• Chris Marker: La jetée, 1962

  • Alain Resnais: Le chant du styrène, 1957

  • Jean Mitry: Images pour Debussy, 1951



Modes of Cinematic Sound: Short Films



  • Introduction
    Mary Ann Smart

    Mary Ann Smart is a Professor in Musicology in the Department of Music at UC Berkeley.

This eclectic program features shorts that range from an abstract exercise in matching image and sound (Images pour Debussy) to a commercial film advertising a new synthetic material (Le chant du styrène) to a political documentary about the 1961 Paris massacre of Algerian protesters (Octobre à Paris). The soundtrack for Octobre à Paris, unsigned and virtually unnoticed until now, was likely composed at Pierre Schaeffer’s electronic music studio, while the music for Le chant du styrène is by Pierre Barbaud, a pioneer of algorithmic music. La jetée combines music that evokes the pleasure-seeking world of the café-concert (by composer Trevor Duncan) with haunting fragments of traditional Balkan choral music.

Films in this Screening

Images pour Debussy

Jean Mitry, France, 1951

FILM DETAILS 
Print Info
  • B&W
  • 16mm
  • 10 mins
source
  • BAMPFA

Le chant du styrène

Alain Resnais, France, 1957

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • French
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • Color
  • DCP
  • 13 mins
source
  • Icarus Films

La jetée

Chris Marker, France, 1962

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • French
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • B&W
  • 35mm
  • 28 mins
source
  • BAMPFA
permission
  • Janus Films

Octobre à Paris

Jacques Panijel, France, 1962

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • French
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • B&W
  • DCP
  • 70 mins
source
  • Les Films de l’Atalante

Event Accessibility

If you have any questions about accessibility or need accommodations to attend this event, please contact us at bampfa@berkeley.edu or (510) 642-1412 (Wed–Sun, 11 AM–7 PM) as soon as you can. Advance notice helps us fulfill your request.

Learn more about accessibility services at BAMPFA.