Presents
THE GUTENBERG ENIGMA
The father of the 1st media revolution
A film by Marc JAMPOLSKY
Co-written with Eric Morfaux
SEPPIA - 18 rue Auguste Lamey – 67000 Strasbourg
Contact : Cedric Bonin 03 88 52 81 21 – mail : [email protected] SUMMARY
THE GUTENBERG PROJECT
Gutenberg is responsible for the most significant invention of
the medieval period: movable type printing. This innovative
technology had a huge impact on the intellectual life of the
time, enabling a wide dissemination of knowledge.
Gutenberg’s revolutionary invention triggered a profound
upheaval with far-reaching consequences.
The importance of printing has been much discussed, but
perhaps there hasn’t been as much focus on the first chapter
of this tale: the birth of an idea, and its first faltering steps in a
world it was about to change forever. In other words: the tale
of Gutenberg himself (1400-1468).
How could such an invention have come about in 15th-century Europe? How was it
developed and perfected? How was it financed? How does it work, technically?
What material was published? How to protect the invention in a world that knew no
copyright? Who were Gutenberg’s potential allies? And what was his goal?
This ambitious docudrama aims at showing exactly that: the struggle of an inventor
who challenged the society of his time. This is an epic tale, with a protagonist who is
by turns tenacious, cantankerous, shrewd, bold, cunning, epicurean, and passionate.
It is a timeless story full of challenges, visionary ideas, alliances and betrayals. The
birth of printing and Gutenberg’s adventurous life make up the rollicking tale of an
invention that would change the world.
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA LONG SYNOPSIS
Information to the readers: All the sequences that depict moments from the life of
Gutenberg are based on existing old documents/archives or from scientific deductions
presented in the film. They present events that actually occurred and that we deal with in a
fictional manner. The archives on which the sequences are based are presented before each
sequence. In the synopsis, the parts in italics will be a fictionalized treatment.
PROLOGUE: THE RAPID EXPANSION OF PRINTING
The film opens during the rapid expansion of printing at the end of the 15th century.
Vibrant antique engravings and maps bear witness to this expansion: from Paris to Rome,
passing by Bologna and Nuremberg, printing workshops are springing up, the number of
publications is exploding. It is a revolution quickening the spread of knowledge.
Twenty years earlier, at a scribe's desk, a monk undertakes to recopy the Bible by hand.
It takes three years for the monk to complete his task, several months if he is using the
rudimentary technique of wood engraving...
Visualization of the Gutenberg press in action. Then, the thousands of copies that are
spewed from modern printers, stacks of published works lining the rows of stands at the
Frankfurt book fair today.
Who is the author of this brilliant and revolutionary invention that brings an end to the
Middle Ages and marks the start of a new era?
A short montage of interviews with historians and researchers keeps us on track: history
has preserved the name of Gutenberg, but pay attention, it's more complex that that... The
clues are scarce. Often misleading and successive interpretations have largely distorted
the facts. It has been said the Gutenberg was a crook. That he was a victim, swindled by
his invention. Some even question whether he is at the origins of printing.
In reality, if the invention changed the world, its genesis remains enigmatic; as for its
inventor, apart from his name, he remains largely forgotten in the folds of time.
So who was Gutenberg? What exactly did he do? What were his motivations? What
happened more than five centuries ago in the Rhine valley, between Strasbourg and
Mainz? To find out, we will try to retrace his steps, to reconstruct his story by consulting
documents from this period.
We go on a sort of treasure hunt to discover the source of light illuminating the clues and
explore ideas in order to clear the fog surrounding his story.
In fact, the first of these rays emanate from the city of Strasbourg. It is the year 1434, in a
Europe that is trying to shake of the end of the Middle Ages.
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA GUTENBERG AND LIFE IN STRASBOURG
1434. Gutenberg has a clerk from Mainz arrested in Strasbourg for an unpaid pension....
The first mention of Gutenberg comes from judicial archives. To understand the issue, we
must explain what is known of his origins: born in 1400 in Mainz to a family of wealthy
patricians, he fled the town of his birth because of the fierce rivalry between his peers in
artisan and merchant guilds. In exile in Strasbourg, he claims that Mainz is supposed to
pay him a pension.
