Faye Ginsburg on Rouch

Faye Ginsbergs piece on Jean Rouch highlights his final visit to NYU in 2000. She speaks of her own experience with Rouch and his films. He was a serious source of inspiration for her. She speaks of the reactions of young audiences with this infectious character who seemed just as inspired as she was. Although I have become more fascinated with Rouch’s method more than his films, I have found myself telling friends about him, and especially with respect to one quote that Ginsberg presents in this piece. “Films should beget more films.” In one project that I am working on, we are wrestling with whether we want to use a previously recorded song, which was the inspiration for much of the film or to create an original soundtrack inspired by the tune. The previously recorded song fits beautifully with the visuals and cues, but I think we have pretty much decided to use an original soundtrack. Our reasons for this stem from Rouch’s idea. Perhaps it is for our own egos, but we want to create something new and distinctly us (films created completely within our art collective), while not fearing being too much like what we are influenced by.