From Sketching to Pixels: The Genesis of Digital Film in France (1930-2000)

In France, between 1982 and 1983, two pivotal films in the history of French computer-animated film, Maison vole (1982) and Humanonon (1983), are first screened to the curious and then to the general public.

At the time, a technological shift is taking place and a world of "new images" is emerging. With computers evolving, Jack Lang’s Image Research Plan provides a substantial economic boost to this rising new industry. The CNC and several other partners enthusiastically give their support to this development.

Making art using a computer is no longer a do-it-yourself or experimental realm, it exists since 1981 where it becomes part of a forum dedicated to new images at the Monte-Carlo International Television Festival, evolving in the years to follow to become Imagina in 1986. The sectors for these new technologies are varied: television, advertising, music and film.

Given the reputation of current French productions, and despite a few bankruptcies and projects abandoned along the way, we can guess what happened after this pivotal period.

The expertise and international reach that this French industry demonstrates today have infiltrated every phase of creating a film, from its intellectual conception to its filmmaking: the computer is now present at every stage.

However, this development is based on numerous experiments which, before 1982, had explored unconventional and innovative creations, no doubt explaining why directors in France embarked with such fervour to conquer computer-assisted filmmaking.

This programme offers an immersion into several films, which are rare testimonials to the genesis of digital animation and its French expertise, in new areas that have revealed a generation of international artists recognized for their creativity.

This session is presented in partnership with the INA, LTC Patrimoine/Cité de Mémoire and the Cinémathèque de Toulouse. The CNC would like to thank all the rights holders, producers, distributors, and brands presented for their help carrying out this programme. Likewise, a huge thank you to Pierre Hénon for his assistance and contribution.