Gutenberg wins the case: he will be paid what he is owed. The clerk is released from
prison.
We discover that Gutenberg is a keen negotiator and worried about his own interests.
Other tax and judicial archives provide a better understanding of the person and what
brings him to Strasbourg.
We see Gutenberg at home, receiving friends around a table well stocked with wine. But
also, his quarrels with a certain Enneline of la Porte de Fer, who takes him to court for the
breach of promise to marry. During the hearing, he addresses a witness as a "poor guy
leading a miserable life of deception...". Which is worthy of a new legal case!
A historian specialized in the legal system at the end of the Middle Ages sheds light on the
procedural law of the time. It is undeniable, however, that Gutenberg is endowed with a
dynamic, perhaps even violent, temperament.
But really what did he do in Strasbourg apart from parties and the occasional trouble? Did
he have a business that came before the great invention? The answer lies again in the
judicial archives.
THE CASE OF MIRRORS
1439 - Courtroom. We are witnessing the testimony from
several witnesses. They are discussing a company founded by
Gutenberg, the affair of the mirrors...
Presentation by a historian on the significant volume of
archives (several dozen testimonies) from this trial: a priceless
wealth of information that reveals how Gutenberg was a true
entrepreneur. What is it all about?
A partner of Gutenberg has died (a certain Andréas Dritzhen).
His two brothers demand the right to join the company
themselves. Gutenberg refuses. Beyond the dispute, the
purpose of this company is revealing.
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA We learn (through the testimonies) that Gutenberg developed a process to mechanize the
manufacturing of small mirrors. These objects were for capturing and displaying the
radiance of the saints' relics and Gutenberg wanted to sell on a large scale during the
pilgrimage to Aachen. A good business plan, which is why they would want to take part.
A technology historian imagines the process used, evaluates its profitability and
demonstrates that it is one of the first real mass productions in the Middle Ages. In this,
Gutenberg shows his interest in mass production. And in financial matters.
However, the brothers of Andreas Dritzhen have no interest in this. The trial exposes
another occupation...
THE MYSTERIOUS TECHNICAL VENTURE
(Several testimonies set the scenes of the story: we leave the courtroom to see what the
witness has to say.)
Witnesses follow one after the other. We discover the existence of a mysterious process
that is only is spoken of in cryptic terms but that excites interest. A "technical venture" that
Gutenberg had initially hidden from his partners before involving them in the matter with
a significant financial contribution.
The case is full of surprises. It evokes a press, interlocking forms, lead and lots of money
invested. Gutenberg admits he dismantled some parts so that no one could understand
them. The secret is everywhere and remains that way until the end.
Gutenberg is successful: the Dritzhen brothers will join the
business. The question is whether this mysterious technical venture
is already that of the book. Historians are divided: no printed
document from this period has ever been found. But the cleverly
ambiguous terms employed by the witnesses leave little doubt:
they are definitely speaking about a movable type printing press.
Without saying too much so the process cannot be stolen while it
is still being developed.
The invention is under way but the story of its origin is abruptly
interrupted: we lose track of Gutenberg for several years.
THE BOOK BEFORE ITS BIRTH
Is it that difficult to invent the printing press? Strasbourg, in the middle of the fifteenth, was
certainly not conducive to long and costly research. Overwhelmed by the plague, the city
trembled under the threat of recently demobilized mercenaries.
But above all, a quick trip to the great museums and libraries of Europe, where we travel
the necessary route to go from the existing mechanical writing (wood tablets in China,
bronze characters in Korea) to standard and easily reproduced printing.
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA More context: advances in metallurgy and the circulation of knowledge in the Rhine
valley nourish the blossoming of ideas and techniques. It still requires someone to
assemble it and get it working.
THE SHOCK OF THE 42-LINE BIBLE
Autumn 1454. We are at the large Frankfurt fair in the
company of Piccolomini, the archbishop of Siena, who
discovers the first copies of the 42-line Bible. A shock. He
immediately writes to the papal legate in Germany: "A
very clear and very correct writing, no error that Thy
dignity would have read easily and without glasses ..."
