In Les Bouquinistes, le charme de Paris, filmmakers Clémence Rochefort and Vincent Le Gal take viewers on a journey to meet these booksellers, uncovering the charm and challenges of a timeless profession. Now streaming on TV5MONDEplus.

What inspired you to create this film?

Clémence Rochefort: When I was a student at the Institut Européen de Journalisme in Paris, I regularly bought newspapers and magazines and gradually noticed they were disappearing. Our professors also spoke to us about the crisis in the press. In 2023, I directed my first documentary about newsstands [Kiosque, une pages se tourne, also available on TV5MONDEplus]. A controversy surrounding les bouquinistes came up during filming: There were talks about possibly removing their stalls (or boîtes, boxes) for the duration of the 2024 Olympic Games. That’s when I had the idea, together with Vincent Le Gal, to start a documentary series on typically Parisian jobs – the businesses that give the city its soul, the people we walk by without paying attention. As the photographer Alain Cornu, who published a book about the booksellers and is interviewed in our film, says: “We see the boxes, but we don’t see the booksellers all that much.”

Indeed, booksellers seem almost like mysterious figures, like a secret society. How did you gain access to this profession?

I first reached out to Jérôme Callais, the president of the Paris Booksellers’ Cultural Association [which represents 80% of the 226 current vendors], and he introduced me to colleagues who were willing to talk. Many of them don’t like the spotlight. That’s part of their charm. As we walked along the quays and got to know them, the booksellers who had been hesitant began to warm up to our questions. After the Olympics media frenzy, where they spoke to journalists from around the world, mostly for short news stories, they were happy that a 52-minute film was dedicated to them. They appreciated that we made a documentary that wasn’t about pity or a touristy postcard.

Some 185,000 people signed an online petition, and Emmanuel Macron eventually reversed his decision, declaring in February 2024 that the booksellers are part of the “living heritage of the capital.” How did “the Olympic Games affair” affect the profession?

They saw just how much they mattered to the public – not only to the Parisians and the French, but even foreigners. That was very important for them. Now, to ensure their protection for the future, their goal is to have their know-how recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. [The banks of the Seine have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991.]

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So, how did the Olympics ultimately impact the booksellers?

The Olympic period didn’t have the impact the booksellers expected, ironically. Visitors, caught up in the excitement of the sporting events, didn’t spend as much time strolling along the quays and buying books...

How do the booksellers see their future? Is their profession still at risk?

They’re not immune. For the first time in 2024, the City of Paris saw a shortage of applications for available spots [between 10 and 20 each year]. I think the fear of the Olympics discouraged people who were considering becoming booksellers. The vendors themselves are divided. Some are afraid they’ll be swallowed up by digital platforms. This is the case with Najib, who has four boxes on Quai Voltaire and worries about the Amazon frenzy. Others are more optimistic and say that books will remain strong, that we’ll always need the written word. Cyril, a bookseller in the 6th arrondissement, even says that physical books will become rare commodities and more valuable. Some reminded us that the profession, since its origins in the 16th century, has always been in danger, and it has always disturbed the powers that be.

Was there a moment during filming that particularly moved you?

I was really touched by a group of five women, working side by side on Quai de l’Hôtel-de-Ville, including 33-year old Camille Goudeau, writer and bookseller for five years. She talks about a timeless profession that “isn’t something in black and white or set against a sepia background,” and about the violence of the streets – “all the madness, all the misery, all the distress of the people.” You have to be sensitive to do this job, but also tough against the city. When the weather is nice, she and her colleagues sit around a table, listen to music, and chat during their break. When we think “bookseller,” we usually imagine an old man, not five women in their thirties!

So, who are the booksellers in 2025?

A new generation is emerging, including women – young authors, editors, or journalists who can’t imagine their life without books and become booksellers to supplement their income. There are also retirees who don’t want to stay at home and come to the quays for the human contact. The world of booksellers is a whole, but each bouquiniste has their own culture, their own story, their own journey, and their own life outside of this work. That’s what we wanted to show with this documentary.

In your film, we also discover a physical job, exposed to the elements, and heavily regulated...

Yes, they all talk about their love for books and freedom – those are the two reasons many of them entered this profession – but they also discuss the difficult conditions. They often meet people who say, “Being a bookseller sounds nice, you’re by the river, the weather is great...” They forget the days when the weather is bad, when it’s cold. They also have to do inventory, get new books at auctions, from specialized vendors, flea markets, or estate sales. Booksellers need to be very meticulous. Moreover, they can’t set up their boxes wherever they want. They have to submit an application to the City of Paris and go before a kind of jury. It’s a wonderful profession, but you have to be careful not to only see the tip of the iceberg.

Would you be interested in this career?

I thought about it during filming! Especially since I have a job that can be uncertain at times... So, being by the Seine, surrounded by books and people – it did cross my mind, yes.

“We all have a Proustian moment with booksellers,” says one of them. What’s yours?

For me, it’s childhood memories. My parents [she is the daughter of actor Jean Rochefort, who passed away in 2017, and architect Françoise Vidal] were literary people, not at all into technology! We often went to mom-and-pop stores, bookstalls, newsstands, and cobblers. My parents instilled in me a love for human contact and for tangible things.

Over 300,000 used books are available along a 2-mile stretch of the Seine. What are the bestsellers?

Books by Albert Camus and Victor Hugo, Les Misérables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Little Prince... The classics always sell very well. Vendors who have been in the business for a long time will tell you: These books are timeless. The demand doesn’t change much. Posters, engravings, old maps, and other Parisian souvenirs [limited by law to one box out of four] also sell very well, especially near busy spots like Notre Dame and the Hôtel de Ville, helping booksellers make a better living.

Celebrity restaurant owner Guy Savoy makes an appearance in your film. Did you know he was close to the booksellers?

Not at all! I found out through Alain Huchet, a vendor specializing in cookbooks, Michelin guides, and old menus, whose boxes are located under the windows of his restaurant at the Monnaie de Paris. There’s kind of an exchange between them: After their meal, the customers of the Michelin-starred chef often cross the street to buy a book! Guy Savoy also had a restaurant on the quays called Les Bouquinistes. That’s how we learned he’s a supporter of the booksellers and has been very supportive of them. As he says himself: “I look out for them.”

Now streaming exclusively on TV5MONDEplus and subtitled in English, French, Spanish, German, and Arabic:

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Bouquinistes, le charme de Paris, 50 min (2024)

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Kiosque, une pages se tourne, 27 min (2023)

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