Journal de France is an engrossing and valuable personal record of the work of photographer and film-maker Raymond Depardon, depicting his autumnal journey across France, taking pictures of buildings and street scenes that he believes are in danger of dying out. Looking out of the windscreen at the wheel of his camper van, or poised behind the viewfinder, patiently waiting for people to go past so that he can take the shot, he is a mild and grandfatherly figure; the barber whose shop he photographs trims his eyebrows as well as cutting his hair. He has a faint look of Michel Piccoli. The filmed record of his excursion is interspersed with clips of "memories and outtakes" from a whole career of cine-reportage from the 1960s onwards, with a candid insider account of Giscard d'Estaing's political behaviour in an era when journalists were allowed more proximity but expected to be respectful and discreet. Depardon infuriated the political establishment by refusing to play the game. The film brings in images not only from France but also Venezuela, Chad, Central African Republic and Italy. Archives old and new are in the process of being created and rediscovered. To paraphrase Jean Vigo, the film is à propos de France, or à propos du monde. The most gripping image is a "silent" portrait of Nelson Mandela, who gives Depardon a formidably, mesmerically serious pose, held for one minute, which then breaks into a broad smile.