Work as an assistant to documentarian Georges Rouquier soon followed; the elder filmmaker produced and narrated Demy's first short, Le Sabotier du Val de Loire (The Loire Valley Clog Maker, 1955), a nonfiction portrait of a senescent artisan and his wife.
On observe aussi, dans le dialogue polemique qui oppose frequemment les protagonistes (mere contre pere et/ou fils, savetier contre sabotier, etc.), des schemas identiques d'argumentation serree par opposition de Rh, ex.