Back in 2006, Jérôme Lambert and Philippe Picard made this short documentary showing the creative process behind the first cover that made the fanatics to target Charlie Hebdo, a magazine that I used to read when I was a student in France. A unique look into a creative process that will surprise many Americans.
At least that’s my impression. Reading some of the things that have been written in the United States about these guys and their magazine, I’m sure that some of you think that these people were a bunch of irresponsible racist frat boys drinking beer and farting cartoons in some basement in Paris.
Nothing further from the truth. In reality, these were educated people who had been fighting for freedom of expression and the rights of the people against the powerful — being them banks, corporations, abusive governments, or fanatics with guns — for decades. A tradition of political satire that is common to many other cartoon magazines in Europe — but sadly not in politically correct America.
