"Nous sommes en août 1994. Frédéric Laffont, journaliste et réalisateur, vient d'arriver à Kigali pour filmer durant un an la mise en place puis les audiences de cette cour extraordinaire. Maudits soient les yeux fermés... est bien un film sur l'histoire. Mais, précieusement, pour la première fois il raconte l'impalpable : comment on oublie." Damn closed eyes Grand Prix Angers, Golden Screen Montreal 1996 Life: "A stone in the pond, with infinite shock waves." Le Monde: "Frédéric Laffont's film is not a documentary on the massacres: we will not see an image of the atrocities committed between April and July 1994, according to a premeditated plan at the state level; nor will we hear the testimonies of the survivors. Cursed Be Your Eyes Closed describes the isolated, impossible struggle of three individuals determined to gather the facts and testimonies so that history is not rewritten and justice is done. They encounter only obstacles and threats. Laffont's film is like a trace of the silence that spreads. Reread Primo Levi." Libération: "It's August 1994. Frédéric Laffont, journalist and director, has just arrived in Kigali to spend a year filming the establishment and then the hearings of this extraordinary court. "I wanted to document the writing of history. In 1945, the Nuremberg trials and its -Never Again- were the foundations of our current world." As the end credits roll, the camera suddenly returns to Rwanda, to the scene of the massacre, skulls, bones, suitcases scattered about. A shock. In an hour and a half, we already had lost all memory. Cursed Be Your Closed Eyes... is indeed a film about history. But, preciously, for the first time, he tells the intangible: how we forget." English version: CURSED BE CLOSED EYES Duration: 45' © Interscoop, BBC, 1996 A film by Frédéric Laffont Edited by Jean-François Giré Duration: 54' © Interscoop, La Sept/Arte, 1995 Rwanda, 1994. A genocide. How can we write history and demand justice? Three individuals seeking justice in Rwanda By CORINE LESNES Le Monde, December 3, 1995, at 12:00 a.m. Director of the Interscoop agency, winner of the Albert Londres Prize, author of numerous highly acclaimed reports, Frédéric Laffont could probably not avoid this unprecedented event in the history of the second half of the twentieth century: a genocide recognized by the UN. He tackled the subject in August 1994 and worked on it for over a year. A year of traveling back and forth between Paris and Kigali. Plus a few additional trips: The Hague (where the international tribunal is based), New York (for a meeting at the UN's 3341 office), Brussels (where Hutu opponents and those disappointed with the new Tutsi regime rub shoulders). The result: Rwanda, Maudits soient les yeux fermés (Rwanda, Damn the Closed Eyes), an 80-minute documentary co-produced by La Sept, Arte, and Interscoop; and a book, Maudits soient les yeux fermés, written in collaboration with Françoise Bouchet-Saulnier and published by J.-C. Lattès-Arte. The director chose to focus his work on the theme of justice by following three characters, all equally committed to ensuring that history is not diluted by the pragmatism of reconciliation, but who we see gradually throwing in the towel. The first, Joseph Matata, a Hutu human rights activist, was abroad when the genocide began. From Kigali to Brussels, where he ended up taking refuge to write a play about the “Rwandan tragedy” (both past and today), we see him typing on his old typewriter the testimonies of the survivors he interviewed in the hills. He does this work as much for himself as for history, because the director makes no secret of the fact that these testimonies have no legal value for the official authorities. The second is a Hutu, a former rebel who fought against the Rwandan government. In his imposed ordeal, Frédéric Laffont was able to choose the tone and music that suit the images of piled-up human remains, without which there seems to be no vision of Rwanda anymore. But his most powerful images show the living, the prisoners, also piled up by the thousands in their cells. They appear almost as an afterthought in the film, as if the director himself had been a little afraid of them. Yet they are the most striking, the most disturbing, and some Rwandans who attended the preview screening in Paris were not mistaken. They immediately denounced it as a “political” maneuver, repeating that the fate of the prisoners, alleged perpetrators of the genocide, could not be equated with that of the Tutsis and progressive Hutus in 1994. Nevertheless. We reported here in January on the overcrowded prisons and the harrowing visit. They had 14,000 inmates. Today, there are 59,000. We wondered how they could all lie down at the same time. Today, they are literally walking all over each other. Frédéric Laffont's camera follows them at ground level, where their feet are tangled together. Among the most common diseases, in addition to dysentery, are now lower limb injuries and necrosis of the toes. Unable to rest regularly, the inmates' legs suffer from edema, which sometimes requires amputation. Fifteen months after the first arrests, no detainees have been tried. Although the UN and the ICRC have set up new detention centers, no detainees have yet been transferred there. According to Doctors Without Borders, the number of human bites is also increasing in these places, not to mention the concentration camps that prisons have become.

