Remembrance of Things to Come

Product Description Denise Bellon (1902-1999) was a pioneer in photojournalism. One of the original members of the Alliance Photo Agency, founded in Paris in 1934 and a precursor to Magnum Photo Agency, she was also a friend and associate of leading members of the surrealist movement from Dali and Duchamp, to Andre Breton. REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS TO COME, co-directed by Chris Marker and Bellon's daughter Yannick, uses Bellon's photographs to create a dazzling historical portrait of the two momentous decades between 1935 and 1955. Leaping back and forth in time, from family portraits of Bellon and her two daughters, to her unique photographic record of pre-war Paris the first surrealist exhibition, the 1937 Paris World s Fair, the birth of the Cinematheque Francaise, and the Popular Front to images from France's African colonies, the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War and the German Occupation, the images in this remarkable cine-essay are complemented by Chris Marker's singular commentary (read by actress Alexandra Stewart), a complex rumination on the interrelations between photography, memory, thought and history. Bonus Film! COLETTE by Yannick Bellon (26 min.) Review Unforgettable! --Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times A dazzling montage of images. --Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times The film's sheer beauty is enrapturing. --Jessica Winter, The Village Voice About the Director Chris Marker is the legendary French cinematic essayist and audio-visual poet. After the Second World War, Marker began as a writer, publishing his first book in 1949. In the 1950s he turned to documentary filmmaking, producing over the years such classic works as Letter from Siberia, Cuba Si!, Le Joli Mai, as well as the legendary sci-fi short, La Jetee (later made into TWELVE MONKEYS by Terry Gilliam), and Sans Soleil. Today, after more than fifty years of engaged and artistically creative work, now working with the latest in digital video and computer imagery techniques, Chris Marker is recognized worldwide as not only one of the world's most innovative and influential filmmakers but also, in the words of Marker biographer Catherine Lupton, a touchstone for artists, commentators and audiences in many fields of contemporary audio-visual culture.