Hello all,
Here are some beginning-of-summer news and pictures from Navire Argo. Since March, the construction project is in full swing – what we have been imagining for the past three years is finally beginning to take shape. You’ll see in the message below how far we’ve come… but there’s still lots of work to be done!
While Navire is being built, we have a special thought for two people whose luminous presence has marked the history of L’Abominable: David Dudouit, a filmmaker who passed away in 2015, and Christophe Goulard, who left us just two years ago and with whom we worked for two decades on countless projects related to the technical side of the lab. To keep their memory alive, we invite you to discover their work through two new pages of our website. The page dedicated to Christophe includes freely available archives of his most emblematic technical projects.
And when autumn comes, on September 21st during European Heritage Days, you’re invited to join us for a special visit where we’ll be delighted to see you.
Have a good summer.
The team of L’Abominable
In memory of Christophe Goulard and David Dudouit
While our sadness is boundless, thinking of Christophe and David and sharing who they were and the tangible traces of what they created and brought to the lab throughout the years is a comforting way to continue the journey with them.
The page dedicated to David will guide you to his films from the ocean’s edge.
On the page dedicated to Christophe, we have shared the source files of numerous projects made for the lab filmmakers that kept the tireless inventor busy over the years: hand-processing spirals, motors for Éclair ACL and Bolex cameras, film projection accessories — some of which were completed while others need to be continued.
His page also leads to two videos recorded by Zsolt Boros during presentations about Bolex cameras that Christophe was invited to give by Braquage in 2019, and which we have just made available online with English subtitles (1 & 2).
We remember them fondly.
Construction zone!
European Heritage Days
Sunday, September 21st, 2025
Discover the innards of the Series building at the ÉCLAIR site in the company of L’Abominable. Opened at the beginning of the 1990s, this building served for producing large numbers of 35mm film prints in order to supply movie theaters all around the country. A factory of images that fell silent in 2015 when the ÉCLAIR company closed its doors, following the switch to digital projection. This might be the last chance to see the impressive machinery that still lingers at the heart of the building and to get an overview of how photochemical prints were made back then.
Visits for groups of 15 people at 2pm, 3:30pm and 5pm.
Entrance through the gate on Chemin des Anciens Prés.
Registration required, sign up by writing to contact@navireargo.org