The Brittany Movie Archive | Gwarez Filmoù

This blog post is based on the information provided by the Brittany Movie Archive, my personal knowledge, and the interview given a few months ago by Marie Carrez to the Cinémathèque du documentaire, on her suggestion. Said interview is available here, in French. I would like to thank Marie Carrez once again for her help and diligence in organising the screening for the conference.

Still from “Purée géante à Brest” [litt. Giant mashed potatoes in Brest], amateur movie from Daniel Jacolot, 1986 freely available here. Do you recognize Brest’s main square?

For those of you who came to our last conference, you may have attended the screening of a documentary titled “Americans in Brest in 1917”. Made by the Brittany Movie Archive, it presents archives shot by the Sammies themselves stationed in Brest during the First World War, sources that were not largely available in France before. While it may seem a bit far from our usual fields of work in Celtic studies, it’s a an important part of the city’s history as a military port, and it mattered a lot to me that hosting the first conference of the association in Brest would be the occasion to learn a bit about Brest itself.

From Lyon to Brest

While cinema was invented in France, it took a long time before regional movie traditions were acknowledged. Since the 1970s, several Breton figures had argued for the necessity for a Breton movie archives centre to be created. Thanks to the effort of movie-maker René Vautier (better known for his movies (lit. To be twenty in the Aures) criticising French colonialism in Africa and in the Pacific (Avoir vingt ans dans les Aurès (1972)) as well his critic of capitalism (Anneaux d’or (lit. Golden rings) (1958), starring a young Claudia Cardinale, this movie won the Silver Bear in 1956, Humain, trop humain (1973) with Louis Malle), as well as those of André Colleu, Jean-Pierre Berthomé, (university professor in Rennes), Alain Bienvenu (movie maker), Jean-Yves Veillard (curator of the Brittany museum), et Donatien Laurent (professor in Brest), the Brittany Movie Archive was finally created in 1989 as a free association. It was first located in Saint Brieuc, and came to Brest in 1995.

The initial aim was to collect and preserve amateur films from private homes. That's when this group of film enthusiasts, popular education activists and campaigners embarked on a quest across Brittany and Loire-Atlantique to gather together these archive films, culminating in a collection of over 2,800 films in 1992 that has continued to grow ever since. The first film dates back to 1910. Today, the collection comprises more than 50,000 items, including film, video and sound recordings. It includes a variety of documentaries, fiction, animation, experimental works and rushes. Alongside these amateur films, the Brittany Movie Archive collects professional productions, since all films funded by the Brittany Region are deposited there. In fact, the Brittany Movie Archive has a mission of general interest, enabling it to preserve the filmed memory of Brittany. Its various tasks include collecting films, digitising them using a scanner, indexing them in a DIAZ database, documenting them and then promoting them through screenings, the website and the sale of images. New films are made available free of charge on the website, and to date there are around 10,000 of them. In the absence of a cinema at the Brittany Movie Archive, they give priority to screenings, hence the screening at our conference.

The value of amateurism

On its website (in French and Breton), the Brittany Movie Archive explains thoroughly the stakes of collecting, preserving and sharing amateur movies: The Brittany Movie Archive focuses on preserving and promoting amateur films, particularly those from Brittany or made by Bretons. “What differentiates amateur production from professional production is that the latter are practising a trade while the former are indulging a passion.” Unlike professional films, which are created as a trade and require official licences, amateur films are made out of passion and typically meant for private viewing. However, from the 1950s to the 1970s, amateur filmmaking was so widely practised that “[e]ach filmmaker could set about making a documentary, a fiction, an animation or an experimental film, with the aim of showing it in cinemas, in front of an audience. The members of these camera clubs organised screenings and competitions, so the whole thing resembled a semi-professional practice.”

Amateur films offer a unique perspective as they are often created by someone closely connected to the subject, contrasting with the external viewpoint of professional journalists: “In most cases, the filmmaker is not an outsider, a stranger to the situation he or she is filming. In fact, unlike a newsreel shot by a professional journalist who will seek to report an event from the outside, the amateur film-maker will give a personal account of it.” The Archive recognizes the cultural value of these films, “particularly family films, made with the aim of creating a family memory” and that they can “in the long term take their place and importance in the collective memory.” In consequence, they carefully consider legal aspects, ensuring the rights of filmmakers and individuals appearing in the films are protected. Depositors retain ownership of their films, and the Archive establishes contracts for the films' conservation and potential use, safeguarding the rights and intentions of the amateur creators.

Still from “Aber Ildut 1946”, amateur movie from Jean Richarme, 1946 freely available here.

Sharing the Breton heritage: the choice of accessibility

Before the 2020 lockdown, the Brittany Movie Archive chose to make an important part of their collections available online, and even organised online screening during the year. They were met with great success, as people now had the time to dig in, and seemingly wanted to learn more about their history. While one would need registration to access everything, there are still 10 000 movies available, varying in length from two minutes to two hours, on all sorts of topics, from the year 1937 in Chateaulin (will you catch Hitler and Mussolini dragging the League of Nation’s coffin ?) to making cider in Commana in 1981 marine pollution interests you? The Brittany Movie Archive has you covered. From the South Pole in 1910 to Greenland in 1980, you can travel the seven seas alongside the Breton cameras. If you speak French or Breton you can register to their monthly newsletter, where they share news and movies of the month (this year’s theme is sport, and I learned that assisting to a gouren competition - a traditional wrestling sport - is the fastest way to hell, according to some priest from the 60s). You can also read longer articles, here is one on working women in Brittany, through the lens of amateur cinema (also in French).

For the Breton readers or enthusiasts, the Brittany Movie Archive is currently looking for movies of New Year’s Eve 1999, if you or your family has some of them, please feel free to contact them - it will be greatly appreciated.

Still from “André a six mois”[litt. “André is six months old”], amateur movie from Pierre Bonnot, 1930 freely available here

Elisabeth Chatel Université de Bretagne Occidentale