Far from Vietnam

A film legend: the cinematic equivalent of a street demonstration, an impressive gesture of solidarity with the victims of war; an exceptional example of collective-both political and artistic-intervention. Far from Vietnam (created and edited by Chris Marker) was born, as William Klein said, from a question: How to make a "useful" film? Fiction, agit-prop, documentary, what? We were never able to decide, but we had to do something.Out of the need to react to the war in Vietnam, an omnibus was thus created in 1967 that combined not only great directors (Godard, Ivens, and Varda, to name a few), but also different styles: from features through documentaries to reportage. And although that conflict is now firmly in the past, the film's angry energy is still fresh, and its message remains applicable today. Because Vietnam is in each of us, as Godard said. In its time, Far from Vietnam gave rise to violent protests: in America, its creators were accused of sowing communist propaganda, and in Paris right-wing extremists cut up cinema seats.