afn

I first saw La Jetee in a cinema studies course when I was an undecided major. I can recall the goosebumps I got at the end of the film. I was taking a photography course at the same time that I was falling in love with cinema, and this film really helped make the parallels quite clear and exciting. Later, after choosing film as a major (though I now know it’s really more of a pursuit), I did an independent study with the professor who, looking back, had the biggest influence on how this all came about. He had this book, a physical version of the film by Chris Marker, and he let me borrow it for a semester. At the time, a few short years ago, it was rare, and the internet, though in existence, was not quite as penetrating as it is now. It felt like a treasure. It’s an odd experience to flip through a film - this is the only book I know of to attempt such a thing and pull it off. Years later I found a used copy of it in a book shop for myself. I’m sure I could have found it online, but this happening was much better. It brought back the formative lessons and the excitement of discovery from earlier years, and reminded me of where this nonsense started.