Un film documentaire de Frédéric Laffont pour le cinéma. Face à l’ennemi Poutine pour qui les Ukrainiens n’auraient ni identité ni culture, tous se battent. Des enfants et les grands-mères aussi. Nos proches, nos voisins. Nous, l’Ukraine. Nous, l’Europe. We, Ukraine feature documentary, 2025 A documentary film for the cinema. Three years of work since the Russian invasion of 2022. Think film's impact campaign, We Ukraine, for concrete European support for Ukrainian culture. Coming soon... To resist Putin's war, culture is also a front line. Under the relentless threat of Russian bombardment, people dance and sing in defiance of the alarms, play theatre in a bomb shelter, publish books despite paper shortages, paint street art near the front, record music, open exhibitions in a closed museum, save endangered treasures, sew endless camouflage in the cellar, and behind the scenes, constantly raise money to provide drones and survival kits for soldiers... Faced with an enemy for whom Ukrainians have neither identity nor culture, everyone is fighting. Children and grandmothers too. Our loved ones, our neighbours. We, Ukraine. We, Europe. A film by Frédéric Laffont Produced by Dominique Barneaud Editing: Barbara Bossuet Catherine Rascon Length: 1h23' © Bellota Films, Camera Magica, 2025

Rwanda. Des mois après les massacres, l’herbe a repoussé. Sur un charnier, les restes d’un écolier reposent près de son manuel de lecture resté ouvert sur un extrait du Roman de Renart : "Maudits soient les yeux qui se ferment quand ils doivent rester ouverts..." Damn closed eyes Editions JC Lattès & Arte, 1995 Co-written with Françoise Bouchet-Saulnier, doctor of law, legal officer of Doctors Without Borders. Rwanda. Months after the massacres, the grass has grown back. In a mass grave, the remains of a schoolboy lie near his reading book, which has been left open to an excerpt from The Romance of Renart: "Cursed be the eyes that close when they should remain open..." Never again! Despite this solemn promise, fifty years after the Nazi death camps, another genocide exterminates human beings for who they are. Their only "fault": being born Tutsi, just as others were born Jewish, Gypsy, or Armenian. Who will bring justice? At mass graves and in international organizations, a litany of empty promises serves as a funeral tribute. Only isolated individuals attempt to establish the facts, to write history. Among these grains of sand supposed to stop the machine of silence: Françoise, Joseph, and François-Xavier. A European lawyer, a Rwandan human rights activist, and the Kigali Public Prosecutor, they recount their quest for justice. This book is the result of a year of commitment and investigation across the world. A reflection forged through contact with the realities of the field and the people. This story resonates far beyond the thousand hills of Rwanda... So that the augury of "Never again" is no longer a lie addressed to future generations. Life: “A stone in the pond, with infinite shock waves.”

Sur les sommets enneigés du Jura suisse, les horlogers sont aujourd’hui le fer de lance d’une industrie fructueuse. Dans les manufactures de Parmigiani, Frédéric Laffont filme au plus près de l’intelligence de la main. Measure and excess A film by Frédéric Laffont Duration: 54' Edited by Catherine Rascon © Sandoz Family Foundation, 2013 The snow-capped peaks of the Swiss Jura and the demands of the hundredth of a millimeter. Once threatened with extinction, watchmakers are today the spearhead of a profitable industry. In the Parmigiani factories, as close as possible to the intelligence of the hand.

