Sabzian

Clip from his film Little Stabs at Happiness (1960)

American experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs (1933-2025) passed away this weekend.

Shiguéhiko Hasumi: Another History of the Movie in America and Japan From 9 to 18 October, Japan Society in New York presents a special programme dedicated to film critic and theorist Shiguéhiko Hasumi, titled Another History of the Movie in America and Japan.

From 9 to 18 October, Japan Society in New York presents a special programme dedicated to film critic and theorist Shiguéhiko Hasumi, titled ‘Another History of the Movie in America and Japan’.

False Improvisation and “Memory Lapses” on TV, André Bazin, Film Fest Gent 2025, Shiguéhiko Hasumi, @AdrianMartin25, Valeska Grisebach, ... all included in our Weekly Review newsletter: shorturl.at/3IVOo.

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Sabzian and Bozar present:
State of Cinema 2025 / Isabelle Huppert
9 November 2025
→ sabzian.be/event/state-of-cinema-2025-isabelle-huppert

À la recherche de la Télégénie, André Bazin, 1955 Sur le petit écran de la T.V., la personne qui nous regarde est censée nous parler face à face, d’homme à homme ; elle est parmi nous. D’où, du reste, le sentiment d’intimité qui préside à l’ « Improm...

Et l’original en français :

Op zoek naar het “telegenieke”, André Bazin, 1955 Op tv hoort de persoon die ons aankijkt zich rechtstreeks tot ons te wenden, van mens tot mens; hij bevindt zich in ons midden. Dat verklaart trouwens het intieme gevoel dat van Impromptu op zondag ui...

Ook in Nederlandstalige vertaling:

“But let this interlocutor stumble ..., and the falseness of this illusory situation is brutally revealed, because we can do nothing for him and he, many kilometers away from us, finds himself alone, if not disabled, in front of soulless recording machines.”

Hartmut Bitomsky (1942-2025) The German writer, film critic, documentary and essay filmmaker Hartmut Bitomsky has passed away.

News via @sabzian.bsky.social that Hartmut Bitomsky has died. I've, embarrassingly, seen only a few of his works, but there's no doubt he's central to the history of the essay film. sabzian.be/news/hartmut...

False Improvisation and “Memory Lapses” on TV, André Bazin, 1955 On the little TV screen the person who looks at us is supposed to talk to us face to face, person to person; he or she is among us. This is where that feeling of intimacy that presides over Impromptu ...

‘False Improvisation and “Memory Lapses” on TV’
André Bazin, 1955

All previous editions
→ sabzian.be/new-book-releases

🍂📚 Just published: the autumn edition of our seasonal roundup of recently released and upcoming film publications!
→ sabzian.be/news/new-book-releases-autumn-2025

Hartmut Bitomsky (1942-2025) The German writer, film critic, documentary and essay filmmaker Hartmut Bitomsky has passed away.

The German writer, film critic, documentary and essay filmmaker Hartmut Bitomsky has passed away.

Anna Magnani, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Cristina Fernandes, State of Cinema 2025 / Isabelle Huppert, New Book Releases, ... all included in our latest Weekly Review newsletter: shorturl.at/0Uvhc.

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In its section Passage, Sabzian invites film critics, authors, filmmakers and spectators to send a text or fragment on cinema that left a lasting impression.

Passage: Cristina Fernandes, Cristina Fernandes, 2025 “Let cinema go to its ruin, that is the only cinema. Let the world go to its ruin, let it go to its ruin, that is the only politics.” This is perhaps the boldest statement I have come across because i...

“‘Let cinema go to its ruin, that is the only cinema. Let the world go to its ruin, ... that is the only politics.’ This is perhaps the boldest statement I have come across because it is violent and moves beyond the field of cinema.” – Cristina Fernandes

Johan van der Keuken in conversation with Frans van de Staak, Frank Vande Veire on Teorema, Film Fest Gent, Nicolas Roeg, Shhh, ... all included in our latest Weekly Review newsletter: shorturl.at/2RaUx.

