LE JOLI MAI

Cole Smithey

Icarus Films acquires new restored version of
Chris Marker & Pierre Lhomme's LE JOLI MAI (1963)
for North American distribution

April 4, 2013, New York: Today, Icarus Films announced its acquisition of all North American distribution rights to Chris Marker and Pierre Lhomme’s landmark 1963 film LE JOLI MAI. Long unavailable, and now newly restored, LE JOLI MAI will play at several major film festivals before opening theatrically in New York at Film Forum on Friday, September 13, 2013. This engagement will be followed by a theatrical rollout across the U.S. and Canada. In November 2013, the film will be released by Icarus Films Home Video in a deluxe 2-disc DVD edition, and online.

The restoration work on LE JOLI MAI, done according to the wishes of Chris Marker (1921-2012), was supervised by the film’s cinematographer and co-director, Pierre Lhomme. It will be presented on DCP, made from a new 2K scan. The film’s music is by the Academy Award-winning composer Michel Legrand, and the English-language commentary is by Academy Award-winning actress Simone Signoret.

“A far-reaching meditation on the relationship between individual and society” (Film Comment), LE JOLI MAI probes the mood in the streets of Paris in May of 1962. “The first springtime of peace” that followed the March ceasefire between France and Algeria after seven years of war.

Working from 55 hours of material filmed with ordinary citizens—made possible by then-new, lightweight, synch-sound cameras—Marker and Lhomme craft a “sincere, brilliant, clever and highly idiosyncratic essay.” (Paris-Presse)

One of Marker’s major works, LE JOLI MAI was awarded the International Critics Prize at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival, and the “First Work” Prize at the 1963 Venice Film Festival. It premiered in North America in September, 1963, at the first New York Film Festival.

The North American distribution deal for LE JOLI MAI was negotiated by Jonathan Miller, president of Icarus Films, with producers La Sofra, and ARTE France.

“Many people had to cooperate and work together to make it possible for LE JOLI MAI to be restored and released in a form corresponding to the vision of Chris Marker,” said Miller. “We owe all of them, particularly Marker’s friend and colleague Pierre Lhomme, a debt of gratitude. And we are honored to be able to play our part in bringing this beautiful film, on “the lovely month of May,” and a touchstone of Chris Marker’s legacy, to North American audiences.”