Olivier Azam
Directing
Biography
Olivier Azam (born in 1971 in Narbonne, France) is a French filmmaker specializing in documentaries that address social and political issues. In addition to directing, he has worked as a cinematographer, editor, composer, and producer. In 2000, he co-founded Zalea TV, a free television channel that operated until 2007. In 2002, he directed his first documentary, Je déboule à Kaboul, based on his experience in Afghanistan shortly after the fall of the Taliban. In 2005, he co-founded the audiovisual cooperative Les Mutins de Pangée. That same year, he directed Désentubages cathodiques, a critique of the media. In collaboration with journalist Daniel Mermet, he co-directed Chomsky & Cie (2008) and its sequel Chomsky et le Pouvoir (2009), focusing on Noam Chomsky's thought. Other notable works include Grandpuits et petites victoires (2011), about a strike by oil workers, and Howard Zinn, une histoire populaire américaine (2015), about the American historian. In 2017, he directed La Cigale, le Corbeau et les Poulets, a documentary that combines humor and social critique. Azam is known for his critical approach and commitment to social causes, using film as a tool for reflection and change.
Known For
An impressive roster of celebrities -- including Lili Taylor, Paul Robeson, Sarah Jones, Brian Jones, John Sayles and Wallace Shawn -- lend their voices to this performance of readings inspired by Howard Zinn's best-selling book. Segments bring to life Tecumseh's speech to the Osages, Frederick Douglass' thoughts about July 4 and Paul Robeson's Unread Statement before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
Howard Zinn: Voices of a People's History of the United States
Second part of a documentary that delves into the links between Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States and Zinn's own life.
Howard Zinn, une histoire populaire américaine 2
At a time when powerlessness and resignation carry the day, Noam Chomsky's work is a radical antidote for all those who want to put an end to the factory of powerlessness and its intellectual media star watchdogs. Theoretician of language, born in Philadelphia in 1928, Noam Chomsky revolutionized linguistics with the "generative grammar." But Chomsky is also a political analyst involved in all political struggles for decades. His clear analysis and rational ideological mechanisms of our societies is a crucial resource for critical thinking today.
Chomsky & Cie
From falsehood to mystification to manipulation and false impartiality, the whole logic of disinformation and brutality is brought to light. When the king of the media and his politico-journalistic buffoons are sifted by a radical counter-audiovisual power, the discredit of the "elites" sanctioned by the referendum of May 29, 2005 is better understood. With this film, Zalea TV's team had decided to laugh about it and make them laugh, even if at bottom these discoveries were rather disturbing. By staging a series of very simple techniques of "self-defense", this film is an invitation to self-disengage permanently. The use of the TV-B Gone, an instrument whose sole function is to turn off the television, appears here as the ultimate resort to media criticism.
Désentubage cathodique
Between 1900 and 1920 more than 14 million immigrants arrived in the US, like Howard Zinn's parents. They came fleeing poverty or war, or racism, or religious persecution. They dreamed of a promised land, of wealth, or simply of a better life.
Howard Zinn: A People's History of the United States
No description available.
La Cigale, le Corbeau et les Poulets
No description available.
Filmer et punir
No description available.
André Minvielle, l'homme à la manivelle
No description available.
Alger, Révolution africaine (années 1960)
No description available.
Chomsky et le pouvoir
No description available.
Grandpuits & petites victoires
Chronicle of the life of a free TV, from its descent from the satellite in May 2001 to the conquest of the Eiffel Tower in November 2002. The attack on the Loft, the difficulties with the CSA, fieldwork, so that, at last, another kind of TV might be possible. Made under TSA licence.
On la fermera pas !
Interview with Bruno Muel and Christian Corouge, former members of Sochaux's Medvedkine group, filmed at La Hestejada de las arts in Uzeste, by Olivier Azam (co-founder and member of the Mutins de Pangée cooperative). "A trace in the collective and working-class memory". (Christian Corouge)