Georges Luneau

Biography

Georges Jean Joseph Luneau, born in Clisson on October 25, 1941, is a French filmmaker. A self-taught individual, he pursued independent studies in Modern Literature at the University of Strasbourg. Upon arriving in Paris in 1964, he worked in the entertainment industry as a visual designer with André Almuro, collaborating on several experimental poetic performances at the Sorbonne (such as "Le poème électronique"), the Faculty of Law, and other venues. He also collaborated with director Claude Naville in suburban theater productions. Georges Luneau began directing numerous documentary films in 1969, starting in Nepal and then exploring India, France, Italy, the United States, and the Middle East. His films were selected and featured in several national and international festivals, including Filmotsav in Calcutta, Cinéma du Réel, Festival dei Popoli in Florence, Festival Étonnants voyageurs in Saint Malo, Les Orientales in Saint-Florent-Le-Vieil, Brussels, Amsterdam, Guadeloupe, and others. He published text and photo reports about India in magazines such as Partir, Art Presse, Atlas, and more. During his travels in India and Tibet, he recorded and produced six albums for the Ocora Radio France collection featuring the music of India and Tibet, as well as one album for the CNRS Harmonia Mundi collection. Georges Luneau also worked as an India Consultant and Production Manager for numerous advertising films and for the film "L'Eau et les hommes" directed by Pierre Willemin, which was the first French film shot in 70 mm Omnimax for La Géode at the Musée de la Villette. In September 1980, he participated in the retrospective "Le Monde des Ethnographes et des Explorateurs" at the French Cinémathèque. In 1983 and 1984, he co-founded with Bernard Lortat-Jacob the "Festival du Film des Musiques du Monde" at the Maison des Cultures du Monde. In 1985, he directed a fiction film called "La Presqu'île" starring Gérard Blain and Barbara Rudnik, adapted from Julien Gracq's story. In 1997, he co-founded with writer Nathalie Doutreleau, also known as Thézame Barrême, the first "Festival des Arts de la Rue" (Festival of Street Arts) in Paris, which he directed for 10 years. In 1999, he led a writing and audiovisual production workshop for professionals in Haiti, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Georges Luneau is a member of the Regional Film Commission of Pays de la Loire from 1987 to 2002, a member of the Association of Friends of Cinéma du Réel since 1981, and an honorary member of the Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques (SACD), the Société civile des auteurs multimédia (SCAM), and the Société des gens de lettres (SGDL). He has one son, Matthieu.