The B42 is the first mass production book of impeccable
quality, the undisputed masterpiece in those early hours
of movable type. There are fifty copies that still exist in
the world. It is also one of the most expensive books: one
complete copy is valued at over 10 million dollars.
We examine a copy (Mazarine library) in the company of
an expert who describes all the book's qualities. And
stresses that it is obviously the product of a long process
of developing techniques and tools to make it.
Is this exceptional book the work of Gutenberg? If so,
how did he achieve such a result? And besides, are we on the right path?
RETURN TO MAINZ
1448 - Mainz. Where we find Gutenberg doing business in the company of another man.
They add, multiply; they discuss finances and production costs.
Gutenberg reappears in Mainz (meanwhile pacified after years of civil war) where several
accounting books show successive loans. This is clearly to finance a business. We even
know his new partner: a very wealthy and very pious patrician named Johann Fust.
Nothing official yet but it is possible that this business is in line with the "technical
venture" begun in Strasbourg. In other words, the development of a movable type printing
system. We must investigate.
THE D-K TYPE VENTURE
Our investigation leads us the city's archives where we discover several publications
(Latin grammars named after their author - Donat - and the Turkish Calendar) that
appeared in Mainz between 1450 and 1454. They are proof of an indisputable printing
activity whose technique is completely new.
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA The documents are reviewed and commented on by a specialist in printing techniques. He
is particularly interested in typefaces, the quality of printing, paragraph alignment, etc.
Other clues show that they were working within the parameters of letterpress printing with
movable type. However, without totally mastering the techniques.
These documents, however, all have one thing in common: the font used, i.e. the
typeface. We call it the D-K type (Donat, Kalendar). It is probably the first font ever
created. And marks the true birth of the printing press that would soon change the world.
Of course, nothing is signed. But historians agree on this point: nobody in Mainz, apart
from Gutenberg, was able to make these copies.
So what was his process? How did Gutenberg's printing press function?
The production line is reproduced in a workshop of the School of Applied Arts/Ecole des
Arts Appliqués in Strasbourg.
We discover the challenges that would have been encountered: designing an adjustable
character mold, creating a rich font to adjust the lines to create a harmonious result,
assembling the typeface, synchronizing the sheets of paper, developing the press and a
suitable ink...
Each step, the fruit of a minute improvement, reveals the genius of Gutenberg.
FROM THE CALENDAR TO THE BIBLE
1452. The printing workshop is in Mainz. Gutenberg, with his partner, Johann Fust,
printed materials that easily find an audience: horoscopes, grammars, calendars, etc.
However, it is not the same in terms of the print quality and ambition of this Bible that we
discover in 1455 at the Frankfurt fair. So how and why has the "Gutenberg workshop"
faced this new challenge?
The investigation leads us to the laboratories where the 42-line Bible is studied: ink
analyses, paper analyses and observations under the microscope of the typeface. For
researchers, the B42 presents technical and aesthetic improvements that cannot be the
work of a single person. The qualitative leap is too sudden and involves a contribution of
new skills. It is necessary to research his partners.
Several documents (related in particular to Johann Fust) shed light on the existence of a
third man in the affair: Peter Schöffer, a skillful scholar and creative calligrapher. He will
become one of the most important printers in Mainz. And (according to the texts) plays a
key role in creating the B42.
1453. Now there are three men at work in the workshop: Gutenberg, Fust and Schöffer
while, in the background, someone is working on several presses at the same time. We are
interested in Schöffer who develops a new font ... that of B42.
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA The printing techniques expert compares the D-K type (used for the first publications) with
drawing by Schöffer: a Gothic Textura, both more compact, thinner and more elegant. A
decisive step towards the "masterpiece"...
1454. The Frankfurt Fair. The seller advertises 70 copies in 2 volumes of 324 pages and
318 pages. Orders come flooding in.
THE DISPUTE AND ITS (REAL) REASON
1455. A new trial! This time we learn more from an act signed by the notary
Helmasperger (the document is kept in the library of Göttingen). We learn of the
complaint filed by Fust, claiming a return on his investment. He accuses Gutenberg of not
fairly distributing profits and even misappropriating gains.
