Geneviève Hamon
Geneviève Hamon (1905–1987) was a filmmaker and a key collaborator in the work of Jean Painlevé, a pioneer of scientific and documentary cinema. Painlevé’s lifelong companion, she shared with him a relationship that was both personal and artistic, grounded in deep intellectual partnership. From the 1920s onward, Geneviève Hamon played an active role in the conception, filming, and editing of works devoted to the marine and microscopic worlds. Long overlooked, her contribution began to receive official recognition in the 1960s, when she was credited as co-director on several films. She made a decisive contribution to the distinctive aesthetic of their shared body of work, blending scientific rigor, keen observation, and visual poetry. She also created numerous pieces of jewelry inspired by their films, including brooches and necklaces featuring marine animal motifs. Together with Jean Painlevé, she helped renew scientific filmmaking, transforming it into a true cinematic and artistic form.
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The Love Life of an Octopus
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The fluid grace of an eight-armed embrace, the velvety gaze of an inscrutable eye… Painlevé creates a fascinating portrait of the octopus, a mysterious underwater creature, set to a soundtrack composed by Pierre Henry, one of the pioneers of electroacoustic music.
Shrimp Stories
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_Shrimp Stories_ is a short documentary that closely examines the daily life of shrimp. Combining a scientific approach with a touch of humor, the film explores their feeding, digestion, grooming, molting, and reproduction, notably showing how females carry their eggs on their legs and the spectacular hatching of the larvae. It reveals, with wonder, the fragility and surprising complexity of th...
How Some Jellyfish Are Born
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Filmed at the Marine Biology Station in Roscoff, on the northern coast of Bretagne, _How Some Jellyfish Are Born_ explores the formation of polyps, as well as the feeding and reproduction of four species of jellyfish. The transparency of their bodies reveals many details of their anatomy, while still holding other mysteries that the film invites us to discover…
The Love Life of an Octopus
Subscription access
The fluid grace of an eight-armed embrace, the velvety gaze of an inscrutable eye… Painlevé creates a fascinating portrait of the octopus, a mysterious underwater creature, set to a soundtrack composed by Pierre Henry, one of the pioneers of electroacoustic music.
Shrimp Stories
Subscription access
_Shrimp Stories_ is a short documentary that closely examines the daily life of shrimp. Combining a scientific approach with a touch of humor, the film explores their feeding, digestion, grooming, molting, and reproduction, notably showing how females carry their eggs on their legs and the spectacular hatching of the larvae. It reveals, with wonder, the fragility and surprising complexity of th...
How Some Jellyfish Are Born
Subscription access
Filmed at the Marine Biology Station in Roscoff, on the northern coast of Bretagne, _How Some Jellyfish Are Born_ explores the formation of polyps, as well as the feeding and reproduction of four species of jellyfish. The transparency of their bodies reveals many details of their anatomy, while still holding other mysteries that the film invites us to discover…
