The Hermit’s Dreams

The children of the Cinémathèque Française and its founder, Henri Langlois, grew up to become a numerous and multifaceted tribe. During the volatile period of civil unrest in May ‘68, the young Soxiante-huitards – in addition to the celebrated doyens of the French New Wave movement – came together and formed various groups. One of the more important, yet obscure ones was the Zanzibar Collective, whose spiritual leader was one of the more important French cinéastes, Philippe Garrel. The politically-motivated Maoists and supporters of the Bolshevik revolution gave new life to the avant-garde movement in film, not unlike American New Cinema in the US. By principally analyzing Garrel’s The Inner Scar (La cicatrice intérieure, 1972), the article presents the activities of the Zanzibar Collective and its leading member.

The integral (Slovenian) version of this article can be found in the printed KINO!