What happened this time? Could Gutenberg be a crook? The investigation looks first to the
text of the notary, which proves to be essential: it is Gutenberg who holds the purse
strings.
It is Gutenberg who the judges require provide the accounting data. It is the head of the
company. So has he misappropriated revenue?
The third partner, Schöffer, puts us on the right track.
“The Bible was not a good business. The manufacturing costs were too high. It required
between 15 and 20 employees (typographers, typesetters, printers, etc.) over two years to
complete. Revenue never met the expenses."
The explanation in two words: not profitable! Fust could not be paid because Gutenberg
had no money. And it is probable that he had felt the financial fragility of the business
from the beginning.
Careful examination of the first books of the B42 reveals strange pentimenti: they are
printed on 40 lines and in duotone (red-black)! An even more luxurious but also more
expensive presentation. Which is then abandoned for monochrome on 42 lines.
For historians, this is the sign of a genuine disagreement between the two men. Fust who
probably initiated the project of the Bible wants to make the finest possible object.
Gutenberg, as manager, is interested in the speed and process economics. The famous
"Gutenberg Bible", which is a symbol of the birth of movable type printing, should instead
be named after his partners Fust and Schöffer.
Thus the roles each of the protagonists of this adventure are taking shape. What each of
them does next confirms these differences of opinion.
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA THE SEPARATION
The outcome of the civil trial is not known in its entirety. The notary document simply
tells us that Gutenberg must repay the first loan granted to Fust. And it confirms the
separation of partners.
There are now two printers in Mainz, each working on their own with their own ideas.
Their respective activities are proof that they had different designs for the printing press
and for its use.
In his workshop, Fust, working with Schöffer - who has since married Fust's daughter publishes some one of the finest known works. In particular, the Mainz Psalter, a truly
elegant trichromatic book made with the utmost care.
Images of the work are presented carefully by an archivist. He details the impressive
aesthetic qualities similar to those of the illuminated manuscripts.
But it will remain the first major commercial failure in the history of the printed book.
Gutenberg, now in sole command of his workshop, is back to his crudest D-K type with
which he prints fair publications (leaflets, indulgences, etc.).
Images of these publications without prestige. However, they bear witness to the
development of the printing press: a tool for the mass production of cheap goods and
opportunistic destinies. (Example of indulgences issued by the clergy to finance their
crusade against the Turks). Twenty years after mass producing mirrors, Gutenberg does not
deviate from his idea of mass production.
EPILOGUE: AN INGLORIOUS END, AN ENDLESS GLORY…
Final images of Gutenberg: aging, isolated, suffering from blindness, he stops working. An
annuity in kind granted by the Prince Archbishop of Mainz allows him to escape poverty.
He spends his final days at La Bourse Algesheim, a sort of home for the less fortunate who
pool their meager resources.
During the last years of his life, Gutenberg would have seen Mainz explode again in a
conflict between the old and the new archbishop of the city. He would have heard,
perhaps from a traveler, that his and Fust’s followers had left and founded workshops
elsewhere in Europe.
But he was never able to see the triumph of his invention. In 1468, Gutenberg dies just as
printing takes off and is set to change the world.
The invention is not born of a humanist cause, contrary to the legend that was attached to
it, but for technical and financial reasons. However, his project began a revolution. He
opened radically new economic and cultural horizons by making the printed word a mass
consumer product. Not only did Gutenberg invent the printing press, but he also showed
us how to use it: produce rapidly on a large scale. And the future proves him right.
A historian gives his/her closing thoughts on the tremendous expansion of printing, its
immediate effects - the acceleration of the Protestant Reformation - and its longer term
effects seen in contemporary history.
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA GUTENBERG, A FILM CHARACTER
Overshadowed by the radiance of his invention, buried in the
darkness of the Middle Ages, Gutenberg’s character only existed
in the imaginary world of the public, a vague silhouette of a
bearded man wearing a turban. However, the archives (law and
tax registers, chronicles of the towns of Mayence, Strasbourg,
Erfurt, Eltville, etc.) and the biographical elements give us a
precise idea of the character.
Far from being an ascetic devoted to his mission, we discover a
man who enjoyed success and lived the good life when he had
the means to do so (the tax authorities at that time listed more
than two thousand bottles in his cellar when he lived in Strasbourg…).
