Editor's Note

By Mark Peranson

It’s the 25th issue of Cinema Scope, and rather than attempt some self-congratulatory affair or beg for reader appreciation or subscriptions (that goes without saying), I prefer to proceed with business as usual. But what is usual here is surely, for most other publications, unusual. So we’ve gathered together the iconoclasts, rebels, renegades, misfits, subversives, and just plain rejects of the international cinema universe—so rejected that their work seems often to be generated for television these days, perhaps the new bastion of freedom—and herein offer them up to you as if there was no doubt they were culturally essential. (I should be clear that I’m talking about the filmmakers, though the same applies to most of the magazine’s writers: we’re a sorry bunch.)

The roll call of soldiers I’d gladly fight longside—metaphorically—includes: Joe Dante, America’s most underrated and entertaining subversive; Philippe Garrel, who despite making films for over 40 years, remains a hidden master; the eternal revolutionary, Peter Watkins; Nagasaki Shunichi, the quiet rebel; and two radicals from Portugal, João Pedro Rodrigues and the man who might be the most daring insurgent of them all, Mr. Rock n’ Roll, Pedro Costa. I’ve been sitting on an in-depth interview I did with Costa four years ago, in anticipation of the completion of his next film, which appears to be (relatively) imminent. So watch this space for a lot more on Pedro sometime soon. (I’ll also note that a Garrel interview is rare indeed: for the French release of Les amants réguliers , he only consented to chat with the Cahiers du Cinéma, so I’m glad to have tracked down Stefan Griessmann’s interview with Garrel from Venice .)

In lieu of something like a year-end top ten—you’ll be inundated by enough of those over the next month—we present an in-depth look at nine undistributed films, some incorporating interview material, some cleaving close to the particular film, and others seeing the film within the context of the director’s career. If you include the interviews/features on Heart, Beating in the Dark, Odete, and Les amants réguliers , that’s a total of 12 films I’d stack up against any top ten of distributed films from 2005—and to make it a perfect baker’s dozen, I’ll add Robinson Devor’s previously featured Police Beat…and if you want to talk about misfits, rejects, and subversives, wait until you get to the back page.

I suppose this mini-spotlight of non-distribution is an acknowledgement that despite my reluctance to proffer recommendations in this space three months ago, there are in fact things to see (or attempt to see): if not, I’d have packed it in by now. Actually, I can’t think of a spotlight more appropriate for Issue 25, as the one thing that connects all the issues of Cinema Scope together is a focus on films that are overlooked, undeservedly—those films that fall through the cracks.

This issue also sees the introduction of a brand new column, Canadiana, which will focus on issues in Canadian film past and present, as well as another in an ongoing series on national cinemas, on the city-state of Singapore . And, as always, there’s a whack of web-only content at www.cinema-scope.com that both supplements the material in the magazine, as well as also striking out in new directions. Here’s hoping for 25 more issues: when we get to 50, you can deliver the flowers, though I’ll still be sending in the clowns.

—Mark Peranson

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
Mark Peranson

ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN
Ingrid Paulson

MANAGING EDITOR
Andrew Tracy

ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Jessica Winter

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Tom Charity
Steve Gravestock
Christoph Huber
Dennis Lim
Jason McBride
Ray Pride

WEB DESIGN
Adrian Kinloch

COPY EDITING
Jack Vermee

Cinema Scope ( issn 1488-7002 ) ( gst 866048978rt0001 )
is published quarterly by Cinema Scope Publishing.
Issue 25. Vol. 7, No. 4. Winter 2006. ©2006.

All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. All articles
remain property of their authors.

Submissions are eagerly encouraged.

Distributed in Canada through
Disticor Direct, Magazines Canada, in the US through Ubiquity and Bernhard DeBoer, and worldwide through Annas International and Tower Records.

For advertising information, call Mark Peranson at ( 416 ) 889-5430 or email info@cinema-scope.com.

Subscriptions are available for $20/4 issues, personal, and $40/4 issues, institutional ( plus gst ). American
subscribers please pay in American funds.

Overseas subscriptions are available at $40 US / 4 issues.

For back issues, subscriptions,
or letters to the editor, email info@cinema-scope.com or write Cinema Scope Publishing, 465 Lytton Blvd, Toronto, ON, M5N 1S5 canada.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts which last year invested $19.1 million in writing
and publishing throughout Canada.