Exhibition program

Filmscreening: La Jetée (1962) von Chris Marker

Thursday, Jul 16, 2026, 7 pm

On the occasion of Catherine Opie’s exhibition The Pause That Dreams Against Erasure, the Fridericianum presents Chris Marker’s legendary science fiction short film La Jetée (1962). A landmark of experimental cinema, this groundbreaking classic tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world after World War III through a sequence of black-and-white still images. In search of alternative energy sources, an unnamed protagonist is sent on journeys through time into the past and the future, where he repeatedly encounters the image of a woman that has haunted him since childhood. Only at the end does he realize that the memory that has accompanied him throughout his life is inseparably linked to his own fate.

The formal radicalism and narrative structure of La Jetée have influenced generations of artists and filmmakers, including Catherine Opie. In her first film The Modernist (2017), she draws on Marker’s visual language and storytelling techniques to explore the failure of modernism’s utopian promises. The Modernist is part of the Fridericianum exhibition that will be on view until July 19.

This screening offers an opportunity to discover—or rediscover—Chris Marker’s La Jetée. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity for audience members to exchange thoughts and impressions about the film.

Introduction by Elias Lepper (Event Management, Fridericianum): German
Film: Chris Marker: La Jetée, 1962, France, 28 minutes, English, with English subtitles
Admission is free. No registration is required.