Chris Marker

Autor, Regie, Schnitt, Komponist, Darsteller, Produzent

29. Juli 1921 — 29. Juli 2012 (91 Jahre)
Christian François Bouche-Villeneuve, better known as Chris Marker (France, 29 July 1921 – 29 July 2012), was a French writer, poet, activist, critic, photographer, traveler, journalist, film essayist, multimedia artist, and documentary filmmaker.

He began his career as part of the French Rive Gauche group—parallel to but distinct from the Nouvelle Vague—with which he would later share certain themes and collaborators. Marker is credited with developing the subjective documentary and is considered a pioneer of collective cinema in France. His films are known for their poetic, essayistic, and often experimental qualities, blending a reflective voice with a fascination for memory, art, war, politics, culture, and nature. Over six decades of work, he observed the world with meticulous curiosity, irony, and compassion, continually experimenting with new forms of image manipulation and montage.

He was also famously elusive. For many years, few people knew what Chris Marker looked like—he disliked being photographed, and no confirmed portraits were publicly available. He often amused himself by giving contradictory accounts of his life in the rare interviews he granted. As Philippe Dubois observed, “Chris Marker is, in a way, the most celebrated of the unknown filmmakers.” His official website adds: “Rather than a man without qualities, he is a man without biography.”

Marker also worked under numerous pseudonyms, including Hayao Yamaneko, Jacopo Berenzini, Kosinki, Michel Krasna, Sandor Krasna, and Guillaume-en-Égypte (his feline avatar), though his best-known identity remains Chris Marker.

Among his most significant works are La Jetée (1962), Sans Soleil (1983), Far from Vietnam (1967), A Grin Without a Cat (1977), A.K. (1985), Level Five (1997), and One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich (1999). He also explored interactive and digital media with the CD-ROM Immemory (1997), maintained a website titled Gorgomancy, a YouTube channel called Kosinki, and created a virtual gallery, Ouvroir, within the online world Second Life.

Bekannt aus

  • 12 Monkeys
    12 Monkeys1995
  • Am Rande des Rollfelds
    Am Rande des Rollfelds1962
  • Sans Soleil – Unsichtbare Sonne
    Sans Soleil – Unsichtbare Sonne1983
  • Nacht und Nebel
    Nacht und Nebel1956
  • ... nach Valparaiso
    ... nach Valparaiso1964
  • A.K.
    A.K.1985
  • Auch Statuen sterben
    Auch Statuen sterben1953
  • Der Kampf um Chile (Teil 2/3): Der Staatsstreich
    Der Kampf um Chile (Teil 2/3): Der Staatsstreich1976
  • Der schöne Mai
    Der schöne Mai1963
  • Rot ist die blaue Luft
    Rot ist die blaue Luft1977
  • Ein Brief aus Sibirien
    Ein Brief aus Sibirien1958
  • Junkopia
    Junkopia1981
  • Level Five
    Level Five1997
  • Fern von Vietnam
    Fern von Vietnam1967
  • Alles Gedächtnis der Welt
    Alles Gedächtnis der Welt1956
  • Der letzte Bolschewik
    Der letzte Bolschewik1993
  • Ein Tag im Leben des Andrej Arsenewitsch
    Ein Tag im Leben des Andrej Arsenewitsch1999
  • Broadway by Light
    Broadway by Light1958
  • Der Kampf um Chile (Teil 3/3): Die Macht des Volkes
    Der Kampf um Chile (Teil 3/3): Die Macht des Volkes1979
  • Sunday in Peking
    Sunday in Peking1956

Filmografie

2022
2016
Chris Marker, Never Explain, Never Complain · as Self (archive Footage)
2013
The Oscars · as Self - Writer & Director (in Memoriam)
2011
2008
The Beaches of Agnès · as Self (archive Footage)
1997
Level Five · as Self (voice) (uncredited)
1988
Tokyo Days · as Self (voice) (uncredited)
1987
One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevitch · as Self (voice) (uncredited)
1985
A.K. · as Self - Narrator (voice)
1985
Tokyo-Ga · as Self (uncredited)
1983
Sans Soleil · as Self (uncredited)
1978
May Days · as Self
1973
1963
Le joli mai · as Self / Interviewer (voice)

2004
2001
1997
Level Five · as Original Music Composer
1994
Bullfight in Okinawa · as Composer
1983
1981
Junkopia · as Original Music Composer

2006
Satan · as Voice On Tv
1977
A Grin Without A Cat · as Narrator
1974
1973
Kashima Paradise · as Narrator (voice)
1971
1968
1965
The Koumiko Mystery · as Narrator
1958
Letter from Siberia · as Stargazer (uncredited)

2017
The Zone · as Story
2015
12 Monkeys · as Inspired By "la Jetée" By
2004
The Case of the Grinning Cat · as Cinematographer
1997
Level Five · as Director Of Photography
1995
Berliner Ballade · as Cinematographer
1994
Bullfight in Okinawa · as Cinematographer
1993
Le 20 heures dans les camps · as Cinematographer
1993
The Last Bolshevik · as Director Of Photography
1990
Berlin 1990 · as Cinematographer
1988
Tokyo Days · as Director Of Photography
1987
One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevitch · as Director Of Photography
1985
Matta '85 · as Cinematographer
1983
Sans Soleil · as Director Of Photography
1983
Sans Soleil · as Visual Effects
1979
1976
The Spiral · as Commentary
1976
The Battle of Chile: Part II · as Collaboration
1975
The Battle of Chile: Part I · as Collaboration
1973
L'ambassade · as Cinematographer
1972
1968
La sixième face du pentagone · as Director Of Photography
1966
Si j'avais quatre dromadaires · as Director Of Photography
1966
Rotterdam Europort · as Adaptation
1965
The Koumiko Mystery · as Director Of Photography
1962
La Jetée · as Director Of Photography
1961
¡Cuba Sí! · as Director Of Photography
1956
Sunday in Peking · as Director Of Photography
1956
1956
Night and Fog · as Assistant Director
1956
Night and Fog · as Script Editor