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Foreplays is a column that explores under-known short films by renowned directors. Jean Epstein's Les feux de la mer (1948) is free to watch below. When not greeted with indifference or merely mentioned in passing, Jean Epstein’s Les feux de la mer (1948) is frequently regarded as a strange and mismatching film, containing only a few sparks of Epsteinian poetry. Commissioned by the United Nations, this 21-minute short—the final installment in Epstein’s Breton cycle that began with Finis terrae in 1929—was part of a larger project involving a series of movies from fourteen different countries, around the theme of international cooperation. As often happens with institutional films, Les feux de la mer has been too easily dismissed as compromised and propagandistic, overshadowed by a didactic discourse diametrically opposed to the very notion of audiovisual lyricism that normally defines Epstein’s cinema. In Les feux de la mer, there...

Santiago International Film Festival (August 20–27, 2017), announced its awards at last night’s closing ceremony.“La familia” by Gustavo Rondón Córdova (Venezuela),

Among the awarded films were: La familia by Gustavo Rondón Córdova (Venezuela), as the Best Film in the International Competition; Sapo by Juan Pablo Ternicier (Chile) in the Chilean Cinema Competition and Hombre eléctrico by Álvaro Muñoz (Chile) in the Local Talent Short Film Competition, which were chosen as the best productions in their categories by a jury composed of representatives of the Chilean and international film industry.

The Audience Award was presented to a Belgian filmmaker Andrés Lübbert for his documentary The Color of the Chameleon/ El Color Del Camaleon a psychological portrait of his father’s unfinished past during the Pinochet regime, that participated in the Chilean Cinema Competition.

2017 Sanfic Industry

Sanfic Industry section, which took place between August 21 and 25, generated an important space for development and...

Translators introduction: This article by Mireille Latil Le Dantec, the first of two parts, was originally published in issue 40 of Cinématographe, September 1978. The previous issue of the magazine had included a dossier on "La qualité française" and a book of a never-shot script by Jean Grémillon (Le Printemps de la Liberté or The Spring of Freedom) had recently been published. The time was ripe for a re-evaluation of Grémillon's films and a resuscitation of his undervalued career. As this re-evaluation appears to still be happening nearly 40 years later—Grémillon's films have only recently seen DVD releases and a 35mm retrospective begins this week at Museum of the Moving Image in Queens—this article and its follow-up gives us an important view of a French perspective on Grémillon's work by a very perceptive critic doing the initial heavy-lifting in bringing the proper attention to the filmmaker's work.

Filmmaker maudit?...

On the occasion of Anthology Film Archive's retrospective on Jean Epstein and the publishing of a new anthology on the filmmaker edited by Sarah Keller and Jason N. Paul, Jean Epstein: Critical Essays and New Translations, we are here reprinting the essay by Nicole Brenez, "Ultra-Modern: Jean Epstein, or Cinema 'Serving the Forces of Transgression and Revolt.'" The anthology is published by Amsterdam University Press and available in the Us and Canada from the University of Chicago Press. Many thanks to Amsterdam University Press, University of Chicago Press, Magdalena Hernas, Sarah Keller and Nicole Brenez.

Jean Epstein disappeared over half a century ago, in 1953. Yet, few filmmakers are still as alive today. At the time, a radio broadcast announced the following obituary: “Jean Epstein has just died. This name may not mean much to many of those who turn to the screens to provide them with the weekly dose of emotion they need.

The list is a little brief this week, but that’s all that was out there. However, the first three items thrill me so much, it sort of makes up for the overall brevity.

I have to say that I’m really thrilled to see Jack Sargeant blogging more lately, both re-printing older articles he’s written for others and new stuff. Sargeant is one of the most vital writers and historians of underground film we have today. And he has some great ones this week. First, there’s this fascinating profile of Samantha Sweeting, whose films sound so strange and lovely. And he has a nice overview / defense of UbuWeb, which originally appeared in FilmInk. A couple weeks ago, I publicly admitted my love of looking at old underground film flyers, posters, brochures, etc. To add to that jones, Landscape Suicide posted up an old flyer for a two-day...