Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin, 1961, 91 min.
The fascinating result of a collaboration between filmmaker-anthropologist Jean Rouch and sociologist Edgar Morin, this vanguard work of what Morin termed cinéma- vérité is a brilliantly conceived and realized sociopolitical diagnosis of the early sixties in France. Simply by interviewing a group of Paris residents in the summer of 1960—beginning with the provocative and eternal question “Are you happy?” and expanding to political issues, including the ongoing Algerian War—Rouch and Morin reveal the hopes and dreams of a wide array of people, from artists to factory workers, from an Italian émigré to an African student. Chronicle of a Summer’s penetrative approach gives us a document of a time and place with extraordinary emotional depth.
Please note that Chronicle of a Summer will not be available for rental on our website, but can be streamed via The Criterion Channel’s platform. New subscribers who sign up by May 15 will receive 50% off their first three months of membership, following a two-week free trial. Sign up for our newsletter to receive this code in our weekly newsletter!
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Zoom Q&A with filmmakers Gordon Quinn, Brett Story & Mark Street focused on their films in the series Le Joli Maysles Saturday, May 23rd at 4pm est.
This film is streaming as part of the month long series Le Joli Maysles, celebrating the lovely month of May with repertory and new release documentaries in conversation with the seminal 1963 film Le Joli Mai by Chris Marker. These films approach Marker’s man-on-the-street documentary technique sometimes as a jumping off point for their own process and purposes, and sometimes pushing against the implications of this process.
Due to the nature of this screening we are unable to offer sliding scale ticketing prices. A portion of all ticket sales from Work Songs will go to directly supporting Maysles Cinema and our documentary education programs for young people in Harlem during these uncertain times. We continue to be incredibly grateful for our engaged and resilient community and their support. If you would like to make an additional donation to Maysles Documentary Center you can follow THIS LINK.