Explorez le parcours de Frédéric Laffont, réalisateur primé et fondateur de Camera Magica. Une œuvre documentaire guidée par l’engagement et l’humanité. Founder of Camera Magica, Frédéric Laffont chronicles the world with a handheld camera and an open heart. This page invites you to discover his career, his commitments, and what inspires his documentary filmmaker's perspective. Merry-go-round rides then world tours. Around sixty films: major reports and documentaries. Albert Londres Prize for a report on the war in Lebanon. A collection of short films for Hermès. A feature film shot in Ukraine since 2022. Literary essays written in Paris, Jerusalem, Kigali and Kabul too. Frédéric Laffont His documentaries have the strange beauty of Pasolini's early films. L'Express A rare filmmaker. Le Nouvel Obs. Selected filmography Nous, l’Ukraine 2025, long-métrage cinéma. Empreintes sur le monde 2025, Collection d'Hermès de courts-métrages. La vie devant nous France, 2022. FIPADOC 2022. Couleur café Inde, 2019. Les Enchanteurs Belgique, 2017. Étoile SCAM. Cowboys don’t cry Texas, 2015. Mesure et démesure Jura suisse, 2014. Liban, des guerres et des hommes (série 3 x 52’) FIPA & Étoile SCAM, 2014. Dans les bottes de Clint Texas, Étoile SCAM 2013. Les mains d’Hermès France, 2011. 1$ pour une vie Burkina, Mali, Inde, USA, 2009. FIPA 2010. Voyage au centre de la Bibliothèque Paris, 2007. 1001 jours Israël-Palestine, Étoile SCAM 2007. TOKYO BLUES & SUSHIS CONFITS Japon, 2004. Poussières de Paix Israël-Palestine, Prix Festival d’Angers 2002. Secrets de cuisine de l’Ambroisie France, 2001. Fleur de Cannelle Chili, 2000. Liban, voyages, voyages Grand Prix Ptolémée de Géographie, 2000. Banlieue Olympique France, 1998. planète CNN USA, Bosnie, Jérusalem, 1997. Fugues américaines Louisiane, Prix Saulieu 1996. Anges et démons de la cité France, 1994. CAPTAIN W, ASTRONAUTE USA, 1994. Le Menu France, 1994. Maudits soient les yeux fermés Rwanda, 1996. Grand Prix Angers et Écran d’Or Montréal 1996. Dieu, poste restante, Jerusalem Jérusalem, 1993. A quoi rêvent les boxeurs ? France, Grand Prix Palerme, 1994. Ramdam sur terre et mer France, 1993. Entracte au Château de Prague République tchèque, 1993. Beyrouth,des balles et des ballons Nymphe d’Or & Prix critique internationale Festival Monte-Carlo, 1993. Poussières de Guerre Afghanistan, URSS. Grand Prix Angers & Festival Rueil, 1990. À corps, À cœur, À cris Monde, 20 ans MSF, 1992. Prix Spécial Festival Int. Monte-Carlo, 1992. Autofolies France, 1990. L’opium du peuple URSS, 1988. Colères noires de Soweto Afrique du Sud, 1988. On s’aimait tant à Santiago Chili, 1988. Pas de larmes pour Mao Chine, Meilleur Reporter d’Image, 1987. La guerre des nerfs Liban, P rix Albert Londres, 1987. La mer arrive encore au Liban Prix du jury Festival Monte-Carlo, 1987. Shanghai New Look Chine, 1985. Each of these films tells a story, a perspective, a part of truth. Through Camera Magica, Frédéric Laffont continues to capture humanity in its most fragile and luminous form. His career demonstrates a loyalty to commitment, to the right emotion, to a story that moves. And behind each image, always the same intention: to film with the heart.

