How to build an ecosystem for the non-fiction cinema? The history and politics of Lussas Documentary Film Festival

ABSTRACT This article presents the experience of the Lussas Documentary Film Festival from a historical point of view, following the genealogy of one of the most important events devoted to the non-fiction cinema in Europe and describing the ethical and political challenges behind such adventures. The aim, here, is to study and interpret the key role played by this festival in channelling institutional and public attention to documentary filmmaking in France over the last fifty years. The essay will also highlight the attempt to construct in Lussas an ecosystem based on the association between a minor, non-theatrical cinematic field and a marginal geographic area while putting into practice the principles of autonomous organization by documentary workers themselves.