The Limits of Vococentrism: Chris Marker, Hans Richter and the Essay Film

The legacies of Left Bank Cinema and the essay film have become mutually intertwined. The former is a small but influential filmmaking movement in postwar France, primarily thought to consist of three friends, artists and filmmakers: Chris Marker, Alain Resnais and Agnès Varda, though Georges Franju is sometimes included in the coterie.The group has significant overlap with the French New Wave in that both share the same historical moment and geographic space, as well as a common interest in exploring personal expression within cinematic signifying practices, and advancing the aesthetic possibilities of the film form.