61st Melbourne International Film Festival Dossier (2012)

To coincide with the 2012 Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), Senses of Cinema has commissioned a series of articles that cover many different aspects of the program ranging from new Iranian cinema and recent Chinese independent documentary to films by such significant filmmakers as Jean Epstein, Nicholas Ray and Garin Nugroho. We also highlight several high-profile new films in the program including the Opening Night attraction The Sapphires (Wayne Blair), and one of the most celebrated films of the year so far, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild. The key focus of this dossier is on the important retrospective devoted to Chinese independent documentary called “Street Level Visions”. This collection of articles provides fascinating insights into contemporary Chinese film production outside of official circles, the impact of digital technology, and the complex realities of contemporary China. These articles draw together interviews with significant filmmakers such as Zhao Liang (director of Petition and Crime and Punishment) and probing analyses of the historical, artistic and social contribution of this significant contemporary filmmaking movement. These articles are co-edited and commissioned by Dan Edwards, guest curator of the season.

– Co-editors Adrian Danks and Dan Edwards

Contents

Rose Capp on The Sapphires
Daniel Eisenberg on Beasts of the Southern Wild
Mike Walsh on The Blindfold
Adrian Danks on Iranian Films at MIFF
Dan Edwards on Street Level Visions: China’s Digital Documentary Movement
Christen Cornell on Beijing Besieged by Waste
Luke Robinson on Meishi Street
Dan Edwards – an Interview with Chinese Documentarian Zhao Liang
Blaine Allan on We Can’t Go Home Again and Don’t Expect Too Much
Adrian Danks on Coeur fidèle