Chris Marker
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.
Fotos
Películas (119)
L’indispensable
2026 · Photos/Extrait
Nostalgia for the Future
2026 · Self (archive footage)
Ten Lives of a Cat: A Film about Chris Marker
2023 · Kaibyō (archive footage)
The Invention of Chris Marker
2020 · Self
Lluvia de jaulas
2019 · Thanks
The Zone
2017 · Short Story
Chris Marker: Never Explain, Never Complain
2015 · Self (archive footage)
La Jétee
2013 · Story
Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke
2012 · Writer
20 Little Films
2012 · Director
In Chris Marker's Studio
2011 · Self
iDead
2011 · Director
Kino
2011 · Director
Agnès Varda: From Here to There
2011 · Self
Imagine
2011 · Director
Stopover in Dubai
2011 · Director, Editor
ROYAL POLKA.mov
2011 · Director
Tempo Risoluto
2011 · Director, Editor
Overnight
2011 · Director, Writer
Ouvroir the Movie
2010 · Director, Writer
La Traversée du désir
2009 · Self
The Beaches of Agnès
2008 · Self (archive footage)
The Morning After
2008 · Editor, Director
Henchman Glance
2008 · Director
Pictures at an Exhibition
2008 · Director
Metrotopia
2008 · Director, Writer
Guillaume Movie
2008 · Director, Writer
A Year of TV Seen by Guillaume
2007 · Director, Editor
Leila Attacks
2007 · Director, Director of Photography
The Andrei Tarkovsky Companion
2007 · Director
The Case of the Grinning Cat
2006 · Director, Writer, Editor, Music, Cinematography
Green Vinyl
2004 · Thanks
Remembrance of Things to Come
2001 · Director, Writer, Music
A Mayor in Kosovo
2000 · Director
Eclipse
1999 · Director
One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich
1999 · Self (voice) (uncredited), Director, Writer, Editor, Director of Photography
Level Five
1997 · Self (voice) (uncredited), Director, Writer, Original Music Composer, Director of Photography
Twelve Monkeys
1995 · Original Film Writer
Silent Movie (Edit 2)
1995 · Director
Blue Helmet
1995 · Director, Writer, Editor
The Last Bolshevik
1994 · Self (uncredited), Director, Writer, Editor, Director of Photography
Bullfight in Okinawa
1994 · Director
Three Haiku Videos
1994 · Director, Writer, Producer
Owl Gets in Your Eyes
1994 · Director
Tchaïka
1994 · Director, Editor
Petite Ceinture
1994 · Director
Slon Tango
1993 · Director
Prime Time in the Camps
1993 · Director
Theory of Sets
1991 · Director, Producer
Berlin 1990
1990 · Director, Editor, Writer
An Owl Is an Owl Is an Owl
1990 · Director
Zoo Piece
1990 · Director
Berlin 1990
1990 · Director
Rush - Voyage à Moscou
1990 · Self, Director
Zapping Zone
1990 · Director
Détour Ceausescu
1990 · Director, Writer
Tokyo Days
1988 · Self (voice) (uncredited), Director, Editor, Writer, Director of Photography
Cat Listening to Music
1988 · Director
Havre
1986 · Thanks
Mémoires pour Simone
1986 · Director
Matta '85
1985 · Director
A. K.
1985 · Self - Narrator (voice), Writer, Director, Editor
Tokyo-Ga
1985 · Self (uncredited)
From Chris to Christo
1985 · Director
2084: Video Clip for the Trade Unions' Reflection and Pleasure
1984 · Director, Writer, Editor
Sans Soleil
1983 · Self (uncredited), Director, Writer, Director of Photography, Visual Effects, Editor, Music
Junkopia
1981 · Director, Writer, Original Music Composer, Editor
The Battle of Chile: Part III
1979 · Producer, Other
When the Century Took Shape (War and Revolution)
1978 · Director
May Days
1978 · Self
A Grin Without a Cat
1977 · Writer, Director, Editor
The Spiral
1976 · Editor
The Battle of Chile: Part II
1976 · Producer
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Singer
1974 · Director, Editor
Les Deux mémoires
1974 · Editor
The Embassy
1973 · Director, Writer, Cinematography
You Speak of Chile: What Allende Said
1973 · Director
We Maintain It Is Possible
1973 · Director
Kashima Paradise
1973 · Narrator (voice), Writer
Three Cheers for the Whale
1972 · Director, Writer, Editor, Sound
The Train Rolls On
1971 · Director, Writer, Editor
You Speak of Prague: The Second Trial of Artur London
1971 · Director
You Speak of Paris: Maspero. Words Have Meaning
1971 · Director
Congo Oyé (We Have Come Back)
1971 · Editor
Cuba: Battle of the 10,000,000
1971 · Director
Report on Brazil: Carlos Marighella
1970 · Director, Writer, Editor
The Confession
1970 · Still Photographer
Jour de tournage
1969 · Director
Report on Brazil: Torture
1969 · Director, Writer
The Sixth Side of the Pentagon
1968 · Director, Producer, Director of Photography
Cinétracts
1968 · Director, Writer
Be Seeing You
1968 · Director
Far from Vietnam
1967 · Director, Writer, Producer, Editor
If I Had Four Dromedaries
1966 · Director, Writer, Editor, Director of Photography
The Forbidden Volcano
1966 · Writer, Screenplay
The Koumiko Mystery
1965 · Narrator, Writer, Director, Director of Photography, Editor
The Heat of a Thousand Suns
1965 · Editor
From a Distant Gaze
1964 · Director of Photography
Valparaiso
1964 · Screenplay
The Lovely Month of May
1963 · Self / Interviewer (voice), Director, Writer
Playtime in Paris
1962 · Editor
Lumière Award to Chris Marker
1962 · Self
La Jetée
1962 · Director of Photography, Director, Screenplay
¡Cuba Sí!
1961 · Writer, Screenplay, Director of Photography, Director
Description of a Struggle
1960 · Director, Writer
America as Seen by a Frenchman
1960 · Writer
The Astronauts
1959 · Director
Broadway by Light
1958 · Writer
The Sea and the Days
1958 · Writer
Des Hommes Dans Le Ciel
1958 · Writer
Les hommes de la baleine
1958 · Writer
Letter from Siberia
1957 · Stargazer (uncredited), Director, Writer
The Mystery of Workshop 15
1957 · Writer
Django Reinhardt
1957 · Screenplay
Sunday in Peking
1956 · Director, Writer, Director of Photography
Night and Fog
1956 · Assistant Director, Script Editor
Statues Also Die
1953 · Director, Writer
Olympia 52
1952 · Director, Writer
The End of the World Seen by the Angel Gabriel
1947 · Director, Writer, Editor, Director of Photography
