Despite the pandemic disruption of the film industry around the world, which impacted everything in film from production to simple moviegoing, the vibrancy of cinema culture throughout the year has felt as strong as ever, and fiercely resilient. In our small but passionate way we also have made a show of force. In 2021 alone, Notebook has published over 400 articles. Here are some highlights from the year—and we encourage you to use the "Explore" menu or dive into our archives to find even more excellent work published this year.ARTICLESTikTok meets silent cinema in Caroline Golum's witty essay. Cinematic technology used not for social celebrity but rather for criminal forensics was the focus of an article by Emerson Goo.The French New Wave's Luc Moullet, a guiding light for Notebook, was the subject of two pieces, one about the extraordinary TV show How to with John Wilson, the other...
- 12/31/2021
- MUBI
Binka ZhelyazkovaFor many, pre-1989 state socialism exists in the public imaginarium in between the fantasy and the meme as an ideological monolith without any political or psychological nuances. It is easy to forget that twentieth century history is made in part by millions of people interpreting the Marxist-Leninist lore on their own, with their consciousness determined by the various circumstances in which they lived. The post-wwii rhetoric contributes to this smudge as well, since the newly formed Eastern Bloc was too busy projecting grandeur into the bright future to care about the individual. Politicians and high-ranked officials from the previous regime were sentenced to death or prison while partisans seized key public positions. It was a time to reunite and build, with the help of cinema.When Bulgaria nationalized its film industry in 1948, it took several years to expand from propaganda newsreels to dogmatically truthful fiction features. Initially, the young,...
- 12/9/2021
- MUBI
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Kenneth Branagh's Belfast.The Toronto International Film Festival has come to a close, with Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical drama Belfast claiming the TIFF People’s Choice Award and Kamila Andini's coming-of-age film Yuni taking home the Platform Prize. Hot off of last year's Tenet, Christopher Nolan has made a deal with Universal to back his next film, which is centered on the theoretical physicist and one of the "fathers of the atomic bomb," J. Robert Oppenheimer. The deal marks the end of Nolan's lengthy working relationship with Warner Bros. and gives the auteur "total creative control, at least a 100-day theatrical window, around a $100 million budget, equal marketing spend, 20 percent of first-dollar gross, and a blackout period where the studio would not release another movie for three weeks before and after the feature.
- 9/22/2021
- MUBI
There’s an accepted story we tell ourselves about the history of the movies, which goes something like this: Technological inventions in the late 1800s lead to a new type of mass entertainment and a burgeoning art form in the early part of the 20th century. Though the epicenter and main exporter of moviemaking is earmarked by many to be Hollywood, USA, this “moving pictures” phenomenon spreads far and wide outside of America’s borders — not just in France (who’ve been making films since the very beginning and is...
- 9/1/2020
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
With his epic fourteen-hour documentary “Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema,” writer/director Mark Cousins doesn’t skimp in his continuing pursuit to celebrate female filmmakers. Set to finally screen at its full-length (in five parts) next month at the Toronto International Film Festival, the movie is narrated by an eclectic list of voices.
UK actresses Adjoa Andoh and Thandie Newton, New Zealander Kerry Fox, India icon Sharmila Tagore, and Hollywood star Debra Winger all join previously announced narrators Jane Fonda and Tilda Swinton, who is an executive producer. Swinton narrates the first four hours of the film, which debuted at Venice 2018.
“We have 11 decades of women making films,” Swinton told IndieWire. “Another slight tweak of the goalpost is talking about women filmmakers. Women have made films since Mary Pickford onwards in incredible numbers. We know who made Hitchcock’s films with him (Alma Reville), but we don’t focus on it.
UK actresses Adjoa Andoh and Thandie Newton, New Zealander Kerry Fox, India icon Sharmila Tagore, and Hollywood star Debra Winger all join previously announced narrators Jane Fonda and Tilda Swinton, who is an executive producer. Swinton narrates the first four hours of the film, which debuted at Venice 2018.
“We have 11 decades of women making films,” Swinton told IndieWire. “Another slight tweak of the goalpost is talking about women filmmakers. Women have made films since Mary Pickford onwards in incredible numbers. We know who made Hitchcock’s films with him (Alma Reville), but we don’t focus on it.
- 8/14/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
With his epic fourteen-hour documentary “Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema,” writer/director Mark Cousins doesn’t skimp in his continuing pursuit to celebrate female filmmakers. Set to finally screen at its full-length (in five parts) next month at the Toronto International Film Festival, the movie is narrated by an eclectic list of voices.
UK actresses Adjoa Andoh and Thandie Newton, New Zealander Kerry Fox, India icon Sharmila Tagore, and Hollywood star Debra Winger all join previously announced narrators Jane Fonda and Tilda Swinton, who is an executive producer. Swinton narrates the first four hours of the film, which debuted at Venice 2018.
“We have 11 decades of women making films,” Swinton told IndieWire. “Another slight tweak of the goalpost is talking about women filmmakers. Women have made films since Mary Pickford onwards in incredible numbers. We know who made Hitchcock’s films with him (Alma Reville), but we don’t focus on it.
UK actresses Adjoa Andoh and Thandie Newton, New Zealander Kerry Fox, India icon Sharmila Tagore, and Hollywood star Debra Winger all join previously announced narrators Jane Fonda and Tilda Swinton, who is an executive producer. Swinton narrates the first four hours of the film, which debuted at Venice 2018.
“We have 11 decades of women making films,” Swinton told IndieWire. “Another slight tweak of the goalpost is talking about women filmmakers. Women have made films since Mary Pickford onwards in incredible numbers. We know who made Hitchcock’s films with him (Alma Reville), but we don’t focus on it.
- 8/14/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Mark Cousins is captivated by film. The director-film historian’s 15-hour documentary “The Story of Film” traversed the globe for a comprehensive look at cinema as an art form. His latest feature documentary, “The Eyes of Orson Welles,” digs into helmer-actor Orson Welles’ highly visual world, exploring his now legendary life and work. And debuting at Venice Classics Documentary Film section (it also played for press and industry at Toronto), a four-hour peek at Cousins’ next docuseries: “Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Film,” a 16-hour voyage covering the mostly omitted and unrecognized contribution of women directors. Executive produced and narrated by Tilda Swinton, the series aims to challenge the ignorance surrounding women filmmakers.
Edited as a master class, the cinematic lesson features only female teachers. Forty thematic chapters answer 40 questions on how films are made from dissecting topics like openings to tone to believability. Scenes from works by Hollywood’s established,...
Edited as a master class, the cinematic lesson features only female teachers. Forty thematic chapters answer 40 questions on how films are made from dissecting topics like openings to tone to believability. Scenes from works by Hollywood’s established,...
- 9/9/2018
- by Kathy A. McDonald
- Variety Film + TV
Fonda joins Tilda Swinton as a narrator on the project.
Two-time Oscar-winning American actress Jane Fonda has signed up to be the second narrator of epic documentary Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema, the first part of which plays at Venice Film Festival this week.
Tilda Swinton narrates the first four hours of the film, which premieres in the Venice Classics strand on Saturday (Sept 1) and will then travel to Toronto.
Mark Cousins directs the episodic project, which will be 16 hours long when completed in spring 2019. Producers are John Archer for Hopscotch Films with Swinton as exec producer.
Two-time Oscar-winning American actress Jane Fonda has signed up to be the second narrator of epic documentary Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema, the first part of which plays at Venice Film Festival this week.
Tilda Swinton narrates the first four hours of the film, which premieres in the Venice Classics strand on Saturday (Sept 1) and will then travel to Toronto.
Mark Cousins directs the episodic project, which will be 16 hours long when completed in spring 2019. Producers are John Archer for Hopscotch Films with Swinton as exec producer.
- 8/29/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
In among Venice’s typically stellar documentary line-up was Northern Irish director Mark Cousins’ next film: Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema.
More details are emerging today about the episodic 16-hour documentary, whose first four hours will debut on the Lido and be narrated by Tilda Swinton. The film will celebrate female directors from around the world.
The project is produced by Hopscotch Films, with Dogwoof handling world sales. Swinton will also serve as an executive producer on the movie, which is debuting in Venice’s Classics strand.
Cousins writes and directs, with John Archer from Hopscotch producing. Four years in the making and still in production, the finished film will be ready in spring 2019.
The epic undertaking is made up of forty chapters to be narrated by Swinton and other leading women in cinema who have yet to be announced. According to the production, “using almost...
More details are emerging today about the episodic 16-hour documentary, whose first four hours will debut on the Lido and be narrated by Tilda Swinton. The film will celebrate female directors from around the world.
The project is produced by Hopscotch Films, with Dogwoof handling world sales. Swinton will also serve as an executive producer on the movie, which is debuting in Venice’s Classics strand.
Cousins writes and directs, with John Archer from Hopscotch producing. Four years in the making and still in production, the finished film will be ready in spring 2019.
The epic undertaking is made up of forty chapters to be narrated by Swinton and other leading women in cinema who have yet to be announced. According to the production, “using almost...
- 7/31/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
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