Goémons (Yannick Bellon, 1948)
Les Inconnus de la terre (Mario Ruspoli, 1962)
Le Sabotier du Val de Loire (Jacques Demy, 1956)

Yannick Bellon was 24 when she made Goémons (23 mins, B&W). She proved herself a worthy heir to John Grierson in this portrait of the harsh life on a barren island off the Brittany coast. Within the context of an art documentary she gathered evidence of an indictment: capitalist society is on trial in the tale of people who, like prisoners, “stun themselves with work.” Mario Ruspoli's Les Inconnus de la terre (37 mins, B&W) benefits from his self-described “attitude of cautious approach, a non-interrogative presence based on that of psychiatrists.” The film gives farmers, isolated in the mountainous region of the Massif central, a chance to talk about their problems and fears of the modern world. Jacques Demy's first film, Le Sabotier du Val du Loire (24 mins, B&W), made under the supervision of Georges Rouquier (Farrebique), looks at one of the few remaining practitioners of an old craft, clog-making. “The highly stylized commentary has a very important function but never stifles the image...It's difficult to say what direct cinema could possibly add to this portrait.” (L. Marcorelles)