Once Upon a Time, TV
Il était une fois la télé- FRANCE / 1985 / French / Color, B&W / Digital File (Original: 16mm, 8mm) / 57 min
Director: Marie-Claude Treilhou
Photography: Lionel Legros, Michel Sourioux
Sound: Yves Zlotnicka
Editing: Khadicha Bariha, Hamida Mekki
Producer: Claudine Bories
Production Companies: Antenne 2, La Bibliothèque publique d'information, Périphérie Production
Source: Association Périphérie cinéma documentaire
Labastide-en-Val, a small village in the Aude region of southern France. How has television changed lifestyles and values? Through villagers’ conversations in response to this simple question, the film picks out concrete changes. Mealtimes and the rhythms of farm work have changed, the standard language of Paris has mixed in with local dialect, and the core of everyday life has shifted to news programs. Communal life in a traditional village, against a standardized outside world shown exclusively by the television. The camera captures the confusion, longing, humor, and new connections born between the two.
Marie-Claude Treilhou
Born in Toulouse, France. After completing a degree in philosophy and art history, she wrote for magazines like Cinéma and Art Press, and served as an assistant to filmmaker Paul Vecchiali, all while working a variety of jobs. She made her first feature film, Simone Barbès or Virtue (1980), based on her experiences working at a pornography theater. She was awarded the Prix Jean Vigo for her short film Lourdes, l’hiver (1982). Navigating between fiction and documentary, she has produced many notable works, including Le Jour des rois (1991), a comedy-drama featuring celebrated French actresses Danielle Darrieux, Micheline Presle, and Paulette Dubost, as well as the documentary Les Métamorphoses du choeur (2004), which portrays a Parisian amateur choir bringing music to life through auditions, practice sessions, and rehearsals. In addition to serving as an instructor at Ateliers Varan, she is active as a member of Collectif 50/50, an organization that advocates for gender equality and diversity in the film and photography industry.
Back to Ghawas
Retour à Ghawas- AFGHANISTAN / 2006 / Persian (Dari) / Color / Digital File / 27 min
Director, Photography, Sound: Sediqa Rezaei
Editing: Aurélie Ricard
Production Companies: Ateliers Varan, INA
Source: Ateliers Varan
An engineer named Jawad left Afghanistan as a child and spent most of his life abroad. Now 34, he is returning to his country after 33 years of absence. He visits his uncles and aunts in his home village where life has scarcely changed. The film was made as part of a three-month Ateliers Varan Afghanistan workshop held in Kabul in 2006.
Sediqa Rezaei
Born in 1978, Kabul. At the age of five months, she moved to Iran and lived there for 24 years. After returning to the country in 2004, she worked for a UN organization, but resigned after witnessing political corruption. She poured her passions into painting. Her directorial works include Brick and Dreams (2007) and Survival (2011).
An educational association of filmmakers based in Paris, established in 1981 with Jean Rouch at the helm. It has expanded hands-on workshops for documentary filmmaking throughout France and the world—Vietnam, Kenya, Serbia, Georgia, and Afghanistan—fostering documentary filmmakers across national and generational lines. Since its establishment, it has produced over 800 films, and, through its advisory role for UNESCO and cooperation with the French foreign ministry, has been an active part of international cultural exchange.