To Chris Marker, An Unsent Letter

Directed by Emiko Omori

78 minutes / Color
Release: 2013
Copyright: 2013

TO CHRIS MARKER, AN UNSENT LETTER is a cinematic love letter to Chris Marker, the notoriously private filmmaker and artist--director of LA JETEE, SANS SOLEIL, LE JOLI MAI and many other films, and self-described "best known author of unknown works".

Directed by Emmy-award winning cinematographer and filmmaker Emiko Omori, whose credits include Marker's THE OWL'S LEGACY, the film is a contemplative essay whose form is inspired by Marker's signature style.

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Alongside Omori's thoughts and recollections of the filmmaker, and her examinations of some of his key works, the film incorporates interviews with Marker associates and admirers including film critic David Thomson, film programmers Tom Luddy and Peter Scarlet, filmmakers Marina Goldovskaya and Michael H. Shamberg, 12 MONKEYS screenwriters Janet and David Peoples, computer scientist Dirk Kuhlmann, and many others.

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Their warm reflections join Omori's to examine the legacy of a filmmaker as beloved as he was enigmatic.

"Emiko Omori's TO CHRIS MARKER, AN UNSENT LETTER pays tribute by combining testimonials and travelogue, uncannily mirroring its subject's singular style."—Brad Richason, CityPages

"Affectionate and mysterious … captures the essence of the man"—Peter Schilling, Perisphere.org

"Impressively successful!"—Jeremy Mechler, Joyless Creatures

"Has the inquisitive, reflective, yet easygoing observational style that any Marker fan should recognize."—SF Gate

"A global romp through Marker's intentionally murky past… Perhaps Omori's greatest tribute to Marker is in honoring his beautifully manicured mystery, the ambiguous outlines of his life and art."—Steve Seid, Pacific Film Archive

"A brilliantly composed love paean to the late great French new wave photographer-filmmaker."—The Potrero View

"Lively and engaging!"—Cinesource

Other Ways to Watch

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Home use DVD for $24.98

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Purchase DVD for $298.00

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Select Accolades

  • 2017 Documentary Fortnight, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
  • 2012 Mill Valley Film Festival
  • 2013 Hong Kong International Film Festival
  • 2013 Barcelona International Film Festival

RELATED TITLES

This two-disc set includes Chris Marker's tribute to Russian film director Alexander Medvedkin, Medvedkin's silent classic HAPPINESS (1934), and loads of extras.

Chris Marker | 1998 | 116 minutes | Color

Chris Marker and Pierre Lhomme's legendary portrait of Paris and Parisians at the close of the Algerian war.

Chris Marker and Pierre Lhomme | 2013 | 145 minutes | English; French | English subtitles

Two films made collaboratively by Chris Marker and striking workers in 1968 and 1969.

Chris Marker and The Medvedkin Group | 2014 | 76 minutes | Color | French | English subtitles