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NEWS
EN

The sun is out and so is the cinema-goer. Here is a list of cinema events for the summer (mostly outdoors), so you don’t have to miss the silver screen in the summer break.

NEWS
EN

One year after the publication of the issue Serge Daney and the Promise of Cinema on Sabzian, accompanied by a ten-film programme at London’s ICA, Kokermag publishes a Persian-language selection devoted to Serge Daney.

Anne-Marie Miéville’s Papa comme maman (1977)

Article
FR EN

Anne-Marie Miéville has always been notoriously shy about the specific character of her collaboration with Godard. In her later work, the films between Le Livre de Marie (1984) and Après la reconciliation (2000), we recognise elements that look (and sound) familiar from Godard’s work (the typography of the opening credits, the sounds, the abruptness of acoustic editing, for example), but they are entirely transformed. During the Sonimage years, Papa comme maman provides a unique insight into Miéville’s style since it is the only work she directed outside of the AMM/JLG framework.

Frankfurter Zeitung, 31 december

Article
NL

Dit ene moment is door de camera vastgelegd en aan het nageslacht overgeleverd. De filmstrook heeft al wat schade geleden, de beelden flikkeren. Maar je weet niet of het de gaten zijn die de tand des tijds heeft veroorzaakt of de moleculen van natuurlijk stof, dat de schijnbaar levende objecten als een wolk heeft omgeven. Het is de vreselijkste onwezenlijkheid die de film ooit heeft voortgebracht; een historische dodendans, een opengebroken graf, dat er ooit uitzag als een troon…

On Jacques Tourneur and Kenji Mizoguchi

Article
EN

There’s an old complaint: “No messages in film, messages are not for cinema.” Well, look at this film, it has a message. Like in most of Tourneur’s films, it’s a secret message. But it stays, and it whispers to you. It’s a possibility of salvation. The hero of the film is a priest. But the priest has a gun in his belt.

Article
NL

Wie steun ontvangt, stelt zich zelden vragen bij wat er zich in zo’n commissie afspeelt. Wie geen steun krijgt, leest de feedback aandachtig, maar blijft vaak met het gevoel zitten dat het dossier niet goed begrepen werd. Commissiewerk verschijnt dan als een black box: je stopt er iets in en er komt een beslissing uit, zonder dat helemaal helder is hoe die precies tot stand kwam.

Spoorloos (George Sluizers, 1988)

Op een dag een film
NL EN

Spoorloos haunts me, and it might for the rest of my life. I can’t write about this film without giving away the ending, so be aware of what you’re getting into if you keep reading.

Cyril on His Bicycle in Le gamin au vélo

Article
NL EN

A boy of about twelve years old on a bicycle. He rides as fast as he can. In sheer desperation, he has just violently robbed two people. The whole world is on his heels and is about to catch up with him, no matter how fast he rides. But the camera continues to follow him effortlessly in one smooth movement. It seems to make no particular effort to keep up with this boy on the run, and the boy, for his part, makes no attempt to escape the frame. For the full duration of this uninterrupted shot, lasting almost a minute and a half, boy and camera, body and image, are attuned to one another.

Le chantier de gosses (Jean Harlez, 1970)

A COLLECTION OF 4 texts, 5 film pages, 1 event, 1 news item,
collected by Gerard-Jan Claes

Jean Harlez (1924–2026), once dubbed “the savage of Belgian cinema,” was a self-taught filmmaker working outside professional circles. After assisting Charles Dekeukeleire and later working as a cameraman for Marcel Broodthaers, Harlez decided to build his own 35mm camera. With little financial support, he made a first feature film: Le chantier des gosses (1970). Praised at the time as “the first Belgian neo-realist feature film,” it disappeared from view until Cinema Nova in Brussels restored and rereleased it in 2014, when it finally found a wide audience.

A Selection of Marcel Hanoun’s Notes on the Written Image

Article
FR EN

In 2001, Hanoun published Cinéma cinéaste, notes sur l’image écrite, a collection of short notes on cinema written throughout his life. Guided by the question of what it means to make a film, Hanoun reflects on the filmic image and its relationship to sound, the filmmaker, the viewer, and history. Hanoun: “I know that I know nothing about today’s cinema and that I have everything still to learn about tomorrow’s cinema.”

Article
EN

Of the films I have seen in recent years, none have struck and, indeed, fascinated me quite like Dry Leaf – Koberidze’s third feature film that embraces both ample duration and a very artisanal production and lo-fi camera. This wintery correspondence came about when my wish to interview Koberidze at the Viennale could not be fulfilled. This format, beyond simply accommodating physical distance, felt much more open and free, ultimately better suited to discuss not just a film such as Dry Leaf, but also to explore his perspective as an auteur on cinema.