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editorial
welcome to Issue 25 of our journal!
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La Jetée
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But first of all he looked for the woman's face, at the end of the jetty. He ran toward her. And when he recognized the man who had trailed him since the underground camp, he understood there was no way to escape Time, and that this moment he had been granted to watch as a child, which had never ceased to obsess him, was the moment of his own death.
- La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962).
The conflation of time, the beginning and the end, the past, present and future, the loss of individual control before overwhelmingly great, inexorable forces … Sounds like the stuff of science-fiction or perhaps even an apocalypse…but contemporary times? It certainly wasn't our intention to release Issue 25 of Senses of Cinema in the midst of war. And the last thing we encourage is distraction from the current state of affairs by way of what some may claim as 'inconsequential' readings on films, directors, movements and so on. As writers, editors, readers and so on, we all bear responsibility to take a position on the current situation, to acknowledge the acts of aggression and violence carried out in the name of peace and democracy, international stability and security. Senses of Cinema's anti-war position should hardly surprise our readers. From the very beginning, the magazine has adopted an anti-imperialist, pluralist and democratic stance: promoting independent, alternative, underground films and filmmakers over mainstream ones; placing established and emerging writers side-by-side; considering cinemas from all over the world and refusing the dominance of mainstream American cinema and its values. In short, Senses of Cinema has strived to occupy a position in the world of information, news and analysis that is alternative, that admits to the complexity and multiplicities of experience, identity, and reality.
This is hardly the forum for political analysis, however, increasingly mainstream media, including television, cinema, advertising, and journalism, has come to bear the same characteristics in terms of representation and rhetoric as ruling governments such as the United States and Australia. Both portray the world in the simplest of terms, good vs. bad, both are built on cultural stereotypes, both deny difference or the other: the refugee, the dislocated, the immigrant, the poor, the unemployed, the perverse and so on. Strangely enough, these ruling governments claim to speak for their countries; and their claim to democracy and peace is a flagrant lie when their ultimate interests are economic, strategic, and imperialist. Meanwhile less money is spent on social welfare, community projects, education and the arts, and more on defence, surveillance and security.
Politics and ethics infuse every aspect of our lives, and the ability to show an honest appreciation of film betrays a willingness to embrace difference and the unknown. The act of filmmaking itself can incorporate democracy into its very essence: from the idea of personal expression to the idea of exploring the world and all its elements, and re-figuring, re-presenting this world. And, in turn, the discussion of cinema enables an interpretation, understanding, and appreciation of this activity, this curiosity of the world in which we live.
As always, this issue of Senses of Cinema covers a range of topics – Australian cinema, contemporary world cinema, film history, film pioneers, politics, animation, film theory, book reviews, film festivals and conferences, and CTEQ Annotations. There are also 14 new entries to the Great Directors critical database, including Borzage, Burton, Jia, Renoir and Vertov among others. We hope you find the reading stimulating, insightful and thought-provoking, and if you have any comments, please send them, and they will find a home on the 'Letters to the Editors' page.
It is with great pleasure that we welcome regular contributor, Jake Wilson, as Senses of Cinema's co-editor from Issue 26 onwards. And also we acknowledge and embrace the change of Senses of Cinema web designer, Chris Howard to Cerise Howard.
Special thanks for this issue go to Ray Privett, William D. Routt, and Jake Wilson for his editorial assistance.
Finally, this issue is dedicated to all victims of war.
Fiona A. Villella
go to Contents, Issue 25
For information and news regarding the current war,
we suggest the URLs:
http://www.worldpeacetreaty.org/
World Peace Treaty Campaign
http://www.ips-dc.org/
The Institute for Policy Studies
http://www.labourstart.org/
LabourStart
www.un.org
United Nations
www.thenation.com
The Nation
http://www.moveon.org/declaration/
Move On - Democracy in Action
http://www.lemonde.fr/
Le Monde
http://www.newamericancentury.org/
Project for the New American Century
http://www.unitedforpeace.org
United for Peace and Justice
www.indymedia.org
Independent Media Centre
our mission
Senses of Cinema is
an online film journal devoted to the serious and eclectic discussion
of cinema. It has been set up to address a lack of cinephilic writing
in local discourse, that is, writing sprung from the desire to think and
write seriously, knowledgeably and passionately about film.
Senses of Cinema is unique in its eclecticism: it encourages articles of all styles
(casual, personal, academic, critical, impressionistic and poetic - or a
combination of these), analytical approaches (thematic, psychoanalytic,
etc) and subject matter. The only criteria that we prescribe are that all
articles are demonstrably passionate, serious, intelligent and insightful
reflections and/or analyses on the topic of cinema.
Senses of Cinema promotes various divergent "voices" that speak to a wide and
diverse audience. It aims to bring together a mix of writers: established
and emerging, theorists and un-published cinephiles, filmmakers and
film programmers, and local and international writers.
