AI 'Remakes' of La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962)

Marker’s 1962 La Jetée, a celebrated short film about a post-nuclear apocalypse, has had a rich afterlife. This includes remakes/reimaginings in the form of two major American productions: Terry Gilliam’s 1995 feature 12 Monkeys and the 47-episode 2015-2018 TV series of the same name. More recently, Marker’s film, which is comprised almost entirely of still images, has proved to be a stimulus for filmmakers looking to experiment with generative AI.

This event will include the presentation of three such films, followed by a roundtable discussion with their creators: La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962) side-by-side with AI Jetée (Adrian Goycoolea, 2024); The Gift of the World (Oedipus on the Jetty) (Joanna Zylinska, 2021); Statistical Hallucination (Jorge Caballero, Anna Giralt Gris, 2023).

Beyond its obvious formal and technical qualities, what is it about Marker’s apocalyptic film that has provoked these various 'AI remakes'? La Jetée is about looking into the past and into the future. How do filmmakers and audiences see this moment of technological history?

The event image is from Adrian Goycoolea’s film.

This event is in-person only. Please register on Eventbrite.

This event is part of the King's Festival of Artificial Intelligence, running from Tuesday 21 to Saturday 25 May 2024.

Festival event times may be subject to change. Any changes will be communicated to registrants via Eventbrite emails.

Please note, King's events are free, which means we routinely overbook to allow for no-shows and avoid empty seats. Admission is on a first come, first served basis, so please arrive in good time to avoid disappointment. We will not be able to admit those without tickets or latecomers.