Thierry Garrel – stops at/farvel til arte
Thierry Garrel, who has been head of Arte France’s documentary department, has quit the channel after 21 years. He is taking up a job in a multi media project.
I have interviewed and discussed the state of the (documentary) art with Garrel several times and will not hesitate to call him one of the most inspirational figures in European documentary. Always burning for the quality, going for the auteur and not the main stream television. I have no idea why he has taken this decision but would very well understand if he quits because of a new arte policy that leaves far too little attention to the creative documentary. His prestigious slot Grand Format that used to be placed at prime time monday has been given far too little ressources in the last years, and is now broadcast with a lot of reruns close to midnight.
Til vore DANSKE læsere – her er et citat fra et interview med Garrel i DFI’s blad FILM:
“Dokumentaristens væsentligste opgave i dag er at genopdage og forsone os med vor egen menneskelighed. Efter det monstrøse 20. århundrede som markerede afslutningen på humanismen og faldet af utopiske tanker og idealer, er dette møde med den anden det vigtigste. Der skal skabes en forståelse og en refleksion på baggrund af en humanisme med en kritisk dimension. Det er derfor utroligt vigtigt at opfinde nye måder at beskrive den nutidige og fremtidige verden på.”
