L'Afrique express (Danièle Tessier/Jacques Lang, 1970, 18m)
Marker wrote the introductory text for this film under the name "Boris Villeneuve."

L'Aveu (Constantin Costa-Gavras, 1970, 135m)
A political dramatization of Arthur London's experiences during the Communist purges in Czechoslovakia (see On vous parle de Prague). Marker was responsible for the still photography.

Die Kamera in der Fabrik (Chris Marker/SLON/Medvedkin Group, 1970, 88m)
Apparently, this rare film is a continuous edit of À bientôt, j'espère and Classe de Lutte, made for German TV.

L'Animal en question aka Jacques Prévert et· un raton laveur (collective film, 1970, 38m)
Marker filmed the raccoon of the title for this documentary about poet Prévert's life and work.

Le Bonheur (Alexander Medvedkin, 1934/1971, 70m)
When Medvedkin's silent masterpiece Happiness was revived in 1971, it was screened with a soundtrack specially created by Marker and SLON.

El primer año (Patricio Guzman, 1971/1972, 90m)
A documentary about the first year of the Allende government in Chile. Marker helped with the French version of the film, which was distributed by SLON.

On vous parle de Chili: Ce que disait Allende (Miguel Littin, 1973, 16m)
Marker edited and supervised the post-production on this SLON film by Chilean exile Littin, a prominent feature filmmaker (The Jackal of Nahueltoro [70], The Promised Land [73]) and former head of Chile's state film agency.

Les deux mémoires (Jorge Semprun, 1973-74, 141m)
Marker handled sound and helped with the editing on writer Semprun's documentary about the Spanish Civil War.

Kashima Paradise (Yann Le Masson/Bénie Deswarte, 1974, 110m)
Marker collaborated on the commentary for this militant documentary about how Japanese corporations manipulated, exploited, and essentially destroyed farming communities in Kashima and Narita. Includes harrowing footage of the Narita airport protests.

The Battle of Chile / La Batalla de Chile: La Lucha de un Pueblo Sin Armas (Patricio Guzman, 1975-1976. Part 1: The Insurrection of the Bourgeoisie, 96m. Part 2: The Coup d'État, 88m)
Marker helped produce Guzman's epic documentary about the extreme right's violent overthrow of the Allende government in Chile. He also contributed to the screenplay.

Viva el Presidente! aka Le recours de la méthode (Miguel Littin, 1978, 164m)
Marker prepared the subtitles for the French version of this magical realist satire, an adaptation of Alejo Carpentier's novel El recurso del método, by Chilean director Littin.

Tokyo-Ga (Wim Wenders, 1985, 92m)
The German director's diary film features encounters with Ozu actor Chishu Ryu and cameraman Yuharu Atsuta. Marker appears in a single playful shot, briefly glimpsed behind a newspaper.

Les Pyramides Bleues aka The Novice, aka Paradise Calling (Arielle Dombasle, 1988, 97m)
Marker and Eric Rohmer served as artistic consultants on this film, which stars Omar Sharif and Dombasle herself. A few stills and a short video clip are posted on the director's website: www Arielle-dombasle.net.

One Sister and Many Brothers (1994, Dusan Makavejev, 4m)
A home movie, sort of: Marker tapes Makavejev circulating among the guests of a party in his honor as much jovial backslapping abounds. Trying to pull a fast one, the Serbian master attempts to trick Marker into shooting himself in a mirror - Marker's cartoon cat is not amused.

Souvenir (Michael Shamberg, 1997, 78m) Marker created computer graphics for Shamberg's first film.

Acknowledgments:
The following list has benefited enormously from the information contained in: Chris Marker: Filmessayist. (Birgit Kämper & Thomas Tode, eds. Munich: Institut Français de Munich/CICIM, 1997) This beautifully illustrated German-language book is by far the most complete study of Marker's work. A few copies are still available from Berlin's Institut Français: kino@kultur-frankreich.de
Jeune, Dure, et Pure!: Une histoire du cinéma d'avant-garde et expérimental en France. (Nicole Brenez & Christian Lebrat, eds. Paris: Cinémathèque Française/Mazzotta, 2001)
Recherches sur Chris Marker (special issue of Théorème #6, Philippe Dubois, ed., Paris: Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2002)
Le Documentaire, un autre cinéma (Guy Gauthier, Paris: Nathan, 2002)

© 2003 by Sam DiIorio
back to page 1

HOME     ONLINE EXCLUSIVES ARCHIVE     ARCHIVE     FILM SOCIETY HOME