“Les Regards Comparés” and “le Bilan du film ethnographique” Jean Rouch’s initiatives.

International audience1 " Les Regards Comparés " and " le Bilan du film ethnographique " Jean Rouch's initiatives. In 1969 Jean Rouch, Enrico Fulchignoni and Claudine de France created a new kind of specialised training in cinema at the department of Social Sciences at Nanterre Univeristy, taking advantage of the liberation which surrounded the May 68 revolution, started in this same University.This first offer of training in Cinema and documentary in a French University serves as an anchor in the French academic system. In 1971, Jean Rouch created a research centre, " La FRC " (Formation de recherches cinématographiques) which he directed until 1980, when Claudine de France took over the position. In 1976, in collaboration with historian Georges Albert Astre, they founded a diploma (DEA)with an option « Production in anthropological cinema and documentary " and a PHD in Visual anthropology. This highly innovative diploma was recognised by both universities Paris I-La Sorbonne and Paris X-Nanterre University. I was part of one the first generation of students enrolled in this program. In 1976Rouch was promoted to Outstanding Director of Research at the CNRS and his notoriety was exceptional. His international recognition enabled him to take some very influential actionsin confronting the fortress of university processes. In 1978, he took part in the first international documentary film festival organised at the Pompidou Centre: Cinéma du Réel-Cinema of the Real. Rouch was completely and openlyaware of the challenges raised by this new training and this relatively new discipline. The university was a key point for him in order to start the process of democratisation of what was often perceived as a privilege: to become a filmmaker.His notion of shared anthropology was not just part of the implicit rules a cineaste should follow with the protagonists, but for Rouch it was also a way of life, an attitude towards the people he met. He was always deeply committed to the creation and elaboration of new tools.Kodak and Fuji introduced the Super 8millimeter camera and young filmmakers started to use this format as a professional medium: it was a time to challenge the state monopoly on Information. This was also the " do it yourself " craftsman side of Jean. Tools were there to be transformed, in order to capture and reveal life's complexity, richness, and poetry. The control and transformation of his tools was a key aspect of Jean's work. By inviting the students to use 1 Enrico Fulchignoni, 1913-1988, in charge of the audiovisual at UNESCO and president of Conseil International Cinema and Television