Signée Frédéric Laffont, une immersion au cœur des quatre sites de la Bibliothèque nationale de France. Une promenade au rythme des bruissements et des chuchotements à travers les couloirs, les réserves et les rayonnages. Journey to the center of the library Télérama, TTT: "With an inspired camera, the documentary maker isolates a 15th century illumination and the face absent from the world of a reader, a drawing scribbled by Artaud on the bad paper of a rough notebook or the automated ballet of the nacelles, which transport to their recipients the requested works. With sovereign grace, Frédéric Laffont signs a dreamy evocation of this place of memory and whispers, invokes Hamlet and Gutenberg, slips into the footsteps of a regular of the place who once saved from death his knowledge of Latin gives voice to Tolstoy and Apollinaire... Libération: " We highly recommend Journey to the Center of the Library (France 5, 8:50 p.m.), poetic stroll by Frédéric Laffont through the shelves of the memory of the world, as Alain Resnais would say." A film by Frédéric Laffont Edited by Emmanuelle Pencalet Duration: 50' © Cinétévé, Interscoop, 2006 English version: JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE LIBRARY An immersion in the heart of the four sites of the National Library of France. A walk to the rhythm of rustling and whispering through the corridors and reserves and the shelves.

"Ce documentaire de Frédéric Laffont, dernier volet de la série Fugues américaines, ne laisse qu'un regret: ne pas pouvoir s'envoler dans la minute et rejoindre Eunice, au coeur du pays cajun.” American Runaways Jury Prize at the Saulieu Festival, 1996 Libération: ‘With its sumptuous images of the Louisiana plains and the bayou, and its endearing characters, Frédéric Laffont's documentary, the last episode of the American Fugues series, leaves us with just one regret: not being able to take off in a minute and join Eunice in the heart of Cajun country’. A film by Frédéric Laffont Editing: Jean-François Giré Length: 52'34" © France 3, Interscoop, 1996 Eunice, Louisiana, Cajun country. Every Saturday for decades, Marc and Ann Savoy open the doors of their diatonic accordion shop for a jam session. Fiddlers, accordionists, guitarists, men and women, young and old, maestros and beginners: everyone communes, in French, to the rhythm of the Louisiana repertoire. We eat sausage, we drink beer or good wine, we sing... The Cajuns sing their identity.

