Talk with Tancrède Ramonet

On the last day of the Festival, the screening of the documentary film No gods, No Masters, A History of Anarchism by the French documentarian Tancrede Ramonet was followed by a workshop with the director.

Originally a philosopher, Ramonet approaches documentary filmmaking as a continuation of his philosophical research, so he perceives this history of anarchism as a practical contribution to the tradition of anarchist thought. I wanted to do propaganda by deed, but I do not have it in me, so this is my propaganda by deed, Ramonet said about his film.

The history of anarchism to this day remains hidden and unknown. Some events are known and historically researched, but the whole story of anarchist movements, from Proudhon to date, does not exist. So Ramonet’s film, which took him five years to research, is both a significant contribution to historiography and a significant document of anarchism.

The audience in Mećavnik could see how anarchism developed from its beginnings in the nineteenth century, to the suppression of major uprisings at the start of World War II. Ramonet also made the third part of the film, which follows events since the end of the World War II to date. But, the financial support for development was cut and the third part, which he managed to finish, was stopped. Anarchism seems to be acceptable only when it’s folklore, only when it’s in the past, Ramonet concludes, admitting this is a form of censorship of his project.

Censorship, the director claims, only confirms that anarchism is still current and problematic, which again proves that our time is very similar to the time of major social upheavals from the late nineteenth century, and that the story of anarchism is more necessary than ever.