1 Film and Memory: Where do pictures come from, in Statues Also Die? 1 Maria Irene Aparício 2 This essay on the film Statues Also Die (Les Statues meureunt aussi, Chris Marker and Alain Resnais, France, 1950-1953, 30 m) is an attempt to understand the complex relationships between film and memory. The film also poses the problems of materiality 3 of art and culture – including the photographic and indexical condition of the cinema -, and the dissociation of museums from life, both questions dealing with vanity, the human intention to preserve memories of the past, and the capacity to imagine the future. In this context, Statues also Die enquires into the “memory of the film”, and the audience’s memories. In contrast to a museum exhibition, the film confronts the motionless and apparently apolitical condition of art, creating a dynamic though ambiguous movement of remembering and forgetting, which might have been the reason for the French authorities` censorship, as a response to the film. In this film, as in the later film La Jetée (Chris Marker, France, 1962, 28 m), photography as a material basis is the territory of a paradox concerning memory: it retains a forgotten reality. Since the invention of 1 Original version in English language revised by Carolyn Leslie. 2 Maria Irene Aparício, PhD, is an integrated member of IFILNOVA - Instituto de Filosofia da Nova, and a researcher of the Laboratory of Aesthetics and Philosophy of Artistic Practices at the Philosophy of Language Institute. She teaches Cinema at Science Communications Department, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. 3 «Materiality can be said here to have a positivistic character, in that is concerned with real physical objects [...]. The materiality of photographs takes two broad and interrelated forms. First, it is the plasticity of the image itself, its chemistry, the paper it is printed on, the toning, the resulting surface variations.[...] Second are the presentational forms, such as [...] albums, mounts and frames. [...] Both these forms of materiality carry another key element, the physical traces of usage and time.», 3, Cf. Elizabeth Edwards and Janice Hart. “Introduction: photographs as objects” in Elizabeth Edwards and Janice Hart (Edited by). Photographs Objects Histories. On the materiality of images. London and New York: Routledge, 2004, 1-15. Se also Daniel Miller’s wide-raging concept of materiality which includes political, economic and cultural matters. Cf. Daniel Miller (Editor), Materiality. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2005. DRAFT d ects [... ects First, it is th First, ted on, the toning, ed on, the t ional forms, such as [. ional forms, such materiality carry anoth materiality carry anot 3, Cf. Elizabeth Edwa , Cf. Elizab cts” in Elizabeth Edwa Elizab istories. On the ma stories. On the m teri 1-15. Se also Daniel 5. Se also Daniel political, economic tical, economi Durham and Lo Durham a VERSION e y to nto the nto the rast to a ast d apparently d appar gh ambiguous ambiguou ght have been the ght have been the ponse to the film. onse to the film. s Marker, France, 196 arker, France, 19 he territory of a par he territory of a p eality. Since the inve eality. Since the inve vised by Carolyn Leslie. ised by Carolyn L grated member of IFIL grated member of IFI of the f the Laboratory of Ae Laboratory of A sophy of Language Inst y of Language Ins Department Departmen , Faculda Faculda a de Lisboa. a de Lisboa. to have a have a positiv pos e materialit riali astici in Margarida Medeiros, Teresa Mendes Flores e Joana Cunha Leal (Editors), Photography and Cinema, 50 Years of La Jetée; Cambridge Scholars Editor (ISBN (10):1-4438-7201-6 e ISBN: (13): 978-1-4438-7201-0), Março 2015, pp.