Chris Marker

Chris Marker (1921–2012) was a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and film essayist. He became known internationally for the short film La Jetée (The Pier) in 1962. It tells of a post-nuclear war experiment in time travel by using a series of filmed photographs developed as a photomontage of varying pace, with limited narration and sound effects.

In the late 1970s, Marker traveled extensively throughout the world, including an extended period in Japan. From this inspiration, he first published the photo-essay Le Dépays in 1982, and then used the experience for his next film Sans Soleil, released in 1982. Sans Soleil stretches the limits of what could be called a documentary. It is an essay, a montage, mixing pieces of documentary with fiction and philosophical comments, creating an atmosphere of dream and science fiction. The main themes are Japan, Africa, memory and travel.

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