ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the theoretical framework of the research and describes the evolution of the EuropeanFrancophone essay film, applying its methodological approach: the analysis of the audiovisual thinking that the works generate, starting from their enunciative devices. From modern cinema to contemporary cinema, from militant cinema to expanded cinema, and from analogue to digital, the European fran-cophone essay film has evolved concerning these audiovisual practices and expressions regarding both the enunciative devices used to createits thinking process—from the clearly coded intermedial forms to the complexification and even saturation of the audiovisual discourse—and the themes addressed—expression of imagination, revolutionary action, philosophical analysis, social vindication, or intimate reflection, among others.
