A retrospective of the films of **Jean-Pierre Thorn**, organized by the BPI (Jean-Pierre Thorn, fraternellement), runs from September 16 to November 1 and offers an opportunity to rediscover and reassess his work. Thorn, who followed in the footsteps of **René Vautier** and worked alongside **Chris Marker** and **Bruno Muel**, represents a unique political and artistic voice in militant cinema and French documentary. His films often blend political commentary with personal narratives, reflecting the struggles of workers and marginalized communities. Thorn's first film, titled **Oser lutter, oser vaincre**, is part of the militant cinema movement that emerged after the events of May 1968 in France. This movement combined documentary footage, revolutionary education, and propaganda. In this film, Thorn examines the struggles of workers in Flins, who went on strike independently of their unions, only to be later betrayed by them. The film highlights how these unions secretly signed agreements that undermined the workers' efforts. From 1971 to 1979, Thorn lived in the Alsthom factory in Saint-Ouen, where he documented the 1979 strike of the UNELEC workers in his second film, **Le Dos au mur**. This film focuses on the daily lives of the strikers during six weeks of struggle, which ultimately yielded little tangible result. His later film, **Je t’ai dans la peau** (1989), inspired by the life of a militant nun and activist, ends with her suicide in 1981, just before the election of **François Mitterrand**. After facing difficulties in financing and distributing **Je t’ai dans la peau**, Thorn returned to documentary filmmaking in the 1990s, focusing on the children of his former comrades. His earlier film, **La Grève des ouvriers de Margoline** (1973), explored the challenges faced by immigrant workers and their children, particularly the second-generation Black and Maghreb youth in French suburbs. These young people expressed their energy and frustration through hip-hop, which Thorn captured in a series of films. He showed how this generation, though disconnected from traditional leftist slogans, carried forward the spirit of the May 1968 movement through music and dance. His films **Faire kiffer les anges** (1997) and **On n’est pas des marques de vélos** (2002) blend hip-hop with documentary and comedy, telling the story of Bouda, a talented but troubled young man from the suburbs. His life, marked by petty crime and a harsh sentence, highlights the systemic discrimination faced by immigrant-origin youth in France. Thorn's final film, **L’âcre parfum des immortelles** (2019), revisits the death of his first great love, weaving her memory with the struggles he has documented since 1968. The film also connects with the present through its depiction of the Yellow Vests movement in the Sarthe region. Rather than focusing on nostalgia, Thorn emphasizes that the struggle is ongoing, not dependent on victory. This perspective reflects both his own experiences and the broader historical context of resistance and resilience.