Catherine Lamour looks back on the birth of Canal+ documentaries

Perhaps many have forgotten it, but the rise of television documentaries began on Canal+. For the 40th anniversary of the channel, the former director of the service recalls this with pride. Interview.

Catherine Lamour, who directed documentaries at Canal+ for almost twenty years, looks back on what the growth of the genre on television owes to the encrypted channel, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this November 4. A contribution as considerable as it is unsuspected in the eyes of current subscribers, who have not necessarily known the “historic” Canal.

When we talk about documentaries on television, we always cite the public channels, Arte and France Télévisions…
And yet, documentaries were first on Canal+. In 1984, there were only three channels, and they programmed very few. Moreover, these were more reports, produced internally by the information services. The arrival of Canal+ caused a shift and considerably changed the landscape. At the end of the 1980s, we received three thousand projects a year, had a large number of boxes and had a lot of people working. Private production then relied on large companies that were only interested in fiction. Many of the directors we wanted to work with preferred to create their own company — some still exist. And this network of producers who started with us subsequently benefited other chains.

How did you get on Canal+?
I was at Télé-Hachette, a company run by Frédéric Rossif who was the king of wildlife and historical films. I was his little hand and learned a lot with him. When work ran out, the assistant to the president of Havas, with whom I had gone to high school, told me about a chain that was being set up. It was 1983 and, a few days later, I was called to contribute my know-how. I remember hearing: “Every documentary must be as good as the best commercial. » To which I replied: “Considering how much an advertising film costs, it’s not going to stick!” » We started as four people, in a dingy office on Avenue de la Grande-Armée. When I left, in the early 2000s, there were five thousand of us.

What place did the documentary occupy in the initial project?
Pierre Lescure and Alain De Greef, who arrived shortly after [en tant que directeur et directeur de production, ndlr]designed Canal+ around cinema, sport, fiction, short programs and documentaries. The first was First Contact [chef-d’œuvre ethnographique tourné en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée par Bob Connolly et Robin Anderson, ndlr]broadcast on November 4, 1984 where André Rousselet [président de Havas, ndlr] pressed the button not knowing if it would work. The first year was also difficult, if only technically, but Pierre and Alain understood that it was necessary to offer subscribers what they did not see elsewhere – the documentary was one of them – and to make it known. And, by the end of 1985, we had passed the first million subscribers.

What types of documentaries were you programming?
We were the first to acquire BBC wildlife films — the finest in the world. Being the only French on the market, we bought what we wanted. We were the kings of the jungle! We then moved on to social films, taking care to maintain a balance between image documentaries and content documentaries. Some have moved lines, like Memories of immigrants, by Yamina Benguigui, which had been refused by all the channels. Or Yugoslavia, suicide of a European nationby Brian Lapping, whom I consider a genius. When Agnès Varda submitted a short film project to us, Alain De Greef didn't want them — we already had a lot. But the day when, on our advice, she came to him with a heart-shaped potato, he melted and said to her “Okay, but make a big movie instead. » It gave The Gleaners and the Gleaner. Forty years ago, feature-length documentaries were rare. Now, we are showing it in Cannes; and when I want to watch documentaries on television, there is no shortage of choice. Canal+ participated in this evolution.