"Le magnifique travail de Frédéric Laffont sur l’interminable guerre du Liban (1975-1990) nous permet de regarder un documentaire hors du commun. Il fera date. Laffont lui a consacré plusieurs années de sa vie. Le film en trois parties qui en résulte ne ressemble à aucun autre. Il prouve que la télévision peut montrer l’invisible. (…) J’y vois la réussite prodigieuse de ce film." Le Nouvel Observateur Lebanon, wars and men FIPA and SCAM Star 2014 TéléObs : “Un cinéaste rare”. Le Nouvel Observateur : "Le magnifique travail de Frédéric Laffont sur l’interminable guerre du Liban (1975-1990) nous permet de regarder un documentaire hors du commun. Il fera date. Laffont lui a consacré plusieurs années de sa vie. Le film en trois parties qui en résulte ne ressemble à aucun autre. Il prouve que la télévision peut montrer l’invisible. (…) C’est cet invisible là que Laffont est parvenu à saisir, à filmer, à nous faire toucher du doigt. J’y vois la réussite prodigieuse de ce film." Télé Star : "Émouvant et fascinant." Le Monde : "Un film remarquable qui plonge au plus intime et où se lit tout l’attachement humaniste d’un homme pour un pays usé par des années de déchirures meurtrières." AFP : "Un brillant documentaire". Le Pélerin : "Rompu au Proche-Orient, Frédéric Laffont a écarté hommes politiques et spécialistes pour privilégier la parole “ordinaire”, l’humain. Un grand documentaire." La Croix : "Pendant trois ans, Frédéric Laffont a recueilli la mémoire des Libanais. Sa remarquable série documentaire se veut un message de paix et d’espoir. Le souci de rendre aux Libanais la parole qui leur a été confisquée est au cœur de la série documentaire en trois volets de Frédéric Laffont. Sans analyse ni commentaire en voix off, cette mosaïque d’un peuple déchiré par la guerre acquiert une dimension universelle." Ouest-France : “Voilà un grand film, sur le fond et la forme. Pas le récit chronologique du Liban depuis 1975, mais le regard de chrétiens, musulmans, libraire, chauffeur de taxi, homme d’affaires…” Télérama, à propos du troisième épisode : “Frédéric Laffont clôt sa fresque libanaise en récoltant toujours ces fragments subjectifs, qui dialoguent pour esquisser une Histoire encore refusée par l’Etat. Cet ultime volet est d’une incroyable force, véritable œuvre de paix où ceux qui ont tenu les armes, qu’ils soient combattant palestinien, milicien chiite ou dignitaire des Forces libanaises, crient l’inutilité de la guerre. Et reconnaissent tous avoir perdu.” Films by Frédéric Laffont Edited by Catherine Rascon length: 3 X 52' © Artline films, Camera Magica, INA, 2012 LEBANON OF WARS AND MEN 1/3 EPISODE 1. 1975 - 1982 This first chapter covers a period of seven years of successive wars, from April 1975 to the bombing of Beirut by the Israeli army in 1982. A collection of testimonies composes the film, like a fragmented mosaic revealing the complexity of the conflict. LEBANON OF WARS AND MEN 2/3 EPISODE 2. 1982-1990 This second episode focuses on the hardest period of the successive conflicts that ravaged Lebanon, from the invasion of Beirut by the Israeli army in 1982 to an end-of-war agreement signed in 1989. The testimonies are concentrated in particular around the horror of the fratricidal fighting. LEBANON OF WARS AND MEN 3/3 EPISODE 3. 1990-2012 This final chapter is devoted to the period of reconstruction and fragile peace, between 1990 and 2012. The scars of war are still clearly visible.

"Entre documentaire et film de cinéma, Les Mains d'Hermès est un hymne à l'artisanat bien plus qu'au luxe à la française.'' The Hands of Hermes Hearts & Craft Le Monde: "Between documentary and cinema film, The Hands of Hermès is a hymn to craftsmanship much more than to French luxury. A slow film, made of silences and glances, of ancestral gestures with, in the background, a deep and foggy France." English version: HEARTS AND CRAFT A film by Frédéric Laffont and Isabelle Dupuy-Chavanat Edited by Pauline Casalis Duration: 46' © Hermès, 2011 Craftsmen, gestures and know-how. The breath of leather and crystal, the song of silk and metal, the words of men and women, their silences too. A reference film screened in cinemas in Tokyo, New York, Beijing, Paris, Moscow, Abu Dhabi. Artisans of Hermès 9 short films, 9 universes, 9 portraits of artisans. 9 for the 10 fingers of the hand. The Hands of Hermes. Duration: 13' © Hermès, 2011

Bibliographie de Frédéric Laffont : découvrez ses livres. Frédéric Laffont, as a writer, pursues the same quest as in Camera Magica films: of a stripped-down and profound writing, It explores the nuances of human destinies. Paris, Kigali, Kabul, Jerusalem and Gaza… books. Au 24 faubourg Saint-Honoré éditions de L'Iconoclaste, 2024 Une vie par le menu Prix Passion Littérature éditions de L'Iconoclaste, 2022 Mille et un jours, mille et une nuits éditions Arléa, 2002 à propos du conflit isréalo-palestinien. Maudits soient les yeux fermés édition Lattès, 1995 à propos du génocide au Rwanda Poussières de guerre éditions Robert Laffont, 1990 Sur la guerre URSS-Afghanistan Co-écrit avec Christophe de Ponfilly