CM
Chris Marker
Writer, Director, Editor, Composer, Actor, Producer, Additional Credits
Born July 29, 1921Died July 29, 2012 (91 years)
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.
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.
Known For
Chris Marker Filmography
| 2004 | |
| 2001 | |
| 1997 | |
| 1995 | 12 Monkeys · as Original Film Writer |
| 1995 | |
| 1995 | |
| 1993 | |
| 1990 | |
| 1989 | The Owl's Legacy (TV Series) |
| 1988 | |
| 1987 | |
| 1985 | |
| 1985 | |
| 1984 | |
| 1983 | |
| 1981 | |
| 1977 | |
| 1973 | |
| 1973 | |
| 1972 | |
| 1971 | |
| 1971 | |
| 1970 | |
| 1969 | |
| 1968 | |
| 1967 | |
| 1966 | |
| 1965 | |
| 1963 | Valparaiso · as Screenplay |
| 1963 | |
| 1962 | La Jetée · as Screenplay |
| 1961 | |
| 1960 | |
| 1960 | |
| 1958 | |
| 1958 | |
| 1958 | |
| 1957 | Django Reinhardt · as Screenplay |
| 1956 | |
| 1953 |
| 2004 | |
| 2001 | |
| 2000 | |
| 1997 | |
| 1995 | |
| 1995 | |
| 1995 | |
| 1994 | |
| 1993 | |
| 1993 | |
| 1990 | |
| 1990 | |
| 1990 | |
| 1990 | |
| 1990 | |
| 1989 | The Owl's Legacy (TV Series) |
| 1988 | |
| 1988 | |
| 1987 | |
| 1986 | |
| 1985 | |
| 1985 | |
| 1984 | |
| 1983 | |
| 1981 | |
| 1977 | |
| 1974 | |
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| 1966 | |
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| 1963 | |
| 1962 | |
| 1961 | |
| 1960 | |
| 1959 | |
| 1958 | |
| 1956 | |
| 1953 |
| 2022 | Alain Resnais, l'audacieux · as Self |
| 2016 | Chris Marker, Never Explain, Never Complain · as Self (archive Footage) |
| 2013 | The Oscars · as Self - Writer & Director (in Memoriam) |
| 2011 | In Chris Marker's Studio · as Self |
| 2011 | Agnès Varda: From Here to There · as Self |
| 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 | Puisqu'on vous dit que c'est possible · as Self |
| 1963 | Le joli mai · as Self / Interviewer (voice) |
| 2004 | |
| 1995 | |
| 1995 | |
| 1994 | |
| 1993 | |
| 1988 | |
| 1987 | |
| 1986 | |
| 1985 | |
| 1985 | |
| 1984 | |
| 1983 | |
| 1981 | |
| 1977 | |
| 1976 | |
| 1974 | |
| 1973 | |
| 1973 | |
| 1972 | |
| 1971 | |
| 1971 | |
| 1971 | |
| 1970 | |
| 1970 | |
| 1967 | |
| 1966 | |
| 1965 |
| 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 | La solitude du chanteur de fond · as Cast |
| 1973 | Kashima Paradise · as Narrator (voice) |
| 1971 | You Speak of Prague: The Second Trial of Artur London · as Narrator |
| 1968 | |
| 1965 | The Koumiko Mystery · as Narrator |
| 1958 | Letter from Siberia · as Stargazer (uncredited) |
| 2017 | The Zone · as Story |
| 2015 | 12 Monkeys (TV Series) · 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 |
| 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 | The Battle of Chile: Part III · as Other |
| 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 | Three Cheers for the Whale · as Sound |
| 1968 | La sixième face du pentagone · as Director Of Photography |
| 1966 | Si j'avais quatre dromadaires · as Director Of Photography |
| 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 | All the Memory in the World · as Commentary |
| 1956 | Night and Fog · as Assistant Director |
| 1956 | Night and Fog · as Script Editor |