Chris Marker

Notes from the Era of Imperfect Memory

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France Culture Podcasts – Conversations on Chris Marker

In Amitié, Archive, Biographic, Clips, Estate, Exhibitions, News
05/13/2018
4 Min read
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We have been following with appreciation the podcasts of France Culture on the occasion of the phenomenal Sept Vies d’un Cinéaste exhibition/retrospective, conversations that touch on Chris Marker’s life, friendships and wisdom in a way that the written word has a harder time achieving – the Costa-Gavras conversation is exemplary in this regard. There is an intimacy to the spoken voice that comes through vividly, and the questions posed by Albane...

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Cinémathèque française Unveils Encyclopedic Chris Marker Retrospective Program

In Archive, Estate, Filmographic, Screenings
04/02/2018
12 Min read
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Cinémathèque Chris Marker Exposition Poster

Dans les Salles | Films, Rencontres, Conférences, Spectacles Du 3 au 27 Mai 2018 Source: Exposition Chris Marker, les 7 vies d’un cinéaste – La Cinémathèque française SÉANCE D’OUVERTURE Ambassade (L’) Chris Marker / France / 1975 CM Je 3 mai 20h00 Jetée (La) Chris Marker / France / 1962 CM Je 3 mai 20h00 Statues meurent aussi (Les) Alain Resnais, Chris Marker / France / 1953 CM Je 3 mai 20h00 LES FILMS Amérique insolite (L’) François...

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Robert Kramer, Point de départ / Starting Place

In Auteurs, Essay Form
03/28/2018
6 Min read
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Robert Kramer tribute to Chris Marker - citation - memory

“I wonder how people used to remember when they didn’t take pictures.” Take a look at the Marker-inspired Robert Kramer film, Point de départ, from 1993. “One day or other all these films that I’m making will make up a single long film, a story that is always developing.”Robert Kramer Starting Place | Point de DépartDirected by Robert KramerFrance 1993, 35mm, color, 83 min.English, French, and Vietnamese with English subtitlesIn...

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No Complaints, More Explanations on Chris Marker: Never Explain, Never Complain

In Filmographic, Video
03/10/2018
4 Min read
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Marker on the monitors

CHRIS MARKER, NEVER EXPLAIN, NEVER COMPLAIN UN FILM DOCUMENTAIRE DE JEAN-MARIE BARBE ET ARNAUD LAMBERT :: The French film about Chris Marker, realized in 2016, has been released on DVD (docnet.fr), in docnet films’ “Collection Lumière de Notre Temps” series. It will be shown, among other venues, at the Cinémathèque française during their comprehensive exhibtion–retrospective Chris Marker: Les 7 vies d’un cinéaste, opening in May. The auteurs will present the film...

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Si j’avais quatre dromadaires Coming to DVD + Publications Galore

In DVD, Filmographic
03/01/2018
4 Min read
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Boite Si j'avais 4 dromedaires - Chris Marker - Les Mutins DVD

One of the films that always seemed to escape the great anthologies that we do have, in French and in English, was always Si j’avais quatre dromedaires (1966). The film is summarized as “a succession of 800 still images taken in 26 countries between 1955 and 1965, from Tokyo to Havanna, in passing through Peking, Moscow, Stockholm, Rome and Paris… commented by Chris Marker and his friends in voice-off.” [« Une succession de 800 images fixes prises dans 26 pays...

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Cinemathèque française Announces Chris Marker Exhibition + Retrospective

In Archive, Estate, Events, Exhibitions
02/14/2018
9 Min read
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Exciting news from the Cinémathèque française announcing dates for the much-anticipated Chris Marker exhibition has been posted on www.cinematheque.fr. Here’s the intro and several citations for now. English translations have been added at the end of the post. For background on the acquisition of Marker’s estate, see State of the Estate and State of the Estate II: The Glorious Shambles, as well as Fonds Chris Marker – 550 Grands Cartons chez...

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CinémAction n°165 – Chris Marker : pionnier et novateur

In Articles, Bibliographic, Books, Purchase
12/14/2017
2 Min read
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CinémAction – Chris Marker: pionnier et novateur Thanks to Chris Darke for alerting us to this new publication with some familiar names contributing articles to CinémAction 165: Chris Marker: pionnier et novateure. L’interactivité filmique, initiée de manière radicale dès 1950, permet d’appréhender une démarche polyphonique qui n’a cessé de montrer et commenter l’histoire du XXe siècle. Ciné-voyageur, Chris Marker reste, de fait...

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Le Coeur net + The Forthright Spirit

In Books, Texts, Translations
12/13/2017
2 Min read
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Le Coeur Net by Chris Marker Thanks to John H. for the gift of this PDF scan of the French original of Marker’s early novel Le Coeur net, published  in 1950 when Marker was 29 or so. We append to it the English translation from the following year. Chris Marker, Le Coeur Net, Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1950. Préface de Jean Cayrol. Chris Marker, The Forthright Spirit, trans. Robert Kee and Terence Kilmartin, London: Allan Wingate, 1951. Here’s how it...

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Cross My Heart by Chris Marker

In Archive, Texts, Trace
10/06/2017
4 Min read
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Wooden Cross & Iron Path Translation © Sophie Kovel, 2017Original: “Croix de bois et chemin de fer,” Esprit, (Jan. 1951), 88-90. Please note that this is a partial translation; the text continues beyond where we left off here, with Marker’s conversation with the German soldier focusing in on the concentration camps. There are also 5 footnotes. We will be updating this page with the full translation asap.  At Ploen (Schles-wig-Holstein) I ride...

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It was a Strange Thing by Chris Marker

In La Jetée, Texts, Translations
07/24/2017
3 Min read
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It was a strange thing. A small box of metal with irregularly rounded corners, with a rectangular opening in the middle and in front of it a tiny lens, the size of a euro. We had to slip a piece of film – real film, with perforations – that was pressed by a rubber wheel, and by turning a button connected to the roulette, the film was unrolled one by one. Actually, each image represented a different scene, so that it seemed more like a...

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Gratitude

In Uncategorized
06/17/2017
1 Min read
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My sincere thanks to all who contributed recently to the site. Practically, it helped a ton. Emotionally, it helped profoundly. Thank you. Merci.

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Another Villeneuve

In Books, Citation, Memory, Trace
05/21/2017
2 Min read
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L’essai proposé ici se prend au jeu de la compagnie des images. Il propose l’invention d’un aller-retour sur Chris Marker. Nous sommes à bord d’un train : les images défilent au rythme de la machine ; elles évoquent d’autres images, des pensées et des souvenirs. Disons, par utopisme, que l’on dispose à volonté de toutes les images de Marker et de leurs commentaires – chose apparemment utopique tant le cinéaste lui-même a contribué à la difficulté de les rassembler...

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Chris Marker Notes from the Era of Imperfect Memory

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