Bruno Moynié, an ethnographer and a filmmaker, is the founder of “Monde Moderne”, an ethnographic film production studio that broadcasts high-quality ethnographic research films for marketing and research purposes. After gaining many years of experience in the audiovisual field in France, the ethnographer-filmmaker arrived in Canada in 2002 and successfully relocated his office to Toronto. Even before the move, when he first visited the city on the occasion of the literary festival “Les Belles Etrangères”, for which he had directed a documentary film about prominent Canadian writers, Bruno was already captivated by the city’s great multiculturalism. Having lived on St Clair Avenue West for a while, Bruno admits he has been able to find a place that fits him perfectly, between a live-music jazz café “Ellingtons’s Music and Café”, a certain casual atmosphere and the ease with which he can find Italian or Israeli dishes, Greek olives and French pastries.

When he arrived in Toronto, he first worked for “Alliance Atlantis” before setting up his own production studio. He then rapidly developed a network of professionals and companies who were interested in this new concept. The demand grew, but there were not enough real professionals equipped with both audiovisual and ethnographic skills. Bruno Moynié didn’t find it difficult to make a name for himself : “I was lucky. I was able to advance very quickly thanks to warm recommendations by people in the field.” Armed with great interpersonal skills and two Master’s degrees – one in Social Anthropology (Aix-En-Provence University, France) and one in Ethnographic Film (University of Montréal, Canada), Bruno is able to offer an original and high-quality service. Moreover, he is one of the few ethno-filmmakers who has worked for the marketing and design research. “It’s really hard to find these two types of skills in one,” he explains.

The audiovisual ethnography makes it possible to get closer to the users’ personal experience and catch a glimpse of their true behaviour based on the principle : “People don’t do what they say.” Bruno explains that “observation is absolutely essential as it allows us to discover behaviour that actually contradicts verbal statements.” “I don’t shy away from filming negative things about the product,” he says. In that way, he obtains as a final result a documentary film that is truly useful to companies. Playful, emotional and often amusing, the film highlights strengths and weaknesses of the product and reveals behaviours that would not have been caught by a more traditional method. Bruno is more than happy to tell people the story of the woman who, full of emotion, talked about buying her dream car, symbol of her independence, and he remembers the impact this emotional minute had on the “research and development” department of the company.

Today, Bruno’s company is recognized internationally with the help of its trilingual website (English/French/Chinese) which allows him to reach clients on three continents. Bruno can rely on a network of professional partners and on a number of regular clients (Kraft, General Motors, Johnson and Johnson, l’Oréal, Boeing, Wendy’s…).

Lastly, “Monde Moderne” is also involved in “audiovisual production” where the filmmaker collaborates mainly with TV5 on shorts programs such as “j’aime les mots”, a program that allows us to explore the imagination and the inspiration of those who search the meaning of popular idioms used in the francophone world. What does it mean “manger les grillots avec le tac-tac” for the French-speaking people in Louisiana ?

And since ethno-filmmakers are first and foremost artists, he has received for the second year in a row a grant from the Ontario Arts Council. After the first project “Fargo is not fargo”, which displays a series of portraits of francophones, Bruno is currently working on a second interactive website called the “Objet Projet”, dedicated to everyday objects that surround us and that sometimes hold memories of things past. Many good moments are yet to come …

For more information on Bruno Moynié :

Monde Moderne, Production de films ethnographiques

www.mondemoderne.com

J’aime les mots, programme courts sur TV5

files.me.com/brunomoynie/yd7ez6.mov

files.me.com/brunomoynie/vdan22.mov

files.me.com/brunomoynie/rapid7.mov

Fargo is not fargo

www.fargocestpasfargo.com