Re: Questions about Samuel Beckett and Zanzibar

From: Thomas Beard (email suppressed)
Date: Mon Jun 11 2007 - 16:45:57 PDT


Hey Jeremy,

Barney Rosset has some interesting outtakes from Film which he showed at
MoMA last year. Those might be worth checking out.

http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film/2006/BarneyRosset.html

Best,
Thomas

On 6/11/07 2:02 PM, "Jeremy Rossen" <email suppressed> wrote:

> Frameworkers,
>
> I have several unrelated questions for you!
>
> 1. I am looking for information on renting prints of the Zanzibar films, where
> can I find them?
>
> 2. Wondering if anyone can suggest some Samuel Beckett inspired films to
> program along with "Film"?
>
> Thank you in advance!
>
> Jeremy Rossen
> www.cinemaproject.org
>
>
>
>
>> > Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:01:59 +0200
>> > From: email suppressed
>> > Subject: Zanzibar by Sally Shafto
>> > To: email suppressed
>> >
>> > June 5, 2007
>> >
>> > University Communications*email suppressed
>> > Southern Illinois University Carbondale
>> > Carbondale, IL 62901
>> > 618/453-2276 phone*618/453-2230 fax
>> > http://news.siu.edu
>> >
>> >
>> > Hello from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. We are sending you (1)
>> > news release. Today's headline is:
>> >
>> > 1. Book details chapter of French film history
>> >
>> >
>> > 'The Zanzibar Films and the Dandies of May 1968'
>> > Book details chapter of French film history
>> > By Pete Rosenbery
>> >
>> > CARBONDALE - They were young, idealistic, and full of verve. In many
>> > instances, the personal journeys of young French filmmakers reflected the
>> > period nearly four decades ago when widespread challenges to conventional
>> > wisdom sparked upheaval in the U.S., and abroad.
>> > A book by film historian Sally G. Shafto, executive director of the Big
>> > Muddy Film Festival at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, details a
>> > little-known chapter of French film history.
>> >
>> > "The Zanzibar Films and the Dandies of May 1968," looks at a group of
>> > young filmmakers who focused both on aesthetics and sought "to make films
>> > in a new way out of the traditional commercial market," Shafto said. The
>> > copiously illustrated 256-page book is bilingual, with text in both
>> > English and French (Ed. Paris Expérimental, 2007 :
>> > http://www.paris-experimental.asso.fr)
>> >
>> > Zanzibar refers to a collection of 15 to 20 films financed by young French
>> > heiress Sylvina Boissonnas over about a two-year time period between
>> > spring 1968 and February 1970. The films were "all motivated by the desire
>> > to change the face of French cinema," said Shafto, a native of Lenox,
>> > Mass.
>> > "Forty years later this may sound very naïve, but these people were really
>> > very sincere in what they were trying to do," Shafto said. "They were
>> > trying to make films differently."
>> >
>> > The book includes narratives on the films, interviews with many of the
>> > filmmakers, and short biographies of those involved with Zanzibar.
>> > Shafto will hold a book signing Wednesday, June 27, at the Pompidou Centre
>> > in Paris. In addition, three Zanzibar films, "The Virgin's Bed, (Le Lit de
>> > la vierge)" by Philippe Garrel, "Quickly (Vite)" by Daniel Pommereulle,
>> > and "Twice Upon a Time (Deux fois)" will be shown Friday, June 16, and
>> > Saturday, June 17, at the LaSalle Bank Cinema, 4901 W. Irving Park Road,
>> > Chicago.
>> >
>> > The French youth movement in May 1968 parallels many of the events in the
>> > United States during the same period, serving "as a fulcrum for
>> > galvanizing the energies of these young people in some way," Shafto said.
>> > The exploding civil rights and women's movements in the United States were
>> > gaining momentum in France. Many of the 35mm-films capture the themes of
>> > the student protests in France.
>> >
>> > Most of the filmmakers did not go to film school and bypassed French
>> > requirements for becoming a director or director of photography. Instead,
>> > they made movies without permission of the Centre national de la
>> > cinematographie, the French government agency- a requirement for
>> > distributing films.
>> > "Instead of taking 10 years (of study) to make movies - they said, 'the
>> > power is now; we want to make movies now," Shafto said.
>> > May 1968 historians generally were unaware of the films' existence until
>> > Shafto, a film historian who specializes in international cinema with a
>> > strong background in French culture and film theory, wrote about them for
>> > an article for Cinemathèque Francaise in 1999. Some of the films are now
>> > available on DVD, she said.
>> > Part of book focuses on Boissonnas, a niece of art patron Dominque de
>> > Menil, who founded the de Menil Collection in Houston. Boissonnas funded
>> > many of the filmmakers largely upon their appearance, Shafto said.
>> > The generation still affects society today, Shafto said.
>> > "The players in this group were all in the first crest of the baby boom
>> > generation," born between 1942 and 1950, Shafto said.
>> > "The first wave really came in with a feeling that the world was theirs S�
>> > they were going to effect a takeover," she said. "School was not as
>> > important because diplomas were not what mattered; what mattered was
>> > having some ideas and the energy and willingness to do it."
>> >
>> > Shafto works in the University's cinema and photography department, which
>> > is a part of the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts.
>> > Before coming to SIUC in 2006, Shafto served as the English Web site
>> > translator for the French film journal Cahiers du cinema. She also served
>> > as an assistant director for the Avignon Film Festival in France, where
>> > she lived since moving there in 1998 to finish her doctorate.
>> > She has a master's degree in art history from Columbia University and
>> > earned her doctorate in film studies at the University of Iowa. She was
>> > curator of Zanzibar Films at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Harvard
>> > Film Archives in London and co-organizer of a conference titled "Religion
>> > and Cinema" at Princeton University. She taught various classes in film at
>> > the Institut International de l'Image et du Son in Trappes, France and at
>> > New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, among other experiences.
>> >
>> > For more information about the book, contact Shafto at (address suppressed)
>> > The book is available through
>> > http://www.cine-memento.fr/sally-shafto-a-149708.html for about $36 (not
>> > including postage) or 27 euros. Bookstores may also order the book by
>> > contacting Philippe Magnani, director of the Paris Museum International,
>> > at (address suppressed)-musees.asso.fr.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Tom Woolf
>> > Director - Public Relations
>> > Associate Director - University Communications
>> > Southern Illinois University Carbondale
>> > Beimfohr Hall - Mail Code 6819
>> > 1220 Douglas Drive
>> > 618/453-6796
>> > email suppressed
>> >
>> >
>> > __________________________________________________________________
>> > For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
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