Trailer
In July 1925, in Arcueil (a French commune), the body of Erik Satie, a French composer and pianist, was discovered in his apartment amidst disorder and squalor. Throughout his life, he was a misunderstood artist, shunned by the official institutions of his time due to his eccentricities and his “aesthetic of poverty.” Yet, Satie managed to create music that was both simple and radical, foreshadowing the major movements of the 20th century.
Through archival materials and testimonies, this documentary retraces the journey of a composer who, by refusing to belong to any musical school, established himself as a pioneer of modernity. A collaborator with Picasso, the Spanish painter; Cocteau, the poet and artist; and Duchamp, the painter and conceptual artist, he revolutionized the musical conventions of his era.
Through archival materials and testimonies, this documentary retraces the journey of a composer who, by refusing to belong to any musical school, established himself as a pioneer of modernity. A collaborator with Picasso, the Spanish painter; Cocteau, the poet and artist; and Duchamp, the painter and conceptual artist, he revolutionized the musical conventions of his era.
Other festival:
FIPADOC, France (2025)
FIPADOC, France (2025)
| Director | Gregory Monro |
| Director of Photography | Nicolas Le Gal |
| Music director | Gregory Monroe |
| Editing | Antoine Kerninon, Mathurin Ray |
In Partnership with
Present in these collections
Sessions
• Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
Thursday, march 20, 2025, 01:15 p.m. — 02:15 p.m.
• Cinéma du Musée - Auditorium Maxwell-Cummings
Saturday, march 22, 2025, 03:00 p.m. — 04:00 p.m.
Production
Gregory Monro
Gregory Monroe developed a passion for cinema at an early age, learning acting at 9 and directing his first films at 13. A graduate of the École Supérieure de Réalisation et d’Audiovisuel, he continued his training with Jack Waltzer of the Actor’s Studio, both in Paris and New York, and with renowned teachers such as Elizabeth Kemp and Sam Schacht, teacher and director of the New School. His short films, including “Rose or the mute liars” (2013), “Choose or Lose” (2000), or “Behind” (2005), with Anne-Elisabeth Blateau and Frédéric Gorny, have been selected for several festivals (Rio de Janeiro, Bolzano, Lausanne, Hamburg, South Korea). His documentaries focus on portraits of major figures in cinema and music. After a documentary on Louis de Funès (2012), he directed the docu-drama “Calamity Jane, legend of the West” in 2014. In 2010, he published the only French-language biography devoted to her: “Calamity Jane : Memories of the West”. He continued his work on the great figures of burlesque with “Jerry Lewis, rebel clown” (2016), and the icons of American cinema “James Stewart-Robert Mitchum, the two faces of America” (2017). He subsequently directed “Pierre Richard, the discreet one” (2018), “Michel Legrand, no half-measures” (2018) and “Toulouse Lautrec, the elusive one” (2019). In 2019, he received the Emmy Award for “Best Arts Programming” for his film “Kubrick by Kubrick”.
Biographical notes provided by the film production team
Biographical notes provided by the film production team
Selected fims:
Les temps modernes, la voie du silence (2023)
Sean Connery vs James Bond (2022)
Dans les yeux d’Elsa Triolet (2022)
Buffalo Bill : Place au spectacle ! (2021)
Kubrick par Kubrick (2020)
Les temps modernes, la voie du silence (2023)
Sean Connery vs James Bond (2022)
Dans les yeux d’Elsa Triolet (2022)
Buffalo Bill : Place au spectacle ! (2021)
Kubrick par Kubrick (2020)
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