La Jetée

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La Jetée

La Jetée
France, 1962, 28’
in French w/ Eng./ Arm. subtitles

Director and Scriptwriter: Chris Marker
Photographers: Jean Chiabaut, Chris Marker
Producer: Anatole Dauman
Editor: Jean Ravel
Composer: Trevor Duncan
Cast: Hélène Châtelain, Davos Hanich, Jacques Ledoux
Narrator: Jean Négroni
Production Company: Argos Films
Constructed almost entirely from still photos, Chris Marker’s seminal film La Jetée tells the story of a post-nuclear war experiment in time travel. A man is a prisoner in the apocalyptic aftermath of World War III, where survivors live underground and scientists research time travel, hoping to send test subjects to different time periods “to call past and future to the rescue of the present”. In his travels, the protagonist soon discovers the meaning of his striking childhood pre-war memory of a man’s death that was haunting him for all this time.

Awards

Best Short Film, Prix Jean Vigo, France, 1963; 50th greatest film of all time, Sight and Sound Poll, 2012.