Cédric Defert

Cédric Defert is a Franco-Belgian director and editor.

During his studies at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Louis Lumière, he campaigned for a playful form of constraint in cinema. He then made two short films, distant relatives of the work of the Oulipo in literature.

From 2007, he turned his attention to reality, making documentaries on Palestine and Kosovo. This was followed by two atypical films: Les Français d’août, a humorous and political postcard about the people of August. And Cheers !, a tender portrait of a generation dreaming of glory and America.

In 2019, he collaborates on the series Il était une fois l’amour à la française (Once upon a time, French love), a historical triptych retracing 250 years of ways of loving. At the same time, Dominique A – Le rock fragile is coming out, examining the impact of artists, and particularly songs, on our lives. Another portrait, Daniel Boulanger, une vie à écrire questions the ability of writers to magnify their lives.

In 2024, he made two new films, at opposite ends of the spectrum. At the (very) Top? is a documentary comedy in direct cinema about the wanderings of a group of utopian friends seeking to revitalise their region culturally. While Anthropocene, the undeniable truth is an eco-anxious scientific film about the discovery of a new geological period due to the impact of humans on the Earth.