Editor's Note

Keeping in touch with whomever reads this magazine is a constant concern for me, and one thing I wish I got more of were complaints. When they come, I take heed. At this year’s Rotterdam film festival, one comment on the magazine’s direction arrived from the valiant Pierre Rissient, who, despite being pleased with what he saw, thought that perhaps the magazine was a bit too safe. In response, here is the palindromic Issue 22. (Dammit, I’m mad.) I’d say that this issue introduces a number of artists that much of the film world hasn’t heard of yet, either because they’ve been working on the margins (a.k.a., the avant garde) or in the video art world (Canadians Vey Duke-Battersby). Also, there’s coverage of one film so new it hasn’t even been seen by a general audience, not that its director hasn’t tried—I’m talking about The Garden, the latest of Fred Wiseman’s films to have found controversy, and surely making its way around the globe as samizdat as I type. (No, I don’t have a copy.) And there are even a few articles that contribute to current debates—stirring things up always makes me happy.

For what it’s worth, in this issue there’s no “spotlight” proper, though I suppose the festival coverage—from early 2005’s big three, Sundance, Rotterdam, and Berlin—could be considered this issue’s focus (which also introduces new filmmakers, like Police Beat director Robinson Devor). As seems to happen every year at this time, we’ve opened up the book coverage slightly, and also thrown in the odd “think piece” (on the legacy of the late Susan Sontag’s cinephilia) plus an assessment of Japanese filmmaker Uchida Tomo, largely fawned over in Rotterdam but, perhaps, Quintín argues, pace Andrew Sarris, “Less Than Meets the Eye.” (An alternative perspective was to have been provided by Olaf Möller himself, but Mr. Möller continues to craft his ultimate touchstone of Uchida criticism.)
And I doubt that you’re going to fi nd such an in-depth interview on Mondovino anywhere else. Jonathan Nossiter’s film deserves all the words that the media, mainstream or otherwise, can give it—even if it already has been praised in France, and will undoubtedly get much press in North America, perhaps because of Sideways blow-back, though I’d hope not.

We’ll be updating our back issues information over the next few months, with selected articles from the past fi ve years, to give you a taste of how we’ve developed over time, and to make it clear that, quite often, films hitting theatres at press time (or in the forthcoming months), have already been covered in previous issues of Cinema Scope. This includes films like Olivier Assayas’ Clean (now out in Canada), Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Tropical Malady (recently voted best film of 2004 by Cahiers du Cinéma), Wong Karwai’s 2046, and much, much more. And this issue will surely do the same, with coverage of films like the Thomas Vinterberg-Lars von Trier collaboration Dear Wendy, Alexander Sokurov’s The Sun, and, well, you’ll see: I hope you like being surprised. And, please, direct any complaints to info@cinema-scope.com, and hit me with your
best shot: I’ll try my best to listen.

Mark Peranson

Editor and Publisher
Mark Peranson
Art Direction and Design
Ingrid Paulson
Managing Editor
Jason McBride
Associate Editors
Lee Ferguson, Jessica Winter
Contributing Editors
Tom Charity, Steve Gravestock, Dennis Lim, Ray Pride
Copy editor
Jack Vermee

MAGAZINE PHOTO CREDITS
Capri Films Releasing: 69; Phil Chambliss: 38; Dreamworks/Paramount: 49; Filmswelike: 72; Edgar Honetschläger: 58; Image.net: 73; Peter Lynch/NFB: 20, 23; Guy Maddin: 2-3; MGM/UA: 70; Munich Film Museum: 52, 55; New York Film Festival: 26-7; Odeon Films: 67, 71, 74; Mark Peranson: 32; Rhombus Media/Don McKellar: Cover, 10; Sparky Pictures: 34; Toronto International Film Festival: 63; TVA: 6-9; Vancouver International Film Festival: 28-9; Venice Film Festival: 18-19; Apicahtpong Weerasethakul: 78; Winnipeg Film Group: 15.

Cinema Scope (issn 1488-7002) (gst 866048978RT0001) is published quarterly by Cinema Scope Publishing. Issue 20. Vol. 6, No. 3. Fall or Autumn 2004. ©2004. All rights reserved. No parts of this web site may be reproduced in any form without permission. All articles remain property of their authors. Submissions are eagerly encouraged - email info@cinema-scope.com

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