This film closes on Thursday, February 6th.

Raymond Depardon is a renowned French filmmaker and photographer who has been documenting world events for more than 50 years, a national treasure who is little known beyond the country’s borders. Filmed during six years on the road when Depardon was travelling through France’s various regions in a camper van, photographing cafés, factories, forests and highways in a search for the essence of the country that appears to be disappearing, Journal de France looks back to shine a light on how significant his body of work is.

Assembled by his long-time partner and collaborator Claudine Nougaret from, she says, “footage in his basement”, Depardon’s portraits include those of politicians and petty criminals, paparazzi and war zones, Jean-Luc Godard and Nelson Mandela. While Depardon remains somewhat aloof from proceedings, his work is celebrated as brilliant and vital.

★★★★ The Irish Times ★★★★ The Guardian

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