Citizen Langlois

There was a time when films, after they had been taken out of circulation, ended up somewhere on a refuse dump or were converted into nail polish or shoe cream. Henri Langlois was the first to have the idea of preserving these films for future generations. In 1936 he established the Cin‚mathŠque Fran‡aise, the precursor of all filmmuseums. Citizen Langlois reveals the story of the man who at an early age chose to devote his life to the preservation of the past. The film has a fragmented structure which, together with the abundant, particularly French film fragments, evokes an intriguing atmosphere. The film sheds light not only on Langlois' motives, but also on the secret of the film medium, his great passion. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)