Ydessa, the Bears and etc. (2026)

Ydessa, the Bears and etc. (2004) is a Canadian documentary directed by Chris Marker. The film explores the work and life of Ydessa Hendeles, a Canadian curator and collector whose remarkable exhibition of thousands of photographs featuring teddy bears became the starting point for Marker's meditation on memory, family history, collecting, and the way ordinary images can acquire unexpected emotional power.

Rather than following a conventional biographical structure, Marker uses Hendeles's collection as a doorway into questions about the past and the stories people preserve through photographs. The film is characteristically reflective and essayistic, moving between images, conversations, historical associations, and observations about the meaning we attach to seemingly insignificant objects. Its quiet, contemplative style makes it as much a film about memory and interpretation as it is a portrait of an artist and her extraordinary archive.

• The film was released in 2004 and was directed by acclaimed French filmmaker Chris Marker.
• Ydessa Hendeles is an artist, curator, and collector whose extensive photographic collection inspired the film.
• The documentary grew out of Hendeles's exhibition Partners (The Teddy Bear Project), which brought together thousands of photographs depicting people with teddy bears.
• The film is closely associated with Marker's late documentary and essay-film period, characterized by archival imagery, personal reflection, and unconventional narrative structures.
• Ydessa, the Bears and etc. has been shown internationally at cinematheques, museums, and festivals as part of retrospectives devoted to Chris Marker's work.