Michel Gondry's Amateur Film Factory sets up in Aubervilliers

 In > art culture design

Michel Gondry, currently at Cannes as head of the Short Film Jury, announced yesterday that his ‘Amateur Film Factory’, recently installed at the Centre Pompidou, will be moving out to Aubervilliers in the Paris burbs for a 5-year residency, and opening in March 2012. Partnering with the comic Jamel Debbouze and the mayor of Aubervilliers on the project, the Amateur Film Factory invites anyone and everyone to come and create their own film, by following the low-fi protocol invented by  Gondry for his inspired 2008 film ‘Be Kind Rewind’. Michel Gondry has said ‘This film and this project are actually the result of one same thought of mine: I have always felt guilty in a way, being in a creative profession. I often say to myself: “This workman could maybe have been a better producer than I am if only he’d been able to access this kind of profession.” Creativity isn’t shared enough. When I was living in the 13th arrondissement in Paris, there used to be these little cinemas, but then they disappeared. It has always been a secret plan of mine to recreate one of these rooms by setting up a communal area where everyone could come and film what they wanted and then show it. I got the opportunity to make this utopia of an independent system happen within a fictional dimension with ‘Be Kind Rewind’. Then I wanted to do it for real. The protocol to be followed is designed to favour creativity and the system guarantees that each of the participants has their own role in the activity. It’s a kind of ‘visual socialism’, if you will. The system prevents egos from taking over and guarantees equality between participants.’



Michel Gondry – l’usine de films amateurs au… par centrepompidou

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