Founded in 1981 with the spirit and support of Jean Rouch, it has trained generations of documentary filmmakers in places ranging from Vietnam to Kenya, Serbia, Georgia and Afghanistan.
Ateliers Varan acts as a consultant to UNESCO and sets up workshops abroad in collaboration with the Communication Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France.
Their mission was to run similar courses in France and continue their activities throughout the developing world, sharing and enriching experiences.
Together with Jean Rouch, one of the founding members was the French filmmaker Séverin Blanchet, who was killed in a suicide attack in Kabul in February 2010,[1] while working on a new Varan workshop in Afghanistan.
Prominent former and current members include directors Jean-Louis Comolli, Mariana Otero, Daniele Incalcaterra, Vincent Blanchet, André van In, Pierre Baudry, Leonardo Di Costanzo and Claire Simon.