Sebastian Cody explores the challenges of ballet historiography, emphasising the need for rigorous scholarship amidst widespread inaccuracies
by David Martin-Jones In part one of a series, David Martin-Jones, author of Columbo: Paying Attention 24/7, explores the resurgence of popularity for the beloved detective. Columbo suddenly became famous again under lockdown. Why? Is it because it is a…
by Emma Wilson Céline Sciamma: Portraits (2021) I suggested a book on Céline Sciamma for the Visionaries series after seeing her first three films, Waterlilies (2007), Tomboy (2011), and Girlhood (2014). I was moved by the sensitivity of her imaging…
In this interview, David Church discusses Post-Horror: Art, Genre and Cultural Elevation, exploring the meaning of post-horror, its recent popularity and the films he examines in his book. Broadly speaking, what is ‘post-horror’? I see ‘post-horror’ or ‘elevated horror’ films…
In this interview, Christian Long, editor of ReFocus: The Films of Albert Brooks (out now in our series ReFocus: The American Directors Series), talks about the work of Albert Brooks and what led him to research it. Can you tell…
By Neil Archer What makes a performance ‘truthful’? In one of my previous professional lives, as an actor, this question was one that concerned me on an everyday and practical level. But it’s one I’m still dealing with in my…
by Niamh Thornton Niamh Thornton introduces the case studies she uses in her chapter from Legacies of the Past: Memory and Trauma in Mexican Visual and Screen Cultures. Finding a space to discuss memory and trauma In order to talk…
by Miriam Kent Wanda Maximoff, known as the Scarlet Witch, is one of Marvel’s most enduring characters. Her history has spanned multiple decades and media formats. Disney+’s WandaVision recently receiving praise for its characterisation, aesthetics and settings. WandaVision inserted Scarlet…
by Alberto Zambenedetti Sophia Loren relaxing by the side of the road, next to her broken-down Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing. Vittorio Gassman speeding through a deserted Rome in a beat-up Lancia Aurelia B24 convertible. Rossano Brazzi taking down the top…
by Erica Tortolani and Martin Norden Silent-era film director Paul Leni was at the forefront of German filmmakers whose stylistically daring and narratively innovative productions garnered international acclaim and who found themselves heavily recruited by Hollywood studios during the 1920s.…