Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.
NEWS
Chameleon Street
- The New York Film Festival has announced an excellent selection for its Revivals section. The roster includes restorations of Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala, John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13, Sarah Maldoror's Sambizanga, Wendell B. Harris Jr.'s Chameleon Street, and Michael Powell's Bluebeard's Castle.
- The 2021 Locarno Film Festival has come to an end, with Indonesian filmmaker Edwin's Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash winning the Golden Leopard. For a full list of this year's award winners, read here.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING
- Ahead of premiere, a trailer for the latest Spike Lee joint: the four-part documentary series NYC Epicenters: 9/11 → 2021 ½. The series, which captures twenty years of New York City history from the perspective of its citizens, will premiere on HBO Max August 22.
- Cinema Guild has released a trailer for Matías Piñeiro's Isabella. The film continues with the story of an actress who longs to audition for the role of Isabella in a local production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure.
- The Mimesis Film Festival has made available a masterclass by Pedro Costa, who shares the process behind his newly-restored documentary on Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie? (2001).
- UniFrance has made Palme d'Or winner Julia Ducournau's first short film, Junior, available for viewing on Youtube. Directed in 2011, the short follows a 13-year-old who undergoes a drastic metamorphosis.
RECOMMENDED READING
Above: Tsai Ming-liang's Days.
- In a new interview with Film Comment's Devika Girish, Tsai Ming-liang discusses the image of Lee Kang-sheng in his film Days, the effects of the pandemic on his creative process, and migrant workers.
- The second issue of Caligari Press features Shirkers director Sandi Tan on her favorite soundtracks, Adam Piron on his search for the "DeMille Indians," and an interview with Kevin Jerome Everson.
- We're super excited about the release of a new 50th anniversary edition of Jerry Lewis' 1971 book The Total FilmMaker, which contains insights gathered from over 480 hours of Lewis' 1966 lectures at USC Film.
- Jason Diamond's profile on Bob Balaban sees the beloved character actor reflecting on his personal style, from his costume in Moonrise Kingdom to his choice in round glasses.
- For Diabolique Magazine, Anthony Penta has written an expansive three-part overview of the "lost world" of the DTV erotic thriller and its continuing influence on mainstream American films.
- Fireflies Press is continuing its Decadent Editions series (which consists of 10 books about 10 films, one for every year of the 2000s) with Melissa Anderson's book on David Lynch's Inland Empire. The book is now available for pre-order.
- Artforum's Kaleem Hawa writes on the antimilitarist politics and subversive comedy of Peter Wollen's Friendship's Death (1987), recently remastered for Cannes Classics.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
- Presented by Vanity Fair, the first episode of Karina Longworth and Vanessa Hope's 10-episode podcast series "Love is a Crime" introduces the meeting of Joan Bennett and Walter Wanger.
- "Unkillable" is a new track from John Carpenter for David Gordon Green's upcoming Halloween Kills. The full soundtrack is available for pre-order from Sacred Bones.
- Over at the A24 shop, you can now purchase vinyl LPs for the soundtracks of David Lowery's The Green Knight (by Daniel Hart) and Janciza Bravo's Zola (by Mica Levi).
- And on Spotify, Nicolas Jaar's splendid score for Ema is now available for your listening pleasure.
RECENTLY ON THE NOTEBOOK
- Editor-in-chief Daniel Kasman's report from this year's Locarno Film Festival investigates whether the once-essential bastion of art cinema may be in crisis following its pandemic hiatus.
- The latest Movie Poster of the Week entry is all about the iconoclastic posters of the multi-hyphenate Filipino artist Khavn.
- In an excerpt from his new book The Faber Book of Mexican Cinema, Jason Wood interviews New Order director Michel Franco.
- "We need each other, perhaps never more so than in our attempts to escape that need." Joseph Kreitem encapsulates Abbas Kiarostami's masterpiece Taste of Cherry in one shot.
- The newest Notebook Primer is an introduction to the history of queer Korean cinema by Kelley Dong.
- For his Full Bloom column, Patrick Holzapfel reflects on the weeping willow in the fairy tale film Andriesh, by Sergei Parajanov and Yakov Bazelyan.