Author Sally Shafto

Is an indistinct photograph a picture of a person at all? Is it even always an advantage to replace an indistinct picture by a sharp one? Isn’t the indistinct one often exactly what we need? – Ludwig Wittge...

True to its title, the recently published Writings (New York: Sequence Press, 2016) by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet contains only a handful of the filmmakers’ interviews. It’s clear, though, that their...

It is often said that a film set is like a military campaign. Another analogy would be that of a professional kitchen (itself based on the military model), which after the eminent French chef Auguste Escoffier,...

Nowadays there are no more traditional storytellers. I think that a filmmaker can replace them. To be properly heard, a storyteller needs to know how to strike with his instruments, whether the tam-tam or a cam...

Since so many academic books go unnoticed, it was initially a pleasure to see Dimitrios Latsis’ recent review of Angela dalle Vacche’s edited anthology, Film, Art, New Media: Museum without Walls (Palgrave Macm...

Very few countries, even in Europe, have a national film festival. It’s a masterstroke on the part of the government to have created and developed the FNF. – Salvatore Leocata, Director of the Festival indepen...

“An African film is a miracle, like the rain.” – Youssef Ait Hamou “’No wind is favorable to a sailor who does not know what port he is headed for.’” – Seneca, quoted by Nour-Eddine Saïl I first heard of Kh...

“Ideas are on the street.” –Abu Othman Amro bnu Bahr al-Jahed (776 - 869) “The cinema is there to mend wounded souls.” – Egyptian filmmaker, Yousry Nasrallah “There is no better prospective project for a ...

Organised by L'AMREC (Association marocaine de recherche et d'échanges culturels), (1) the 5th annual National Festival of Amazigh Film was held 15-18 December, 2010 at the Palais des Congrès in Ouarzazate. The...

“We are conscious of cinema’s role in society.” – Nour-Eddine Saïl, Director of the Centre Cinématographique Marocain Tangier: the city that inspired and attracted so many artists, writers and bohemians, call...

Student of philosophy, traveller, actress maudit and filmmaker, Marie-Christine Questerbert, who appeared in Moullet’s Une Aventure de Billy le Kid (1971) and Anatomy of a Relationship (1975), discusses her life and career, and the travails of working with one of France’s more eccentric directors.

Sally Shafto’s introduction sets the context for the transcript to the Straub’s film that follows.

Transcript of the dialogue, and description of visual and sound tracks to Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet’s 2004 film on Cezanne.

The French painter is the subject of two films by the Straubs, Une Visite au Louvre and, more significantly, Cézanne. Sally Shafto looks at the importance of his art and ideas on the Straubs.

Luc Moullet is what the French call “un original”, an offbeat, quirky talent, who over a nearly fifty-year period has forged a unique filmography. Sally Shafto goes in search of what makes Moullet such an individualist.

This past January while in Paris I tried to contact Michel Fournier, Philippe Garrel’s legendary cameraman on six films, from Marie pour Mémoire (1968) to Athanor (1972). I was getting ready to go to Bordea...

As the effects of digital technology become increasing pervasive within contemporary culture, Sally Shafto discusses what uses it is put in a range of auteur films such as Jia Zhang Ke’s The World, Eric Rohmer’s The Lady and the Duke and Abbas Kiarostami’s Ten.

Published here for the first time in English, translator Sally Shafto provides a brief context for the two pieces that follow by Antoine and Christophe Bourseiller on their encounters with Godard.

Partial Filmography of Bitsch’s own films 1953 episode of Les Trois rendez-vous 1963 “Cher baiser”, sketch film in Les Baisers 1964 “Lucky la chance”, sketch film in La Chance et l’amour 1969 Le Dernier h...

When exactly is the 50^th anniversary of the French Nouvelle Vague? Sally Shafto provides a brief rationale.

Wide-ranging interview in which Bitsch discusses his youthful cinéphilia, his association with Cahiers du Cinéma, and his work with Jacques Rivette, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Melville, et al. So evocative, one can almost relive history in the making through his words.

“What are all these paintings doing in a history of cinema?” The author gives an answer in her analysis of Godard’s monumental video work, which approximates André Malraux’s concept of the imaginary museum.

“In painting, I know of no one who went further than Nicolas de Staël.” – Jean-Luc Godard. An insightful discussion of the profound affinities between the great painter and the equally great filmmaker who held his work in such high esteem.