Numéro Zéro

NUMÉRO ZÉROwas filmed in 1971 in the Paris flat belonging to Odette Robert, Jean Eustache’s grandmother, and essentially consists of two shots. One camera shows a close-up of Robert talking, while the second also includes Jean Eustache in the frame asking questions. Odette Robert’s account is at once a personal diary and a story of the French working class in the 20th century across six generations, moving from great-grandparents to great-grandson. NUMÉRO ZÉRO is based on the idea of a prototypical film for an ideal television channel in an ideal country: a manifesto against television reporting. Eustache decided not to release the film; the material was considered lost before being rediscovered and reconstructed in 2002. (hjf)