He was often involved in lawsuits with his associates because he had an acute sense of
business and squabbling. The way he managed to imprison the secretary of the town of
Mayence, in Strasbourg because he failed to give him his practitioner’s pension, is a
perfect illustration of this.
Appealing to the Episcopal courts was common practice at that time and caused him
many troubles. The least, without a doubt, was to be obliged to marry Enneline zu den
Yserin Tür, to whom he had promised to get married and who brought him before the
judges so that he would do so.
Superimposed on this procedural and quarrelsome background, was his matured intention
to mechanise repetitive tasks, while he was having trouble copying out manuscripts at the
convent of Erfurt. This ambition has often been falsely linked to his decision to print and
spread the bible, as if he was motivated by Christian faith. In reality, the bible was a
market like any other and his obsession lied in producing all kinds of books in series. In
this respect, his first attempts involved a grammar book and an astrological calendar.
Gutenberg was an inventor not a preacher. He had all the required attributes and
knowledge: searcher, creator, imaginative, synthetic, and capable of associating the
techniques of the foundry workers, goldsmiths and bookbinders he had observed in
Mayence.
But above all, he was incredibly stubborn and persistent to perfection, with an obstinate
drive for swindling, which highlights the tragic interest of the character. His determination
in a project that took up his entire life led him to the experience of slight success and
numerous treasons. When he died in 1467, his name was not left on any book, but he
ignited a cultural revolution which was about to change the world.
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA FILM MAKING
To tell this story, the film associates scenes of fiction with interventions from historians.
The initial purpose lies in giving life to the character of Gutenberg and his era while
benefiting from the extraordinary potential of his story. It is a matter of historical
reconstitution and staging the characters: incarnated sequences with dialogues that
retrace, step by step, the astonishing destiny of Johann Gutenberg.
We remain at the heart of the action, with relevant scenes allowing the progression of the
story. We attend the crucial moments of the story, discover the elements of the tragedy,
the contradictions of the character, his weaknesses and enemies and we share his
emotions and fear of the outcome of his destiny. These sequences are also the means to
reproduce the ambiance of the towns, houses and workshops of that time.
The will to stick to the unwinding of the facts in the historical sequences gives way to the
complementary story told by the historians, medieval specialists, archivists or librarians
specialised in old books.
They specify the context, enhance the story and put it into perspective by insisting on the
period after Gutenberg, which was marked by the Revolution of the Book (a sociologist
also intervenes to associate this phenomenon with the internet revolution).
The participants are filmed in a work environment, drawing documents from shelves to
produce them in images or to handle the original copies of Gutenberg (and other
incunabulum). They evolve in places where the memory of our history reside: convent
libraries, monastery scriptorums, museum storerooms, bookshop backrooms…places with
a scent of mystery and charm and which visually go well with the historical settings and
reconstitutions.
The story is thus alternatively told by the participants and the actors in a continuous
unwinding of the same story. Everything is fluid, without tone ruptures. The reconstitutions
and interventions are connected to the sounds and images. We go from one genre to
another through the succession of camera movements, the coincidence of the settings, and
the continuity of the subject. The time barrier disappears between the “era” sequences and
those of today.
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA PROTAGONISTS
During our researches, we met and interviewed the following personnalities who will be
part of the film:
-
Guy Bechtel, historian, author of a biography about Gutenberg.
-
Olivier Deloignon, professor and researcher at the Strasbourg College of Applied Arts.
-
Pierre Monet, historian and director of the German Institute in Francfort, Germany.
Specialist of urban societies at the end of the Middle Age.
-
Yann Sordet, curator of the Mazarine Library in Paris, France. He owns the only dated
copy of the B42.
-
Agathe Bischoff Morales, in charge of the Heritage Fund of the André Malraux multimedia
library in Strasbourg, France.
-
Dr. Stephan Füssel, director of the Bibliology Institute, Mainz University, Germany.
-
Dr Cornelia Schneider, curator of the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany.
Other American and British researchers and historians specialized in the work of
Gutenberg will be interviewed in the movie.
