Jean Rouch International Film Festival

Jean Rouch International Film Festival (Festival international Jean Rouch) is a documentary film event, which takes place annually in Paris, France.

About

Jean Rouch International Film Festival (Festival international Jean Rouch) is one of the most important documentary film events, in Europe, in the field of social sciences.

Founded in 1982 by the filmmaker and anthropologist Jean Rouch (1917-2004), it is held every May in Paris and screens more than 70 documentary films. All screenings and events are free of charge. The Festival continues over the year, with “on tour” screenings in France.

The competitive sections, in Paris, showcase 25 to 30 recent documentary films, directed by both emerging and established filmmakers from around the world. The festival aims to reflect the wealth of social sciences research and to give an insight into the diversity, creativity, and originality of cinematic genres and narratives.

The programming committee’s goal is to promote filmmakers with a strong cinematic approach, and films that offer a personal and unique perspective on our contemporary world. There are no restrictions on duration, form, or theme, but the committee pays special attention to films that evoke the relationships between people and their environment as well as cultural diversity.

Originally intended as an encounter for filmmakers and social sciences researchers, the festival also promotes dialogue with diverse audiences. All films are followed by Q&As with filmmakers, researchers, and specialists in documentary cinema. The festival has thus become, over the years, a unique meeting place for professionals and general audiences to reflect on and share documentary practices.

Awards

Nanook – Jean Rouch Grand Prize
Bartók Prize
Living Heritage Prize
Mario Ruspoli Prize
First Film Prize
Gaïa Prize
Mondes en regards Prize
Fleury Doc. Prize

Two new prizes awarded by two separate juries will be announced shortly as part of the 2023 edition of the festival

Images In Libraries

Composed of librarians, the Images en Bibliothèques (Images in Library) National Commission selects and promotes recent documentary films for distribution in public libraries.

As a partner of Jean Rouch International Film Festival, the Commission selects one or more films from the competition, to be distributed through one of following catalogues: