Cirrus@Austlit

'Welcome, dear readers, to a new year and a new issue of the eclectic and serious discussion of cinema. As with every rotation around the sun, this one too brings the results of our hefty World Poll. Composed of 128 contributions from all corners of the globe, the project captures and highlights some of the inexhaustible diversity of our readership, with tastes as heterogeneous as the countries from which they stem. At the same time – in an era of both individualism and global consolidation, as aesthetic opinions and consumption patterns feel more and more atomised and particular (even as they might in truth be ever closer to merging onto a planetary superhighway) – we thought it important and appropriate to take a step back and reflect on the format of the end-of-the-year poll itself, as a discursive genre. In ‘Why Do We Poll?’, a collaborative piece serving as something of an editorial introduction to this year’s poll, we ruminate on the stakes and consequences of annual listmaking, canon formation, and their more and less insipid limitations. For their work on editing this year’s World Poll, we extend our kindest thanks to three expert volunteers: Joanna Batsakis, Avery LaFlamme, and Amelia Leonard. For all the generous contributions, we, as every year, thank our readers and writers. ' (Editorial Introduction)   

'Dear Readers: welcome to Issue 111 of Senses of Cinema, a journal in which the serious and eclectic discussion of moving images past, present, and future never dies, no matter the historical ruptures all around us.

'We open with a special 13-text dossier that is sure to become a touchstone for researchers, students, cinephiles, and enthusiasts of all sorts in the future. Guest edited by Adrian Danks and Olympia Szilagyi with editorial assistance from Digby Houghton, “‘A very open-ended canon’: The Many Histories of the Melbourne Cinémathèque” pays tribute to (and diligently historicizes) the eponymous film society, a pivotal institution in Melbourne and Australian cinemagoing culture. As Danks notes in his succinct introduction, the dossier offers “only a partial and proudly parochial account of this history,” leaving vast amounts of the Cinémathèque’s 75-year life untouched. Yet the reader – Melbourne-based or not – is left with the distinct and deep impression of the inexhaustible vibrancy of an organisation dependent not just on films, but especially on people: the members without which cinema is just a dark room full of dusty seats.' (Production summary) 

'Welcome, dear readers, to Issue 109 of the serious and eclectic discussion of cinema. True to our spirit, the contributions herein are wide-ranging, sharp and timely, starting with a 16-text dossier (guest-edited by Barbara Creed and Cristóbal Escobar) on cinema and the nonhuman. As Creed and Escobar compellingly write in their introduction, “humankind’s invention of the myth of human superiority, based on the exclusion of other species and their needs … has led to the seemingly insurmountable problems of the 21st century such as global warming, climate change, the explosion of the human population and species extinction. In order to address these issues, it is crucial to re-think all forms of cultural, social and political representation from film to the arts and new media.” The articles and interviews in this dossier attempt to do just that.' (Editorial introduction)

'Welcome to Issue 108 of Senses of Cinema, where we begin the year by looking backwards. Our World Poll brings together film-goers from all corners of the globe to reflect on what cinema stood out in 2023. Amid a turbulent, crisis-ridden world, images continue to be propelled into motion as the dialogue between audiences and auteurs remains. We extend our gratitude to Joanna Batsakis, who provided editorial support to this years edition of the World Poll.' (Editorial introduction)

'As we move through the spooky season to summer blockbusters, the serious and eclectic discussion of cinema continues. Issue 107 covers Senses of Cinema founding editor, Bill Mousoulis’, latest film, My Darling in Stirling, an Umbrellas of Cherbourg-inspired musical, which has already captured the hearts of audiences since its premiere at the 2023 Adelaide Film Festival in October. Iranian critic Amir Hossein Siadat provides a detailed analysis of Bahram Beyzaie’s 1976 classic Stranger and the Fog, recently restored and playing at various international film festivals. Siadat breaks down the film’s historical, cultural and mythological references, enabling contemporary readers to appreciate its singularity and achievement.' (Editorial introduction)

'It’s a beautiful day on the unceded lands of the Kulin nations. The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is in full swing and the climate crisis has delivered some sunshine on the land down under this winter. Issue 106 leads with Pride on the Margins, a dossier guest edited by Stuart Richards and Antoine Damiens that explores queer films that gain value through their circulation on the queer film festival circuit. Their lead essay provides an overview of queer film festival scholarship and argues that queer cinema travels along a number of circuits. Some Indiewood films crossover and reach broader audiences at larger film festivals, while others, such as the work of Xavier Dolan, Desiree Akhavan or Robin Campillo circulate across many at once. Some films do not ‘cross over’ at all and remain in a market often defined as ‘niche.’ Richards and Damiens argue that these films aren’t any less successful or meaningful to their audiences. Pride on the Margins presents an eclectic mix of queer films that, while traversing many film festival circuits, produce queer resonances in the space of the queer film festival.' (Publication summary)

'Fresh from the lands of the Kulin Nations, welcome to Issue 105 of Senses of Cinema! Guest editor Xiang Fan has curated a dossier on Cinema and Piracy that honours the diversity of filmgoing experiences across a broad spectrum of geo-political contexts. In lieu of the binaries between property and ownership that normally frame these debates, what emerges is a critical reading of power in the seventh art. As Fan writes, “This dossier is dedicated to the heterogeneous piracy practices that are integral to an alternative film culture.”' (Editorial introduction)

'As is customary for the sensible folks at Senses of Cinema, we begin the new year by looking backwards. Our annual World Poll invites authors and audiences to reflect on their cinematic highlights of the previous year. This year’s zeitgeist thermometer for the world of film catalogues submissions from Australia to Albania, Iran to Indonesia, Spain to Saudi Arabia and beyond. What emerges is a spectrum of what can constitute best practice in terms of filmmaking and film going in 2022.' (Editorial introduction)

'This All Hallows Eve, Senses of Cinema is publishing our first sustained inquiry into nonfiction cinema from the territories of former Yugoslavia. At a time when new nationalisms are again on the horizon, what tactics do documentary cineastes employ in an effort to fight back? Guest editor Nace Zavrl collates articles examining the importance and inexhaustible grit of recent nonfiction from the ex-Yugoslav region. In the context of ideological mystification, documentary images play a privileged role, tasked and entrusted with offering adequate, just depictions of our world. Precisely due to their experiences with virulent ethnonationalism and an assortment of obfuscatory political techniques, ex-socialist filmmakers and artists have offered viewers of contemporary nonfiction much to think through. Form, as these articles argue, is inextricable from politics; the aesthetic devices that filmmakers choose to employ (or to omit) have consequences in life outside cinema. ' (Editorial introduction)

'Welcome everyone to another issue of Senses of Cinema, our last for 2020. The year has certainly not panned out the way anyone could have predicted 12 months ago. The COVID pandemic is still raging across the world. While many East Asian nations, New Zealand and parts of Australia are returning to some semblance of normality, Europe is presently being struck by a second wave that threatens to be even more widespread than the first, and the ongoing situation in the United States is exacerbated by that country’s political dysfunction. Our own base of Melbourne entered 100 days of lockdown this weekend, and debate is swirling around when the city can loosen its restrictions on social contact. The effects of the virus will surely be with us for a long time to come.' (Editorial introduction)

'As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on lives and societies around the world, the likes of which we have never seen (except in a disaster movie or dystopian fiction), we wanted to investigate further the impact that lockdowns are having on film viewing. In these frightening times, what role does cinema play? Do we turn to art for a greater sense of human connection and understanding? Do we seek out films from the past, the present? How is film spectatorship impacted under these unique circumstances? How do we compensate for that lack of community that occurs in a theatre-setting? This issue’s COVID dossier aims to present a mosaic of readers’ journeys and trajectories during this time. A common theme is the role of new technologies and platforms in connecting audiences. Kristy Matheson discusses a fascinating program of experimental film put together by Mark Toscano on Instagram called “Remains to be Streamed,” which screens at specific times and days facilitating a sense of audience and ‘shared’ space. For many readers, streaming services and online video-chat tools have re-energised film viewing, and facilitated an exhilarating ability to self-curate. Djoymi Baker explains how watching a film during a pandemic means so many more ‘home-movie’ or ‘documentary’ moments where we see something in a film connected to our real-life – “a fleeting interruption or a deeply felt resonance.” Such a liminal experience is beautifully outlined in Alexandra Trnka’s piece on Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, a film about isolation watched during isolation. For other readers, film viewing during this period has brought to the fore new perspectives, such as Robert Koehler’s fascinating reflection on Hollywood cinema of the 30s and 40s. It’s hard to say what ramifications the shift created by the pandemic will have on film viewing in the future, but it already seems clear that new doors have been opened.' (Editorial introduction)

'In the face of mass death and economic devastation on a worldwide scale, matters of art and entertainment may seem trifling. But the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the cinema. With theatres shuttered, festivals cancelled and film production schedules in disarray, the shutdown mandated across much of the planet has meant that, for the first time since 1895, we are now living in a world without cinema. It is hard, almost impossible, to comprehend.' (Editorial introduction)

'This issue marks the 20th anniversary of Senses of Cinema, and we are pleased to present to you a bumper issue with a full range of film writing, provocative ideas and interviews and reports from around the world. Our dossier this issue posed a very simple question: as we bring the 2010s to a close, what was the most significant influence on or moment in cinema in the past decade? Writers were free to discuss a movement or an incident or a specific film – the breadth of this dossier and the perspectives that people have taken on this are really remarkable. The dossier is designed to be quick, accessible and insightful, so dive in and explore what our very best writers have to say about the 2010s; it makes for fascinating reading, and really encourages us to think about where cinema will be by the end of the ’20s. And to celebrate our anniversary, we have also included an extra mini-dossier of some of the greatest writing from over the last 20 years of this journal. Senses of Cinema has built a tremendous community for film discussion, criticism and writing that is smart, well researched and engaging. This is our opportunity to throw a mini-dossier party to celebrate our achievements and the incredible work of editors past and present, and our vision of our journal as a locus for intelligent film discussion that spans the globe.' (Publication summary)