Directing
Chris Marker
EN, FR, ES, XX cinema · 119 credits
Born
29 July 1921
Died
29 July 2012 (aged 91)
Birthplace
Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France, France
Also known as 크리스 마르케 · Крис Маркер · クリス・マルケル · Christian Bouche-Villeneuve · Christian François Bouche-Villeneuve · Jacopo Berenzini
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.
Known for
Filmography
Nostalgia for the Future
as Self (archive footage)
L’indispensable
as Photos/Extrait
Ten Lives of a Cat: A Film about Chris Marker
as Kaibyō (archive footage)
The Zone
Short Story
Chris Marker: Never Explain, Never Complain
as Self (archive footage)
20 Little Films
Director
Imagine
Director
Overnight
Director, Writer
Tempo Risoluto
2011
Tempo Risoluto
Director, Editor
Stopover in Dubai
Director, Editor
iDead
Director
Kino
Director
Ouvroir the Movie
Director, Writer
The Beaches of Agnès
as Self (archive footage)
Guillaume Movie
Director, Writer
The Morning After
2008
The Morning After
Editor, Director
Metrotopia
Director, Writer
A Year of TV Seen by Guillaume
Director, Editor
Leila Attacks
2007
Leila Attacks
Director, Director of Photography
The Case of the Grinning Cat
Director, Writer, Editor, Music, Cinematography
Green Vinyl
Thanks
Remembrance of Things to Come
Director, Writer, Music
A Mayor in Kosovo
Director
One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich
as Self (voice) (uncredited), Director, Writer, Editor, Director of Photography
Eclipse
Director
Level Five
as Self (voice) (uncredited), Director, Writer, Original Music Composer, Director of Photography
Blue Helmet
Director, Writer, Editor
Twelve Monkeys
Original Film Writer
The Last Bolshevik
as Self (uncredited), Director, Writer, Editor, Director of Photography
Bullfight in Okinawa
Director
Three Haiku Videos
Director, Writer, Producer
Tchaïka
1994
Tchaïka
Director, Editor
Petite Ceinture
Director
Slon Tango
Director
Théorie des ensembles
1991
Theory of Sets
Director, Producer
Rush - Voyage à Moscou
as Self, Director
Zoo Piece
Director
Détour Ceausescu
1990
Détour Ceausescu
Director, Writer
Berlin 1990
Director, Editor, Writer
Tokyo Days
as Self (voice) (uncredited), Director, Editor, Writer, Director of Photography
Mémoires pour Simone
Director
Havre
Thanks
A. K.
as Self - Narrator (voice), Writer, Director, Editor
Tokyo-Ga
as Self (uncredited)
2084: Video Clip for the Trade Unions' Reflection and Pleasure
Director, Writer, Editor
Sans Soleil
as Self (uncredited), Director, Writer, Director of Photography, Visual Effects, Editor, Music
Junkopia
Director, Writer, Original Music Composer, Editor
The Battle of Chile: Part III
Producer, Other
May Days
as Self
A Grin Without a Cat
Writer, Director, Editor
The Spiral
Editor
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Singer
Director, Editor
Kashima Paradise
as Narrator (voice), Writer
The Embassy
Director, Writer, Cinematography
Three Cheers for the Whale
Director, Writer, Editor, Sound
The Train Rolls On
Director, Writer, Editor
The Confession
Still Photographer
Report on Brazil: Carlos Marighella
Director, Writer, Editor
The Sixth Side of the Pentagon
Actor, Director, Producer, Director of Photography
Be Seeing You
Director
Cinétracts
Director, Writer
Far from Vietnam
Director, Writer, Producer, Editor
If I Had Four Dromedaries
Director, Writer, Editor, Director of Photography
Le Volcan interdit
1966
The Forbidden Volcano
Writer, Screenplay
The Koumiko Mystery
as Narrator, Writer, Director, Director of Photography, Editor
Valparaiso
Screenplay
From a Distant Gaze
Director of Photography
The Lovely Month of May
as Self / Interviewer (voice), Director, Writer
La Jetée
Director of Photography, Director, Screenplay
¡Cuba Sí!
Writer, Screenplay, Director of Photography, Director
Description of a Struggle
Director, Writer
The Astronauts
Director
Letter from Siberia
as Stargazer (uncredited), Director, Writer
Django Reinhardt
Screenplay
Sunday in Peking
Director, Writer, Director of Photography
Night and Fog
Assistant Director, Script Editor
Statues Also Die
Director, Writer
Olympia 52
Director, Writer
La Fin du monde vue par l’ange Gabriel
1947
The End of the World Seen by the Angel Gabriel
Director, Writer, Editor, Director of Photography