A Grin Without a Cat

A Grin Without a Cat (Le Fond de L’air Est Rouge)
Part I: Fragile Hands (Les Mains Fragiles)
Part II: Severed Hands (Les Mains Fragiles)
1977, 180’
Director: Chris Marker
Language: French, English, Spanish
Screening: Thursday, 7 February, 13.00, 15.00, Sunday, 17 February, 13.00, 15.00

Originally released in 1977, this documentary was intended to portray the political turmoils and rise and fall of the New Left movement in France at that time. It was reworked in 1993 to link the leftist movement to the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. The film is divided into two parts with the first part focusing on the emergence of the leftist movement in 1967 and the second part detailing the socialist movements in Latin America. As its original title, which means “the ‘depth’ of the air is red,” this three-hour documentary implies that the socialist movement existed only in the air. Outstanding excerpts of iconic historical figures such as Fidel Castro, Che Guevarra, Mao Tse-tung, and Salvador Allende are combined with a provocative voice-over to add surprising vitality to history.