During the 2004 Beijing International Documentary Film Festival, more than 30 documentaries were shown in Beijing, many of which are seen as most significant in the realm of documentary film-making. France, sometimes referred to as the birthplace of film, has consistently attached high importance to documentaries, with many classic documentaries the work of French directors. Let's have a look at some of them together.

Shoah is a nine hour long documentary which was finished after eleven years of hard work by the director Claude Lanzmann. He focused on ordinary people who had some kind of involvement in the organization of the Holocaust; for example, officials in charge of railway transportation, who designed the railway schedule, and used the train to carry hundreds of thousands of Jews from all over Europe to the concentration camps; the drivers of the train, who were very clear about whom they were carrying; and the guards of the concentration camps, who were also the executioners. These people had kept silent for decades, but Lanzmann put them in front of the camera, and told them to tell the world what they did at that time, how they did it and why they did it. He told them that this process was necessary, both because history demanded it and because it was a prerequisite for their own peace of minds.

Millions of people sat in cinemas for the duration of this film, despite its length. Throughout this work, Lanzmann recalls the memory of the Holocaust, but a viewer observes no direct footage from the Holocaust. Just as Lanzmann's interviewees responded to his efforts, so we might need to ask ourselves some probing questions after watching his documentary. Maybe this film can help to tell us that it was ordinary people, very similar to ourselves, who took part in the Holocaust, and that a similar thing might one day happen again if we are not careful.

To Be and to Have is the work of Nicolas Philibert, which tells of a teacher working in a rural school and the bond he shares with his pupils. It is common in rural France that a school has only one class, that this class is taught by one teacher from primary school age right up until high school age, and that the class and teacher practically live together. Philibert says of his work, "I want to tell a story, and to learn reading, writing and calculating with them, to share sorrow and happiness with them." The 55-year-old teacher, George Lopez, employs traditional methods of teaching but deeply loves the children. "One of the purposes of this work is to reveal how the teacher can teach 13 children of varied ages and levels of learning," says Philibert. He focuses on the many details of their everyday lives—how the children learn to read, how they learn to cook, and how the teacher encourages those who are reluctant to continue their studies.

Chronicle of Summer is another classic documentary film from France, which was directed by Jean Rouch in 1961, and which became famous partly for its experimental approach. On a Parisian avenue, passersby are stopped by a voice coming from a microphone behind a camera, which asks the simple question: "Are you feeling happy?" Some ignore the question; some stop and appear to think about it, some burst into tears. In front of the camera, Jean Rouch talks with those whom he asked the question—a couple of petty bourgeoisie, a worker, a female college student. The unremitting inquiries softly break through the hackneyed and stereotyped expressions that occur when real people face the camera, and stimulate them to talk about their true lives. Jean Rouch recorded the whole process, and says that in his eyes, the camera is like an accelerator: "You can push these people to be straight-out—this is a very strange frankness, and the camera at this time can be seen as a mirror, and is a window towards the outside world."