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.
SLON was a film collective created by Chris Marker for the purpose of making Far from Vietnam. Its members included Jean-Luc Godard, Joris Ivens, Alain Resnais, Claude Lelouch, William Klein, and Agnes Varda. Marker not only persuaded the directors to take part, but he also oversaw the artistic coherence of the project by producing and editing the film. Following the events in Paris in May 1968, SLON was revived and, with a whole new team, continued the tradition of creative collectives, this time bringing together filmmakers and workers. Inspired by the achievements of Soviet cinema (particularly Aleksandr Medvedkin), the idea of authorship was abandoned, and the collective made several political documentaries about America, Cuba, and the Soviet Union (LaSixième FaceduPentagone, 1968, La Bataille des dix milions, 1970, Le Train en Marche, 1971).
1968 LaSixième Facedun Pentagone
1970 La Bataille des dix milions
1971 Le Train en Marche