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA MARC JAMPOLSKY
Born on the 30th of july 1956
90 avenue Pasteur
F-93260 Les Lilas
Tél: +33 6 09 75 37 66
[email protected]
MAIN WORKS
« Le sanctuaire du D Day » (110’) L’histoire du D-Day racontée au travers des épaves qui
peuplent le fond de la mer, face aux plages du débarquement. MC4 pour France 3, Nova
(USA). En cours...
« Voyage au centre de la mer » (58’ / 72’) Le voyage d’une goutte d’eau à travers les
océans nous révèle les secrets des courants marins. MC4/NovaMédia pour ARTE, Explora
et Radio Canada. 2012/2013
« Le défi des bâtisseurs : la Cathédrale de Strasbourg » (90’) L’histoire de la construction
de l’un des chefs d’œuvre de l’art gothique. 3D relief. Seppia pour ARTE et ZDF. 2012
Meilleur documentaire, Festival Dimension 3 (Paris), Sélection à BEYOND (Karlsruhe),
Festival International du Film sur l’Art (Montreal), New York world’s best Tv films
« Poilus d’Alaska » (90’) L’épopée de 450 chiens de traîneaux venus d’Alaska et engagés
dans la grande guerre de 14-18. Bonne Pioche/Idéacom pour ARTE, Radio Canada.
2010/2011
Sélection FIPA 2011. Gémeau de la meilleure image (Académie Canadienne du Film Montréal). Prix du Jury 2012 aux Ecrans de l’Aventure (Dijon). Prix de la Société des
Explorateurs (Festival International du Film de Montagne – Autran)
« Le voyage du chamane » (52’) Rencontre avec le dernier véritable chamane de Sibérie.
Gédéon Programmes pour Planète. 2007
« Les mystères de Kyys la chamane » (52’). Enquête sur les traces d’une momie de
chamane découverte en Yakoutie. Gédéon programmes pour ARTE. 2007
Prix spécial du Jury au Festival International du Film d’aventure de Dijon/Prix du public
au Festival International du Film Archéologique de Bruxelles/ Grand prix au Festival
Cinarchea de Kiel, Allemagne./ 2ème prix au International Festival of Archaeological
Film, Italie.
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA «Portraits de femmes» série de 50x4’ réalisée en collaboration avec Titouan Lamazou.
Capitaine Flint pour France 5. 2006
« Novgorod, Lettres du Moyen Age» (52’) Découverte de lettres écrites au moyen âge par
les habitants de Viliki Novgorod, en Russie. Gédéon programmes pour ARTE – 2004.Prix
Silvio Andreis au Festival International du Film Archéologique de Rovereto, Italie /
Mention spéciale du jury au Festival International du Film Archéologique d’Irun,
Espagne. / Mention spéciale au Festival International d’Icronos
« Les secrets du Karakoum » (52’) Deuxième volet de l’expédition archéologique dans le
désert du Karakoum, au Turkménistan. Gédéon programmes pour ARTE – 2004.
Prix du Film Archéologique et prix pour la meilleure musique au Festival du Film
d’aventure de Toulon / Prix d’honneur, prix spécial du jury et prix de la meilleur
utilisation de la 3D au Archeology Channel, Oregon, USA./ Première mention au MIFSciences de Lièges, Belgique.
« Karakoum, la civilisation des oasis » (52') Découverte d’une civilisation antique
ignorée dans le désert du Karakoum, au Turkménistan. Gédéon programmes pour ARTE /
France 5 – 2002
Prix du Public et Prix du jury au Festival Icronos de Bordeaux / Prix du meilleur film
archéologique au Festival de Castellana Grotte, Italie / Prix d’excellence au Festival du
Film d’Archéologie d’Amiens.
« Sur la trace des Celtes » (52') Tour d’Europe des dernières découvertes concernant le
peuple Celte. Gédéon programmes pour ARTE / France 5 - 2002/2003
Grand Prix du Festival International du Film Archéologique d’Irun, Espagne / Grand Prix
du Festival International du Film Archéologique de Besançon, France / Prix du Film
d’Archéologie, Festival KINEON, Bruxelles, décembre 2005
« La tombe du prince Scythe » (52’) Découverte d’une tombe Scythe dans les montagnes
de l’Altaï, Kazakhstan. Diffusion ARTE et Discovery (USA). Coproduction GédéonDiscovery - 1999/2000.
