Film

The Passage Clock: For Walter Benjamin

2008 · 10m · Documentary

An homage to Walter Benjamin and other time-traveling artists and expatriates that have inspired me, especially Chris Marker. Benjamin, fleeing from fascism in the 1930s, took refuge in Paris where Biblioteque Nacional became his home away from home. In this library, a sanctuary made of books, he eventually left a secret copy of much of what remains of his Arcades Project, Das Passagen-Werk. Much of the narration for the film came from a chance operation or literary cut-up exercise done with Patti Smith, using dictionary definitions of the word "passage" which I later edited and augmented with text of my own. --Jem Cohen

Patti Smith

Narrator

• Jem CohenDirector

Release date

December 31, 2008

Status

Released

Original language

English

Runtime

10m

Genres

Documentary