ZONA: A BOOK ABOUT A FILM ABOUT A JOURNEY TO A ROOM

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An Excerpt by Geoff Dyer

“It’s equally pleasing to read Dyer speak up for the pleasures of watching films, not in domesticated and tamed form on DVD, but at the cinema. Stalker itself, which is an immersive experience as much as it’s a visual spectacle, loses its magnetic force when watched at home. Dyer talks about the “possibility of cinema as semi-permanent pilgrimage site”. He also claims ‘the Zone is cinema.’

Beyond the book’s bravura formalism and in spite of the suspicion that it could be viewed as a highbrow take on live-blogging, it’s Dyer’s ability at moments like this to make pilgrims of his readers and to lead them on a journey in search of truths about love and about the nature of happiness that make Zona such an exhilarating achievement.” Sukhdev Sandhu, The Guardian

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SILENCE GETS SOUND

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A musician, compiler and composer explains how he scored a silent film for today’s audience.

by Rodney Sauer

The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra was commissioned to create two new scores for the 2017 San Francisco Silent Film Festival, one of which is the newly restored 1926 film Silence. It shows at the Castro Theatre on Sunday, June 4 at 12:00 Noon.

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Glass Slide courtesy of Rob Byrne

One print of Silence is known to survive at the Cinémathèque Française. The Cinémathèque, Rob Byrne, and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival collaborated to have the surviving print scanned, digitally repaired and cleaned, translated from French back into the original English, then printed to film for exhibition and preservation.

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Bringing Back Films Alive

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A Celluloid Detective’s Adventures in the World’s Deepest, Darkest Vaults and Beyond

By Russell Merritt

When I remember David Shepard, I think of high adventure, the kind that turns film reclamation into a series of quests, conspiracies, improbable partnerships, witty banter, and second story work.

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 TIT FOR TAT (La Piene du talion)
(d. Gaston Velle, France, 1906)

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Jacques Pépin: The Art of Craft

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by Gary Meyer

“Jacques Pépin really was the first person to land on the American scene and say technique matters, craft matters,” says journalist Fareed Zakaria.

AmMastets_PBS_PEPIN_590wThe new documentary, Jacques Pépin: The Art of Craft, produced and directed by Peter L. Stein and narrated by Stanley Tucci, premieres nationally Friday, May 26 on PBS as part of the 31st season of American Masters (check local PBS station listings for repeat showings). It is also available on-demand and online at American Masters’ Chef’s Flight along with other shows in the series about Alice Waters, James Beard and Julia Child.

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Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story

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Shining a spotlight on two unsung cinematic heroes.

By Daniel Raim and Jennifer Raim

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Husband and wife team Harold and Lillian Michelson were a secret weapon for many Hollywood producers, directors, writers, and production designers. Harold was one of the most talented storyboard artists in Hollywood, creating images for everything from The Ten Commandments (1956) to The Fly (1986); he also became an accomplished two-time Academy Award-Nominated production designer and art director on Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and Terms of Endearment (1983) respectively. For her part, Lillian was one of the most talented and sought after film researchers in Hollywood for decades, providing a real-life reference for the designs of The Birds (1962), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Chinatown (1974), Rocky (1976), Full Metal Jacket (1987), and hundreds more.

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BILL AND ME

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The Dick Fregulia Trio will perform a “Tribute to Bill Evans” before the bay area premiere of the new film Bill Evans Time Remembered on Saturday evening, May 13th at JB Piano Company. Advance tickets, $15 online at JBPiano and $20 at the door.  

Here he remembers meeting Bill Evans and reviews the new documentary about the great jazz pianist.                                                                                       

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MORE RARE NOIRS ARE GOOD TO FIND

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DON MALCOLM DISCUSSES THE SHOCKING ABUNDANCE OF LONG-LOST FOREIGN FILM NOIR

A Rare Noir Is Good to Find 2: International Noir Revisited makes its appearance at the Roxie in San Francisco on May 5-8, featuring twelve noirs from eleven countries spanning twenty post-WWII years (1947-1966). The complete schedule with notes and images can be found here. There are also trailers and clips at the end of the interview.

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