When she was only 16, France Harvois decided to become a journalist so that she could write and travel. When she graduated from ESJ (the Lille School of Journalism), she took temporary assignments at television station France 2 and then at France 3. In August 1995, she left for a job at channel M6 in Nancy, where she was assistant managing editor until January 1996. However, France Harvois had been reflecting on images and their power, and preferred to analyze their meaning rather than be subjected to format constraints. After her first trip to Albania, she developed a passionate interest in the fate of the children born in the prisoner camps set up under the regime of communist dictator Enver Hoxja. She discovered even more material than she had expected to find – not only on the children born in captivity, but also on the adults of previous generations – so she decided to adapt her project. She came back with a special report, which she transformed into a documentary.

Achievements  since winning the grant

From 1998 to 2000, she was responsible for the Classe Télé broadcast, and then for the coordination of the Arrêt sur Images broadcast on channel France 5.

In 1999, she produced Internim, her special report on Albania, and decided to resume her studies. She completed a postgraduate diploma (DEA) in ethnology on the Mustang district of northern Nepal.

From 2000 to 2004, she was a news reporter for channels France 2 and France 3. For the latter, she later produced La Maison des Naufragés, a documentary on a homeless centre in Nanterre. She also taught an image-analysis course at the Lille School of Journalism (ESJ).

From 2004 to 2005, she completed training (at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers de Cluny) in the rehabilitation and enhancement of architectural and cultural heritage sites. In 2005, she wrote À Hauteur d’Homme, Etre Paysan en Vanoise, about the experiences of small farmers living in the mountains, in cooperation with photographer Pierre Witt (Rapho), which won a special Oscar Barnak award in 2006.

In September 2006, she exhibited at the Maison de la Montagne in Chambéry. In November 2006, a large-format illustrated book, Etre Paysan en Varnoise, was published by Editions Libris.