Jean-Michel Arnold

Jean-Michel Arnold, General Secretary of the Cinémathèque Française, vice President of UNESCO’s IFTC (International Council for Film Television and Audiovisual Communication), founder of the Cinéma du Réel, Director of CNRS Image/Media, General Secretary of RIAVS, and President of CAMERA. Without being a filmmaker, Mr. Arnold has been the instigator of some very important events in the world of cinema.

He was the only child of Christine Brisset, an activist known as the “Pasionaria of the Poor”, with a street named in her honour and her life documented on film. His father died around the time of his birth. At the age of 15, he left his home town of Angers and headed for Paris.

There he was befriended by Henri Langlois, founder of the Cinémathèque Française, “one of the most important figures in the history of film” who became his mentor and spiritual father. At the instigation of Langlois, he went out to the newly independent Algeria and helped found the Cinémathèque Nationale Algérienne first with Ahmed Hocine and later with Boudjema Karèche and helped organise the “Rencontres des Cinémas du Monde” at the first Panafrican Cultural Festival in 1969 (the second was forty years later in August 2009).

In 1974 the CNRS (the French National Scientific Research Council) appointed him director of a newly formed audiovisual division “CNRSAV” (initially called Service d'étude de réalisation et de diffusion de documents audio-visuels or SERDDAV) and finally simplified to “CNRS Image/Média” which he headed until 2001 and for which he was awarded “La Medaille de Cristal” for his creativity and innovation.

Under his direction it was responsible for the production of hundreds of film productions, TV programs, film expeditions, multimedia packages and seminars dedicated to science and the arts.

He created formal links with La Fémis, The French State Film School whose first President was Jean-Claude Carrière (also President of RIAVS), and with UNESCO's IFTC.

In 1977 together with Jean Rouch he founded the Cinéma du Réel

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