La Jetée

La Jetée
1962, 28’
Director: Chris Marker
Language: French
Screening: Friday, 8 February, 17.00, Sunday, 10 February, 15.00, Saturday, 16 February, 15.00

In the aftermath of the third World War Paris has become rotten with radioactivity where survivors live underground and conduct experiments in time travel with the hope of finding a solution. A man selected from among prisoners is sent to the past to meet a mysterious woman as he is haunted by an image from his childhood. Considered a landmark of science fiction filmmaking, “La Jetée” is a cine-novel composed almost entirely of still images told in Marker’s poetic, provocative style. The film, which also came to be known as the inspiration for Terry Gilliam’s 1995 film “12 Monkeys,” melds human frailty with global catastrophe, beginning with totalitarian government experiments. Marker was also the writer and cinematographer of “La Jetée.” The film, which earned him international acclaim, remains a classic work of art cinema, science fiction cinema, and perhaps French New Wave cinema.