'Master of Experimental Film' Jean-Claude Rousseau... Spanning Over 40 Years of Film, at MMCA Film & Video in 2026

An alchemist of light and time arrives in Seoul

A living legend of avant-garde cinema, French master 'Jean-Claude Rousseau' will soon be under the spotlight as Seoul’s heart witnesses a decisive moment in his 40-year artistic journey.

As part of the Film & Video project, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) will hold 'Jean-Claude Rousseau: 2026 EX-RETRO (EXRETRO) at the Seoul International Experimental Film Festival' at the MMCA Seoul video hall from Sept. 24 through Oct. 2 of next month. Twenty-five masterpieces spanning his debut work in 1983 through his latest in 2024 will be revived on the screen.

An infinite universe trapped within the frame

Born in Paris in 1946, Rousseau was initiated in the 1970s in New York by 'Ozu Yasujiro' and by the American 'avant-garde film', creating his own distinctive grammar. He is well known for drawing artistic inspiration from scraps of everyday life and ordinary spaces, while excluding artificial scripts or grand themes.

In particular, he rejects flashy editing or dynamic camera work, and maximizes the aesthetics of 'the fixed frame' and 'enduring time'. This suffocating stillness lifts everyday spaces into unfamiliar territory and a new dimension of thinking for viewers. That is the reason major festivals with the highest standing worldwide, such as the Marseille International Documentary Film Festival, praise him as 'a master of experimental film'.

A Jeonju rain shower returns after 23 years—and a meeting with the master

The highlight of this retrospective is, without question, the screening lineup. Led by his debut 'A Girl Reading a Letter at the Window' (1983), the screenings include 'The Caged Valley' (1995), which concentrates his artistic worldview, and 'In His Apartment' (2007), illuminated by the Marseille Grand Prix. Above all, 'Just Before the Rain Comes' (2003), which captured the feel of Korea during his visit to the Jeonju International Film Festival in 2003, will return to domestic screens for the first time in 23 years, sending cinephiles’ hearts racing.

On the 25th, director Rousseau will come to South Korea in person to share a conversation with audiences. The joiner, EXiS programmer of the Seoul International Experimental Film Festival, and Kim Yoon-ok, a curatorial research specialist at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, will participate on the panel to dissect his deep and expansive body of work in a thorough talk.

Both the screening program and the talk will be open to the public free of charge. Advance reservations are expected to open on the 15th at 10 a.m. on MMCA’s official website, with an intense ticketing rush anticipated.

Kim Seong-hee, director of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, said, "This is a rare chance to step back from the grind of reality and enjoy the master’s breath as if it were the texture of 'analog film' itself," adding, "We hope it becomes a forum for audiences to engage in philosophical thinking that penetrates the 'essence of images'".