Editorial

In Memoriam: Michel Fournier 1945-2008

Late last year, the distinctive cinematographer and unique individual Michel Fournier passed away. Three people who knew him offer their reminiscences. Each article is accompanied by striking images from the private collection of the internationally noted photographer Ewa Rudling.

Remembering Michel Fournier by Sally Shafto

Michel pour mémoire by Ewa Rudling

Bel homme, adieu! by Patrick Deval

Conversations on Film

Il faut tout (re)garder dans son format d’origine: An Interview with Claude Bertemes, Director of the Cinémathèque de la Ville de Luxembourg by Christophe Sorro and Rochelle K. Sorro

The origins of the Luxembourg Cinémathèque is a fascinating story of cinéphilia in its own right. Claude Bertemes discusses the Cinémathèque’s history, along with issues about curatorship, preservation, and film and technology in the digital age.

Andrew V. McLaglen: Last of the Hollywood Professionals by Wheeler Winston Dixon

Andrew V. McLaglen never quite reached the ranks of auteur, but he left his mark in his own way. This career interview offers real insight into the working life of a noted director in the studio era.

The Monologist and the Fighter: An Interview with Bob Rafelson by Rainer Knepperges and Franz Müller

For any scholar of the so-called New American cinema of the late ’60s and early ’70s, the career of Bob Rafelson makes for an interesting case study. A wide-ranging interview with the director of Five Easy Pieces, Stay Hungry and Mountains of the Moon.

Dancing Reveals So Much: An Interview with Claire Denis by Darren Hughes

Denis discusses her recent feature, 35 Shots of Rum, a film inspired by Yasujiro Ozu’s Late Spring, and, as Hughes puts it, “a love story – or, in fact, several love stories – told in small gestures and commonplace tragedies”.

Adapting Julio Cortázar: Interview with Nicolas Humbert on Lucie et maintenant – Journal nomade by Andreas Wutz

The film takes as its source Cortázar’s (and wife-photographer Carol Dunlop’s) book about their unusual road trip from Paris to Marseille, titled Autonauts of the Cosmoroute. Humbert discusses the intricate process of adapting such a unique book to the screen.

“There is no Authenticity in the Cinema!”: An Interview with Andreas Dresen by Marco Abel

Dresen has directed eight feature films and, as Abel reveals, “Is one of the rare successful contemporary German directors who was born and raised in the GDR [former East Germany] and has managed to adjust to the market-driven rules of filmmaking characteristic of reunified Germany.”

“Who’s John Ford?”: An Interview with Lisandro Alonso by Darren Hughes

The Argentine director of the impressive Los Muertos (2004) discusses his impressive recent feature, Liverpool.

Albert Serra Interviewed on El Cant dels ocells (Birdsong) by Darren Hughes

Serra places his film dealing with the Three Wise Men in the same tradition of religious films as those of Dreyer, Rossellini and Pasolini.

Satan Chic: An Interview with Cult British Horror Director Norman J. Warren by Adam Locks

Warren, together with his contemporary Pete Walker, were seen as the “two young Turks of British ’70s horror” that took the genre beyond the gothic Hammer studio template. The director of such titles as Her Private Hell, Satan’s Slave and Terror discusses his career.

General Articles

Vienna’s Prater District on Film, or: Looking at the World Again by Martina Lunzer

This article examines the filmic representation of Vienna’s famous Prater district and the many discourses around its historical significance.

Why Samuel Fuller? by Tag Gallagher

The recent DVD release of White Dog gives Tag Gallagher cause to take stock of Fuller’s career and ponder what exactly it was that set him apart of other directors.

In Bed With Bond: Redux by Scott Murray

Senses Co-editor and James Bond aficionado Scott Murray updates his piece with the inclusion of the most recent Bond film, Quantum of Solace, as he puts the many claims made about the sexual politics of the Bond films (and books) under the microscope.

Festival Reports

Worldly Australian Cinema: The 4^th Adelaide Film Festival by Sukhmani Khorana

Mapping Yin and Yang in the Post-Modern Urban Sprawl: The 2008 AFI Fest/American Film Market by Bérénice Reynaud

Insecure Times, Confident Localities: German Films at the 59^th Berlin International Film Festival by Mattias Frey

“Re-mapping Cinema, Re-making History”?: A Report from the 14^th Biennial Conference of the Film and History Association of Australia and New Zealand by Rachel Wilson

No Business Like Shoah Business: The 19^th Festival of Jewish Cinema by Rhiannon Dalglish

Politics of Image: Passionate Cinema and an Engaged Audience: The 14^th Kolkata Film Festival by Saayan Chattopadhyay

Latin Love Triumphs: The 57^th International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg by Diane Sippl

The Best of All Possible Worlds: The 4^th Possible Worlds Canadian Film Festival by Dee Jefferson

Unfamiliar Ground: The 38^th International Film Festival Rotterdam by Vera Brunner-Sung

Frames of Viewing: The 38^th International Film Festival Rotterdam by Genevieve Yue

Reports from the Festival Front: The Year Obama Walked: The 28^th Sundance Film Festival and the 17^th Pan African Film and Arts Festival by Bérénice Reynaud

Notes From (Sydney) Underground: The 2^nd Sydney Underground Film Festival by Jack Sargeant

Hungarian Rhapsody: The Experimental Forum at the 49^th Thessaloniki International Film Festival by Maximilian Le Cain

Our Beloved Month of October (or, Do the Hurch-Lurch!): The 46^th Viennale – Vienna International Film Festival by Neil Young

New Old Visions: The 27^th Giornate del Cinema Muto by Brigitta Wagner

A Report on the 2^nd Human Rights Arts and Film Festival by Wendy Haslem

History is Written with Light: The 12^th Annual Views from the Avant-Garde: A Special Showcase of the 46^th New York Film Festival by Patrick Friel

Book Reviews

“Despised and disparaged”: Reconsidering the Epic: The Epic in Film: From Myth to Blockbuster by Constantine Santas and Hollywood’s Ancient Worlds by Jeffrey Richards feature review by Djoymi Baker

The Boy From Oz: Blood and Tinsel: A Memoir by Jim Sharman review by Jake Wilson

Cinema and Sensation: French Film and the Art of Transgression by Martine Beugnet review by Saige Walton

The Imp of Mischief: “Have You Seen…?” A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films by David Thomson review by Tony McKibbin

The Decline of Sentiment: American Film in the 1920s by Lea Jacobs review by John Fidler

Documentary Display: Re-Viewing Nonfiction Film and Video by Keith Beattie review by Adrian Danks

The British New Wave: A Certain Tendency? by B.F. Taylor review by Michael Fleming

A Family Affair: Cinema Calls Home edited by Murray Pomerance review by Mark Nicholls and Anika Ervin-Ward

Great Directors

Claire Denis by Samantha Dinning

Ida Lupino by Wheeler Winston Dixon

Cinémathèque Annotations on Film