Céline Ségalini

I turned to documentary filmmaking after an academic career built at the intersection of philosophy, social sciences, and fieldwork abroad. In Cameroon, then in Senegal, I became interested in the precarious employment that lies beneath the veneer of development aid. To grasp these issues, I immersed myself in the daily lives of Cameroonian and Senegalese project leaders in urban centers and rural areas. After a doctorate in political science and two years as a teaching and research assistant at Sciences Po Bordeaux, I turned to documentary filmmaking. Moved by the richness of documentary filmmaking in its approach to reality, I participated in programming film screenings followed by discussions and in the creation of the Passagers du réel festival in Bordeaux. Within the vibrant community of this association, I was able to explore a cinematic style that could express my experience of the world and my visual sensibility. This period of discovery allowed me to work on the production of my first film, Things Of A Lifetime. Intimate Archeological Exercices (2023), a film produced by Novanima. Today, I work at the intersection of research and documentary filmmaking. I collaborate with research teams on the production of films and documentary-style documentaries related to their work, undertaking the fieldwork necessary for film production. As part of these scientific collaborations, I directed Holding On (2025). I also lead screenwriting workshops for researchers, as well as for sociology students, empowering them to independently create their own films.