Paul Carpita

Paul Carpita

The son of a docker, Paul Carpita (1922-2009) was involved in working-class struggles from his childhood in Marseille. He made his film debut with a small camera during the Occupation. After the Liberation, he set up the Cinépax company, with the aim of producing documentaries and newsreels free from censorship, while continuing his career as a schoolteacher. Shot in 16 mm, the films were screened in public places, without the knowledge of the police. In 1953, Paul Carpita undertook a militant feature, Le Rendez-vous des quais, evoking the 1950 demonstrations and strikes against the Indochina war that took place in the port of Marseille. In the same vein, Paul Carpita made a number of commissioned short films, documentaries or fiction in which reality is always present (Rencontre à Varsovie, 1956, La Récréation, 1959; Marseille sans soleil, 1960; Des lapins dans la tête, 1964).  Paul Carpita deposited most of his work with the CNC’s Film Heritage Department in the early 1990s. Following his death, and in order to secure and promote his work as an independent and militant filmmaker, the CNC and the Association Les Camarades de Paul Carpita joined forces to launch a program to restore his films. After a new restoration of Rendez-vous des quais, several short documentaries are now being restored by the CNC laboratory. Eventually, the work of Carpita should be fully digitised and available to the public.