Chris Marker
Directing
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
Directing83
movie20 Little Films
2012
Director
movieiDead
2011
Director
movieKino
2011
Director
movieImagine
2011
Director
movieStopover in Dubai
2011
Director
movieROYAL POLKA.mov
2011
Director
movieOvernight
2011
Director
movieOuvroir the Movie
2010
Director
movieHenchman Glance
2008
Director
movieMetrotopia
2008
Director
movieGuillaume Movie
2008
Director
movieA Mayor in Kosovo
2000
Director
movieEclipse
1999
Director
movieLevel Five
1997
Director
movieBlue Helmet
1995
Director
movieThe Last Bolshevik
1994
Director
movieBullfight in Okinawa
1994
Director
movieThree Haiku Videos
1994
Director
Tchaïka
1994
Director
moviePetite Ceinture
1994
Director
moviePrime Time in the Camps
1993
Director
movieSlon Tango
1993
Director
movieBerlin 1990
1990
Director
Berlin 1990
1990
Director
movieZoo Piece
1990
Director
movieRush - Voyage à Moscou
1990
Director
tvThe Owl's Legacy
1989
Director
movieTokyo Days
1988
Director
movieCat Listening to Music
1988
Director
movieMémoires pour Simone
1986
Director
Matta '85
1985
Director
movieA. K.
1985
Director
movieFrom Chris to Christo
1985
Director
movieSans Soleil
1983
Director
movieJunkopia
1981
Director
movieA Grin Without a Cat
1977
Director
movieThe Embassy
1973
Director
movieThe Train Rolls On
1971
Director
movieCinétracts
1968
Director
movieBe Seeing You
1968
Director
movieFar from Vietnam
1967
Director
movieThe Koumiko Mystery
1965
Director
movieThe Lovely Month of May
1963
Director
movieLa Jetée
1962
Director
movie¡Cuba Sí!
1961
Director
movieThe Astronauts
1959
Director
movieLetter from Siberia
1957
Director
movieSunday in Peking
1956
Director
movieNight and Fog
1956
Assistant Director
movieStatues Also Die
1953
Director
movieOlympia 52
1952
Director
Writing55
movieThe Zone
2017
Short Story
movieOvernight
2011
Writer
movieMetrotopia
2008
Writer
movieGuillaume Movie
2008
Writer
movieLevel Five
1997
Writer
movieTwelve Monkeys
1995
Original Film Writer
movieBlue Helmet
1995
Writer
movieBerlin 1990
1990
Writer
tvThe Owl's Legacy
1989
Writer
movieTokyo Days
1988
Writer
movieA. K.
1985
Writer
movieSans Soleil
1983
Writer
movieJunkopia
1981
Writer
movieThe Embassy
1973
Writer
movieCinétracts
1968
Writer
The Forbidden Volcano
1966
Writer, Screenplay
movieValparaiso
1964
Screenplay
movieLa Jetée
1962
Screenplay
movie¡Cuba Sí!
1961
Writer, Screenplay
movieDjango Reinhardt
1957
Screenplay
movieNight and Fog
1956
Script Editor
movieOlympia 52
1952
Writer
Editing29
movieBlue Helmet
1995
Editor
Tchaïka
1994
Editor
movieBerlin 1990
1990
Editor
movieTokyo Days
1988
Editor
movieA. K.
1985
Editor
movieSans Soleil
1983
Editor
movieJunkopia
1981
Editor
movieThe Spiral
1976
Editor
Acting23
movieL’indispensable
2026
Photos/Extrait
movieNostalgia for the Future
2026
Self (Archive footage)
movieTen Lives of a Cat: A Film about Chris Marker
2023
Kaibyō (archive footage)
movieChris Marker: Never Explain, Never Complain
2015
Self (archive footage)
movieThe Beaches of Agnès
2008
Self (archive footage)
movieOne Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich
1999
Self (voice) (uncredited)
movieLevel Five
1997
Self (voice) (uncredited)
movieTokyo Days
1988
Self (voice) (uncredited)
movieA. K.
1985
Self - Narrator (voice)
movieTokyo-Ga
1985
Self (uncredited)
movieSans Soleil
1983
Self (uncredited)
movieKashima Paradise
1973
Narrator (voice)
movieThe Koumiko Mystery
1965
Narrator
movieThe Lovely Month of May
1963
Self / Interviewer (voice)
movieLetter from Siberia
1957
Stargazer (uncredited)
Camera15
Leila Attacks
2007
Director of Photography
movieOne Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich
1999
Director of Photography
movieLevel Five
1997
Director of Photography
movieThe Last Bolshevik
1994
Director of Photography
movieTokyo Days
1988
Director of Photography
movieSans Soleil
1983
Director of Photography
movieThe Confession
1970
Still Photographer
movieThe Sixth Side of the Pentagon
1968
Director of Photography
movieIf I Had Four Dromedaries
1966
Director of Photography
movieThe Koumiko Mystery
1965
Director of Photography
movieFrom a Distant Gaze
1964
Director of Photography
movieLa Jetée
1962
Director of Photography
movie¡Cuba Sí!
1961
Director of Photography
movieSunday in Peking
1956
Director of Photography
Production7
Sound6
movieLevel Five
1997
Original Music Composer
movieSans Soleil
1983
Music
movieJunkopia
1981
Original Music Composer
Crew5
movieThe Case of the Grinning Cat
2006
Cinematography
movieGreen Vinyl
2004
Thanks
movieHavre
1986
Thanks
movieThe Embassy
1973
Cinematography
Creator2
Visual Effects1
movieSans Soleil
1983
Visual Effects