 1959, "In charge of research for the Musée de l'Homme (French, "Museum of Man") Is there a better definition for a filmmaker?" Along his career, Rouch was no stranger to controversy.

Known For

Filmography

2025

Outlaw

Self

Movie
2017

L’Enigma di Jean Rouch a Torino - Cronaca di un film raté

Movie
2013

My Conversations on Film

Himself

Movie
2012

Freddy Buache, le cinéma

Self (archive footage)

Movie
2012

Mad Mimes

Property Builder

Movie
2012

Maya Deren, Take Zero

Himself

Movie
2011

Jean Epstein, Young Oceans of Cinema

Self (archive footage)

Movie
2010

The Dreamed Films

Self

Movie
2004

Portrait de Jean Rouch

Self

Movie
2004

Jean Rouch, des mensonges plus vrais que la réalité

Lui-même

Movie
2003

Encountering Jean Rouch

Movie
2002

Mon père c'est un lion - Jean Rouch pour mémoire

Self

Movie
2002

Le Rêve plus fort que la mort

Director

Movie
2000

Nouvelle Vague : El cine sin dogmas

Self

Movie
1999

Cinéma, de notre temps: Mosso, mosso (Jean Rouch comme si...)

Himself

Movie
1999

Ciguri - Tarahumaras 99 - Le dernier chaman

narrador

Movie
1998

Pierre Fatumbi Verger: Messenger Between Two Worlds

Self

Movie
1998

Ciguri – Tarahumaras 98 - La Danse Du Peyotl

Narrator

Movie
1997

I'm Tired of Standing, I Lie Down

Director

Movie
1997

A Friendly Handshake

Movie
1997

Announcement

Director

Movie
1996

Germaine et ses copains

Director

Movie
1995

Son of Gascogne

Self

Movie
1995

Rouch in Reverse

himself

Movie
1994

Germaine chez elle

himself

Movie
1993

Madame l'eau

Director

Movie
1992

Cinéma! Cinéma! The French New Wave

Self

Movie
1992

Damouré Speaks About AIDS

Director

Movie
1992

Letter to Jean Rouch

Self

Movie
1992

An Egg with No Shell

Movie
1991

Jean Rouch: First Film 1947-1991

Himself

Movie
1990

Brise-glace

Director

Movie
1990

Liberté, égalité, fraternité, et puis après...

Director

Movie
1989

Boulevards d'Afrique

Director

Movie
1987

Brise-glace : Bateau givre

Editor

Movie
1987

Cousin, cousine

Director

Movie
1987

Couleur du temps. Berlin, Août 1945

Director

Movie
1986

Enigma

Director

Movie
1986

The Ordinary Madness of a Daughter of Ham

Director

Movie
1986

Ciné-Portrait de Bill Witney

Director

Movie
1984

Dionysos

Director

Movie
1984

Hampâté Bâ

Director

Movie
1983

Ciné-Portrait of Raymond Depardon

himself

Movie
1981

Sigui Synthesis: The Invention of Speech and Death

Director

Movie
1980

Ciné-mafia

Movie
1979

Funeral at Bongo: The Death of Old Anai

Director

Movie
1978

Cinématon

N°1256

Movie
1978

Margaret Mead: A Portrait By a Friend

Director

Movie
1978

Ciné-Portrait de Stanislas Adotevi

Director

Movie
1977

Makwayela

Director

Movie