Jean-Louis Comolli (born 30 July 1941) is a French writer, editor, and film director. He was editor in chief of Cahiers du cinéma from 1966 to 1978, during which period he wrote the influential essays "Machines of the Visible" (1971) and "Technique and Ideology: Camera, Perspective, Depth of Field" (1971-2), both of which have been translated in English anthologies of film and media studies. This work was important in the discussion on apparatus theory, an attempt to rethink cinema as a site for the production and maintenance of dominant state ideology in the wake of May 1968.

After his tenure at Cahiers, Comolli continued his work as a director and has since published numerous works on film theory, documentary, and jazz. He currently teaches film theory at the Universities of Paris VIII, Barcelona, Strasburg and Genève.

In the spring of 2008, Comolli was invited to the Visions du réel documentary film festival in Nyon, Switzerland, where he developed his theory of documentary cinema.

Biography

Après avoir travaillé pour Les Cahiers du cinéma de 1962 à 1978, dont il est rédacteur en chef de 1966 à 1971, il devient réalisateur de fictions et de documentaires.

Également journaliste à Jazz magazine, il a coécrit ou dirigé des ouvrages sur le jazz.