Journal de France

JOURNAL DE FRANCE examines the extended oeuvre and working process of Raymond Depardon through his very own eyes, as well as through those of his long-time companion and sound engineer, Claudine Nougaret. Trailing the photojournalist as he drives across the Gallic countryside to shoot a new series of landscapes, the film also intercuts in clips and outtakes from the director’s lengthy documentary catalogue, offering up an enticing amuse-bouche to an artist whose body of work has become essential viewing.

Much of the footage of Depardon on the road was shot during a project started in 2004 for which he traveled throughout France’s various regions, capturing the essence of their cafés, factories, forests and highways with a large-format 20x25 camera. Beyond their ethnographic interest, the richness of those pictures provides a solid argument for the uniqueness and splendor of celluloid, and watching Depardon take his precious time to snap the perfect street scene offers up a powerful antidote to an era inundated with disposable digital imagery. (Jordan Mintzer)

In the presence of Claudine Nougaret.