Filmmaker Jacques Richard was in Dublin for a special screening of his documentary Henri Langlois: The Phantom of the Cinémathèque at the Martell French Film Festival. He took time out to talk to Peter Keogh about the unique contribution made to cinema by the fabled Langlois.

Henri Langlois was a major figure in world cinema, both as a guardian of the cinematic past and a catalyst for film's future. One of the greatest ever film archivists, he was personally responsible for rescuing many cinematic masterpieces from annihilation. He was a great educator, instrumental in developing the auteur theory, and as the quintessential film programmer his shadow still falls over anyone who sits down to select films for a cinema season, film society or festival. He was instrumental in establishing the Cinémathèque Française, which became a sanctuary for filmmakers and cinephiles alike. This Parisian institution became the blueprint for all such establishments, our IFI included.

Langlois was a colossal figure with appetites to match – his collection of jams was second only to his film archive. Jacques Richard, who worked with Langlois at the Cinémathèque in the 1970s, has fashioned a documentary to match its subject. The archive footage that he has uncovered, together with the eyewitness interviews he has filmed, reveal such a fascinating man at the centre of incredible events that you don't notice Henri Langlois: The Phantom of the Cinémathèque's three and a half hours go by. Richard is clearly pleased with his film's success on the festival circuit – a welcome end to the seven years it took to make.

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 103.