22 Jul 2023

Filmmaker Nicolas Philibert on the art of patient observation

From Saturday Morning, 10:05 am on 22 July 2023

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

French filmmaker Nicolas Philibert is known for his intimate and patiently observed documentaries capturing the beauty of everyday humanity.

He's most well known for 2002's Etre et Avoir which followed a year in the life of a tiny rural school with just one teacher.

His latest film On the Adamant/Sur L'Adamant won the top prize at this year's Berlin International Film Festival. It follows the goings-on aboard  L'Adamant, a floating day-centre for people with mental maladies, moored on the banks of the Seine in Paris.

On the Adamant is screening at Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.