We are particularly
committed to discussing art, independent, experimental and third world cinemas
(everything from Renoir to Antonioni to Solàs to Oshima to Morrissey
to Jost to Friedrich to Snow, feature films as well as short films) , theorising
new encounters with digital technologies, and promoting writing that increases
one's understanding and appreciation of cinema.
We recognise that an object as ephemeral and ethereal as cinema continues to fascinate,
to provoke, to inspire, to turn on, to evolve. And it is in relation to
this object that we seek to facilitate and encourage expression and appreciation.
Want to contribute to this journal?
Click on the words above to read our guidelines for writers.
about us
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Manager
- Daniel Yencken, 24,
has studied Cinema Studies and Social Theory at the University of Melbourne. He is a broadcaster on SBS Radio and a co-curator of the Melbourne Filmoteca. A cinephile and lusophile, Daniel can occasionally be heard on the radio talking about cinema in Portuguese. Some of his favourite cinematic figures are Jean-Luc Godard, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Jean Vigo and Hayao Miyazaki.
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You can email Daniel.
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Co-Editor
- Fiona A. Villella, 29,
studied cinema studies at the University of
Melbourne, travelled overseas for a year, dabbled in film production, and
has written on film for publications like Metro, Real Time, IF, Cinema
Scope, Screening the Past, and Muse. She is also co-curator of the Melbourne
Filmoteca and a board member of the Melbourne Cinémathèque. Her favourite
directors are Jean-Luc Godard, Nicholas Ray, John Cassavetes, Martin
Scorsese, Roberto Rossellini, Claire Denis, Robert Bresson and Spike Lee.
Her interests are American independent cinema, experimental film,
globalisation and world peace.
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You can email Fiona.
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Co-Editor
- Jake Wilson, 24,
is a Melbourne writer. As well as contributing to Senses Of Cinema he regularly reviews new releases for the Urban Cinefile site, and studies film at La Trobe University, where in 2000 he was an editor of the student newspaper, Rabelais. In the past he has also been involved in Super-8 filmmaking and student radio. His favorite director is Orson Welles.
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You can email Jake.
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Great Directors Editor - Michelle Carey,
27, has studied Psychology, French and Screen Studies in Adelaide. She is a member of the Melbourne Cinémathèque Committee and is enchanted by cinema. She has a particular interest in experimental, independent, contemporary Asian and modernist European cinema.
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You can email Michelle.
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Web Designer / Top Tens Compiler
- Cerise Howard,
31, studied film at La Trobe University and was a coordinator of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival from 2000 - 2002. A musician, a writer (at work on her first novel), and a Jill of all arts, her favourite directors include Argento, Buñuel, Tsukamoto, Keaton, Jackson, Raimi, Svankmajer, Borowczyk, Kurosawa, Polanski and Tarkovsky. And Kubrick, Bergman, Hitchcock, Scorsese, Gilliam, Bava, Almodóvar etc.
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You can email Cerise.
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Great Directors Web Designer / Links Compiler - Albert Fung,
23, has an honours degree in Cinema Studies. His interests in cinema are varied, but has particular interest in Asian film, documentary, non-narrative explorative forms and DIY "trash" cinema.
If you have a suggestion for the links page, contact Albert.
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You can email Albert.
Senses of Cinema (ISSN 1443-4059) is published approximately bi-monthly by Senses of Cinema Inc.
Copyright 1999-2003 Senses of Cinema Inc and the contributors.
As under the Copyright Act 1968 (Australia), no part of this journal may be reproduced by any process without the written permission of the editors except for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review. These works may be read online, downloaded and copied for the above purposes but must not be copied for any other individuals or organisations. The work itself must not be published in either print or electronic form, be edited or otherwise altered or used as a teaching resource without the express permission of the author.
All views expressed in this journal are those of the authors and not the editors (unless indicated).
Senses of Cinema Inc
Cinema Studies Program
The School of Fine Arts,
Classical Studies and Archaeology
The University of Melbourne,
Victoria 3010, Australia.
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Senses of Cinema acknowledges the financial assistance of the Australian Film Commission
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Senses of Cinema acknowledges the financial assistance of Film Victoria
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Senses of Cinema acknowledges the technical and administrative support of University of Melbourne, Cinema Studies Program
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Senses of Cinema acknowledges Bill Mousoulis as the Founding Editor.
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Senses of Cinema is indexed in the MLA (Modern Language Association of America) International Bibliography and is listed in the MLA Directory of Periodicals.
All Australian content in Senses of Cinema is indexed in APAIS (Australian Public Affairs Information Service) of the National Library of Australia.
All reviews of individual films published in Senses of Cinema are indexed in the Movie Review Query Engine.
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