Earlier this week The Library of Congress announced this year’s additions to the National Film Registry, “showcasing the range and diversity of American film heritage.” Starting in 1989 each year the National Film Registry has identified 25 “works of enduring importance to American culture,” earmarking them for preservation. The registry contains a remarkable range of films, including feature… Read more »
Well, the day is here—we knew it would eventually come. The day when an organization loses one of its key members, one who has been there from the beginning, shaping what would follow. What followed was the building and opening of the IU Cinema, in all of its glory. The key member is Manny Knowles,… Read more »
Many names get tossed around by cinematically savvy people when you bring up great American ’90s independent cinema. You have the usual suspects: Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater, Quentin Tarantino, and Spike Lee. Maybe next you’d get to some deep cuts like Hal Hartley, Jamie Babbit, and Whit Stillman to round off the conversation. One name,… Read more »
*This article contains SPOILERS for Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman, 1975).* Day 1 Jeanne takes her time. We first see Jeanne Dielman (Delphine Seyrig) in her kitchen, wearing a blue apron, lighting the burner under a large floral pot. The bell rings. She unbuttons her apron, hangs it up, washes… Read more »
Each semester when I introduce my selection for the City Lights Film Series at the Indiana University Cinema, I begin by saying that all of the series’ titles are pulled from the David Bradley Collection, housed in the Lilly Library here on the Indiana University Campus. That is to say, the titles, specifically, are… Read more »
Cinematic detritus: bits of unused film from projects years ago, with scratches and dust, out of focus, overexposed. Found footage with faded color. The mic catching wind. A man singing to us as these disparate images flitter past. In 2006, experimental filmmaker Jonas Mekas made forty films for his newly launched website in order to… Read more »