Bronze Medal Award, Festival International de New-York du Film Documentaire (2001) /
Grand prix de l’aventure scientifique au Festival International du Journalisme et du
Scoop (Angers, 2001) / Prix du public et prix du jury au Festival International du Film
d’Archéologie (Nyon, 2001) / Mention spéciale du Jury au Festival du Film Scientifique
d'Obidos au Portugal.
« La jonque de Brunei » (52’) Expédition archéologique sous-marine en Mer de Chine.
Diffusion ARTE et Nova (USA). Coproduction Gédéon-Nova 1998/99.
Prix du film historique, Festival Mondial de l’image sous-marine (1999)
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA ERIC MORFAUX
5, rue de la Perche
F-67000 Strasbourg
mail: [email protected]
Born on the 21st of july 1964
Tel:+33 6 23 12 08 38
FORMATION
1998-99 FEMIS. Membre du grand atelier scénario.1982-1988 Etudes supérieures en
économie et commerce international.
LANGUES Anglais et allemand, écrits et parlés couramment.
EXPERIENCE PROFESSIONNELLE
Depuis 2012 : Collaboration à l’écriture de documentaires : Le défi des bâtisseurs,Le Roi
du mont Ventoux, Tout le cabaret Alsacien, produits par Seppia.
Depuis 2011 : Développement du long métrage cinéma «Vivre Libre» Produit par
Sésame Films, soutenu par la Procirep, Soficinéma, Beaumarchais et l’Agence Culturelle
d’Alsace.
Depuis 2008 : Script doctoring pour des films de cinéma : Mary queen of Scotts de
Thomas Imbach, Jeux d’été de Rolando Colla, Les chansons cachées de Andreas Struck,
Fuori Dalle Corde de Fluvio Bernasconi...
2007 : Réalisation du court-métrage «Petite Flamme» produit par Sésame Films.
Diffusion sur France 2. Prix Beaumarchais, prix de la qualité du CNCprix CCAS au
festival d’Angers, prix du public au festival de Cernay. Sélection aux festivals de Locarno,
Uppsala, Grenoble...
2004 : Ecriture du téléfilm de 90’« Bien Agités » diffusé en 2005 sur M6. Réalisation
Patrick Chesnais, avec Fredéric Diefenthal et Julie Gayet. Rendez-Vous Production.
2000 : Finaliste du grand prix du meilleur scénario de télévision organisé par Le FIPA
avec la comédie « Tombé du Ciel »
Depuis 2008 : chargé de travaux dirigés en scénario au département cinéma de
l’Université de Strasbourg.
Depuis 2010 : Chargé de Programmes cinéma fiction à mi-temps à Arte Strasbourg
1998 : Chargé de Programmes cinéma fiction à ARTE à Strasbourg. Suivi de
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA l’établissement des versions françaises des films. Lecture de projets, suivi de
coproductions.
1996-1998 : Responsable et animateur de l’émission KINORAMA consacrée à l’actualité
du cinéma, diffusée sur ARTE le lundi à 22h30. Réalisation de reportages, interviews,
speaks.
1994-1996 : Chargé de Programmes à l’unité spectacle d’ARTE à Strasbourg. Réalisation
des présentations des soirées Musica.
1991-1994 : Développement de courts-métrages pour Haut et Court à Paris. Distribution.
1989-1991 : Chargé de production pour la préparation et assistant réalisateur sur le
tournage du long métrage « La tête au ciel » de Luce Berthomé.
Production Lucernaire et Unité 3.
Production d’un film institutionnel pour Andersen Consulting sur les Jeux Olympiques
d’Albertville.
Assistant de Production pour Fechner Audiovisuel.
Collaboration avec le Théâtre National de Strasbourg pour la rédaction de sur-titrages.
Rédaction de brochures et présentations.Avant 1990, comédien et metteur en scène pour
de nombreux spectacles : Tardieu, Koltès, Llorca, Tchékhov.
Gutenberg – Marc Jampolsky - SEPPIA