26° TORINO FILM FESTIVAL
THE STATE OF THINGS

MAI 68, LA BELLE OUVRAGE

MAY 68, A FINE PIECE OF WORK

Country: France
Year: 2008
Duration: 117'


Despite the reassurances of the French government and the orders
of police commissioner Maurice Grimaud, who had personally
recommended the utmost caution and moderation to all twenty
thousand policemen under his command, the events during May 1968
resulted in a fair amount of brutality. The director Jean-Luc Magneron
went into the streets with the student movement; his idea was to use
a 16mm movie camera to document what was going on. The result
was a series of on-the-spot interviews with the marchers, with those
who gave first aid to the victims of the police truncheons, and even
with people who were involuntary witnesses of those frantic days.
Only after the filmmaker’s death were the interviews edited in 1998 by
his son Loïc. They were broadcast on April 15, 1998 during the television
program La Marche du siècle in a 52-minute version for the thirtieth
anniversary of the May student revolt. Ten years later, a new, 117-
minute version was made.

Biography

film director

Jean-Luc Magneron

Jean-Luc Magneron studied sociology and filmology and he got a scholarship for film-directing in the USA. He worked also in the theatre: he is the founderdirector
of the International Center For Experimental Theatre. In 1966 he became director of Gabonese Television. He produced several plays in Paris and in the United States. He directed a lot of films for American TV, for Gabonese television, for the Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française research service and for French television. He also directed some features and a medium-lenght film.

FILMOGRAFIA

Demain l’Afrique (doc., 1965), Le Culte Vaudou au Dahomey (doc., 1972), Le Vaudou: entre vivants et morts, le sang (doc., 1973), Kung fu wu su (doc., 1977).

Jean-Luc Magneron, Loïc Magneron:
Mai 68, la belle ouvrage (doc., 2008).

Loic Magneron

Loïc Magneron, after working in film distribution, produced in 1995 a first draft of Mai 68, la belle ouvrage, documentary created from archives and interviews carried out by his father Jean-Luc Magneron. In 1997 he founded the sales agent company Wide Management.

FILMOGRAFIA

Jean-Luc Magneron, Loïc Magneron:
Mai 68, la belle ouvrage (doc., 2008).

Cast

& Credits

regia/directors Jean-Luc Magneron, Loïc Magneron
fotografia, montaggio, suono/ cinematography, film editing, sound Jean-Luc Magneron
produttore/producer Loïc Magneron
produzione, vendita all’estero/production, world sales Wide Management
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