Potemkine is 20 yo!
20 years already! At first there was a shop. In January 2006, in a little street of the 10th arrondissement in Paris, Nils Bouaziz opened Potemkine. His initial idea was not to become a publisher, but to recreate, for cinema, the spirit of great indie record stores. The shop became a place to discover rare films, a space for sharing and exchange among enthusiasts. Twenty years later, it still welcomes artists, filmmakers, journalists, critics and film historians, upholding its mission as a meeting place and a forum for dialogue around the seventh art, driven by a discerning yet never elitist selection, where every work is defended with equal conviction, from Kalatozov to “mondo” films, with openness as its guiding principle.
The name itself is a manifesto. Borrowed from Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin, it claims a cinephile heritage: that of a film that made history, challenged perspectives, and continues to fuel debate nearly a century after its creation. Very quickly though, it became obvious to Nils Bouaziz that many films he wanted his customers to discover were unavailable on the French market. Why just accept and regret this, when it might be possible to reissue them? From this frustration, a new adventure was born. In 2007, Potemkine became a publisher with a first emblematic title : Elem Klimov’s Come and See. A far from insignificant choice, that heralded what would become the publisher’s DNA: to defend sometimes overlooked but always essential and major films.
Over the years, this passion evolved into a distinct editorial vision. Driven initially by Benoît Dalle, followed by the arrival of Pierre Denoits, Potemkine built a catalog where the likes of Andrei Tarkovsky, Abbas Kiarostami, Werner Herzog, Benjamin Christensen, Eric Rohmer, Jean Epstein, and naturally David Lynch, could all coexist. Nils Bouaziz’s passion for David Lynch becoming a publisher’s dream come true, allowing Potemkine to support several major works by a filmmaker who so greatly fueled Bouaziz’s cinephilia. Exemplary restorations, exclusive bonus features, analyses, booklets, and rich imagery make each release a work of great editorial craftsmanship. The adventure continued in movie theaters, as Potemkine became a distributor bringing films to the big screen with the same high standards.
Potemkine has not only become one of the most important French DVD and Blu-ray publishers: it has proved that sincere passion could lastingly shape audience views, and has established itself as an essential figure of the French cultural landscape. At first there was a shop. Twenty years later, it’s a space where a certain idea of cinema lives on.
The name itself is a manifesto. Borrowed from Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin, it claims a cinephile heritage: that of a film that made history, challenged perspectives, and continues to fuel debate nearly a century after its creation. Very quickly though, it became obvious to Nils Bouaziz that many films he wanted his customers to discover were unavailable on the French market. Why just accept and regret this, when it might be possible to reissue them? From this frustration, a new adventure was born. In 2007, Potemkine became a publisher with a first emblematic title : Elem Klimov’s Come and See. A far from insignificant choice, that heralded what would become the publisher’s DNA: to defend sometimes overlooked but always essential and major films.
Over the years, this passion evolved into a distinct editorial vision. Driven initially by Benoît Dalle, followed by the arrival of Pierre Denoits, Potemkine built a catalog where the likes of Andrei Tarkovsky, Abbas Kiarostami, Werner Herzog, Benjamin Christensen, Eric Rohmer, Jean Epstein, and naturally David Lynch, could all coexist. Nils Bouaziz’s passion for David Lynch becoming a publisher’s dream come true, allowing Potemkine to support several major works by a filmmaker who so greatly fueled Bouaziz’s cinephilia. Exemplary restorations, exclusive bonus features, analyses, booklets, and rich imagery make each release a work of great editorial craftsmanship. The adventure continued in movie theaters, as Potemkine became a distributor bringing films to the big screen with the same high standards.
Potemkine has not only become one of the most important French DVD and Blu-ray publishers: it has proved that sincere passion could lastingly shape audience views, and has established itself as an essential figure of the French cultural landscape. At first there was a shop. Twenty years later, it’s a space where a certain idea of cinema lives on.