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Georges Simenon: A Novelist in Eight Journeys

Feels unlikely that I will be in Bologna anytime soon, but I would love to see this. sabzian.be/event/george...

A punch up between Deleuze and Ruiz witnessed by Daney? Incredible.

Next week at Cinema RITCS, we launch a new publication: the Dutch translation of ‘WHO IS ME,’ Pasolini’s paradoxical “bio-bibliographic poem,” written “in the August sun of a deserted Manhattan” during his visit to the New York Film Festival.
→ sabzian.be/event/teorema-pier-paolo-pasolini-1968

New in our Screening Room: Adrian Martin's recorded introduction to Raúl Ruiz’s City of Pirates (1983), initially presented in the context of our Serge Daney programme at ICA London.
→ sabzian.be/screening-room/la-ville-des-pirates-introduction

City of Pirates The ICA London program " Serge Daney and the promise of cinema " ended a coule of weeks ago and the organisers at Sabzian were kind enough t...

Two new translations of Serge Daney from the ICA London program earlier this month. Thanks to @sabzian.bsky.social

1 of 2: On Raoul Ruiz's City of Pirates

sergedaney.blogspot.com/2025/09/city...

Observations on the Long Take, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Teorema, Nicolas Philibert, André Bazin, Frans van de Staak Retrospective, .... all included in our latest Weekly Review newsletter: shorturl.at/eShOB.

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Observations on the Long Take, Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1967 Man expresses himself above all through his action – not meant in a purely pragmatic way – because it is in this way that he modifies reality and leaves his spiritual imprint on it. But this action la...

“So long as I’m not dead, no one will be able to guarantee he truly knows me, that is, be able to give meaning to my actions, which, as linguistic moments, are therefore indecipherable.” - Pier Paolo Pasolini, Observations on the Long Take (1967)

I Never Decided to Become a Documentary Filmmaker…, Nicolas Philibert, 2009 I never decided to become a documentary filmmaker; that is to say, to camp once and for all inside a given space. Besides, I hate that term: documentary filmmaker. It helps to erect a boundary around ...

“I never decided to become a documentary filmmaker; that is to say, to camp once and for all inside a given space.” - Nicolas Philibert

Voice-Overs on TV: Let the Animals Talk, André Bazin, 1957 Whether improvised, semi-improvised, or carefully rehearsed, TV commentary should respond to certain requirements. Commentaries that accompany films of a documentary nature ought to be inspired by the...

“Whether improvised, semi-improvised, or carefully rehearsed, TV commentary should respond to certain requirements. Commentaries that accompany films of a documentary nature ought to be inspired by the restraint that has been adopted by cinema.” - André Bazin

Voice-Overs on TV: Let the Animals Talk, André Bazin, 1957 Whether improvised, semi-improvised, or carefully rehearsed, TV commentary should respond to certain requirements. Commentaries that accompany films of a documentary nature ought to be inspired by the...

“Whether improvised, semi-improvised, or carefully rehearsed, TV commentary should respond to certain requirements. Commentaries that accompany films of a documentary nature ought to be inspired by the restraint that has been adopted by cinema.” - André Bazin

I Never Decided to Become a Documentary Filmmaker…, Nicolas Philibert, 2009 I never decided to become a documentary filmmaker; that is to say, to camp once and for all inside a given space. Besides, I hate that term: documentary filmmaker. It helps to erect a boundary around ...

“I never decided to become a documentary filmmaker; that is to say, to camp once and for all inside a given space.” - Nicolas Philibert

Observations on the Long Take, Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1967 Man expresses himself above all through his action – not meant in a purely pragmatic way – because it is in this way that he modifies reality and leaves his spiritual imprint on it. But this action la...

“So long as I’m not dead, no one will be able to guarantee he truly knows me, that is, be able to give meaning to my actions, which, as linguistic moments, are therefore indecipherable.” - Pier Paolo Pasolini, Observations on the Long Take (1967)

Showgirls, Nicolas Philibert, State of Cinema 2025 / Isabelle Huppert, Frans van de Staak, Rien que les heures, Nicole Brenez,... all included in our latest Weekly Review newsletter: shorturl.at/Ffley

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