Champ-contre-champ: Slon/Iskra new social documentary through the lens of Jean-Louis Comolli’s militant cinephilia

Abstract

Champ-contre-champ examines the writings of Jean-Louis Comolli, theorist and historian of political cinema, in parallel with the practices of grass-roots film documentary producer Slon/Iskra. As two of the main players of the 1960s cinéma militant, Comolli and Slon/Iskra stand as exceptions in the context of political cinema as they both have continuously and relentlessly worked for the survival of a certain ethics and form of cinema politic until today, 50 years later. The article compares Comolli’s assertions that ‘true political cinema’ has disappeared as filmmakers, including politically engaged ones, became more dependent on television for financing, with Slon/Iskra’s practices and the forms of the films it supports. The article gives overdue visibility to Comolli’s theories as well as to the resilience of Slon/Iskra in resisting the pressures of mainstream cinema.