Pierre Guicheney

Pierre Guicheney
© DR
Film director, Writer, Journalist, Screenwriter
Principal country concerned : Column : Theater, Cinema/tv, Literature, History/society, Media

Writer, filmmaker, theatrical and anthropological formative cursus in Jerzy Grotowski's Teatr Laboratorium (1978-1981, Poland, India, Italy). Laboratory work with Haitian Saint Soleil group (Poland, 1980). One of the founders of Gruppo Internazionale l'Avventura, research group founded by Grotowski's companions (1981-1983). Video Art with Tape Connection (Rome, 1985-86); production and post-production activities in Cinecitta' (Rome, 1984-1993); Besides a long collaboration (still in progress) with late Laïachi Hamshish and then Fatna Hadnan, both priests of the Gnawa brotherhood in Morocco, Guicheney settled in France in 1993, where he has continued his work in journalism, writing and documentary filmmaking in the field of folk memories, healings and archaic traditions, also as a freelance journalist for Geo Magazine since 1995.

Main Films

"Pierre Verger, le regard retourné" (26' - Bénin-Unesco-Univ. Paris VII, 1997), with the ethnologist Pascal Dibie about vôdun cerimonies on the head of the ethnologist and photographer Pierre Verger.

"Le bal des génies", documentary 52' (Films du Village - TLT, 1999) about Gnawa cult in Marrakech area.

"La main chaude", documentary 52' (France 3-24 Images, 2001), on traditional healing in the West of France.

"La main d'or " (63', France 3, 24 Images, 2003), portrait of a famous healer from the West of France.

" Des Gnawa dans le bocage " (52', France 3, 24 Images, 2005), voyage of a gnawa priestess and a group of musicians in the region of Mayenne (West of France), meetings with healing saints and traditional healers.

"Lady from Osogbo " (77', CNRS Images, 24 Images, 2007), portrait of the austrian artist Susanne Wenger, her Yoruba family and Osun Osogbo's sacred groves (Nigeria). The artist who had been initiated in yoruba religion has permitted the salvation and inscription of the groves to Unesco' Humanity World Heritage after 50 years of intense struggling together with her Yoruba companions.

Video Installation :
"Le Bus des Génies", videoinstallation (Mayenne mars 2005, Paris La Villette juin 2006) about Gnawa and Yoruba cults.

Books :
"La Storia di Bilal" (Sensibili alle foglie ed., Rome 1989)
"On se meurt apprenti" (Terre de Brume, 1997 ; Ennoia, 2002).
"À la Folie", avec the photographer Marie-Paule Nègre (Siloë, 2000).
"La caravane de sel",with the photographer J.-L. Manaud (Hoebeke, 2002).
"Paris, la balade des clochers", with the photographer Michel Setboun (Hermé, 2004)
"Hier, nos campagnes" (Aubanel, 2005)
"Bell Towers of Paris " (Abrams, New York, 2006)
"Paris vu des clochers" (Hermé, 2006)
"Chroniques Sahariennes", with Jean-Luc Manaud (Le Chêne, 2006)

Partners

  • Arterial network
  • Media, Sports and Entertainment Group (MSE)
  • Gens de la Caraïbe
  • Groupe 30 Afrique
  • Alliance Française VANUATU
  • PACIFIC ARTS ALLIANCE
  • FURTHER ARTS
  • Zimbabwe : Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe Trust
  • RDC : Groupe TACCEMS
  • Rwanda : Positive Production
  • Togo : Kadam Kadam
  • Niger : ONG Culture Art Humanité
  • Collectif 2004 Images
  • Africultures Burkina-Faso
  • Bénincultures / Editions Plurielles
  • Africiné
  • Afrilivres

With the support of