On Wednesday 14 June 2023, the co-director of the TECHNÈS partnership Gilles Mouëllic was taken away by illness. The loss of such an exceptional researcher affects all of us within the TECHNÈS team as well as at the Laboratoire CinéMédias.
The TECHNÈS partnership saw its initial developments in 2010 at the Université Rennes 2, emerging from within the ANR research program "Filming the act of creation". It quickly became apparent to the coordinators of this project (Pierre-Henry Frangne, Laurent Le Forestier and Gilles Mouëllic, who was responsible for scientific research) that such a subject would require us to contemplate on the techniques employed by cinema to film other artistic techniques. Thanks to the research visit of André Gaudreault (Université de Montréal) at the département des arts du spectacle at the French university, the idea of what would eventually become TECHNÈS was set in motion. The subsequent exchanges between Gilles Mouëllic, Laurent Le Forestier (at the time at the Rennes 2), and André Gaudreault (as well as between these three collaborators and researcher Maria Tortajada at the Université de Lausanne) led to the birth, in 2012, of this research project which aims rethink, from a technical perspective, the methods of film history from the advent of the medium to the digital era. It has been co-directed by the same three people for the past seven years.
Beyond a simple partnership, a genuine friendship was forged among the three co-directors of TECHNÈS. In such a project, it is essential that certain members take care of the organization and administration, but it is also necessary that there are dedicated individuals who function as its driving force. Gilles had the ability to navigate various roles, always taking decisive actions while humbly engaging in even the most modest tasks that such an endeavour demands. He envisioned this project as a means to unite the skills of colleagues he admired, and never ceased to work humanely to ensure its smooth functioning, nurturing the flame of individual relationships that often risks dying out, stifled by the institutional complexities in collective projects. In essence, more than an organizer, an administrator, or a driving force – Gilles was the soul of TECHNÈS.
In addition to being an exceptional researcher, Gilles was, above all, a man with a big heart, a generous and brilliant human being, and a music and film enthusiast. His attention to each and every one of us, from students to colleagues, and his unfailing benevolence, left an indelible mark on everyone who crossed his path. We will do our best to honour his memory.
We have lost a colleague, a guide, a thinker, but above all, a dear friend whom we already miss very much.
André Gaudreault (Université de Montréal) and
Laurent Le Forestier (Université de Lausanne)
