L'Academie des Secrets - Joachim Olender

Jean Louis Schefer, renowned art historian and philosopher, left behind a monumental body of work on painting and cinema. At the turn of the century, he founded the “Académie des secrets,” a space where friends and collaborators could gather around shared ideas and passions. This film delves into the mystery of that academy, gradually revealing a profound meditation on the craft of writing.

After Schefer’s passing in June 2022, the director continues the journey alone, haunted by the ghosts of his own images. With the help of close companions, he attempts to retrace the thread of a thought—one that explores connection, obscurity, and the fragile beauty of intellectual bonds.

Joachim Olender is a director and a videographer. Interested by the notion of fiction archive, he works on contemporary images and incomplete stories. In 2014, he directed La collection qui n’existait pas, a documentary on the Daled collection and conceptual art (Awarded at the Montreal Art Film Festival). He recently directed Le Chêne de Goethe, Film by Samuel Beckett, Le Musée de Berlin and Les joueurs (première partie). Joachim Olender lives and works in Brussels and Paris.