The research carried out by ESTCA, Paris 8 University’s Aesthetics, Sciences and Technologies of Film and Audiovisual Media Research Unit (EA 2302), covers the entire process of filmmaking, from scriptwriting, filming, choosing materials, and editing in post-production.

The laboratory comprises lecturers, filmmakers and doctoral students, and explores themes that break down the boundaries that separate film theory and practice by championing the idea of a theory that arises from or relates to the act of filming in order to increase our understanding of the practice. Additionally, a focus on image texture, production style, the construction of space-time in cinema and new practices (directing, production) is paired with an analysis of critical thought, writings and visual material from filmmakers, constantly linking this non-filmic material to the invention of forms.

Whether part of an aesthetic approach driven by genetic research or inspired by a desire to protect cinematic heritage, ESTCAstrives to explore the conditions of filmmaking as well as the ways in which it metamorphoses over time. The laboratory’s research also highlights the cultural context in which a film is made, the regulatory restrictions it is subject to (censorship, broadcasting licence, etc.), critical reception, projection equipment, and the various ways of screening films in cinemas and other networks that determine a film’s relationship with its audience. Image technologies — either graphic, analogue, electronic or digital — are also studied in detail.

ESTCA’s scientific programme is divided into four inter-disciplinary and collaborative research areas:

• Film, medium, media
• Constructing the real, considering the contemporary
• Making films, making cinema
• Histories and historicity of film

The films, books and scientific projects produced within this framework are intended to reflect upon cinema in direct relation to the social, economic and political issues of our time. In this way, film and the history of film come together to create a living recollection of images where the past sheds light on the present and vice-versa.