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Our favourite time of year has rolled around again: the publication of the results from the Senses of Cinema World Poll. It’s always so gratifying to look at the incredible array of writers who contribute to this annual reflection on what was best for us in our year at the cinema. They come from all over the world, and bring their own unique perspective on how cinema has functioned in their lives. There are some that are closely connected to festival circuits, and therefore propose a range of films that have found success in that specific sphere of the film landscape. Others focus more tightly on an immediate community – the films that played in their city, their town, their neighbourhood. I’m so gratified by the way that the World Poll covers it all; from Cannes to Wellington and New York to Paraguay this truly represents the incredible global reach and intense local engagement with the cinema. If you ever wanted proof of the wonderful democratising power of the cinema, it’s right here.

There are a number of ways you can tackle the World Poll. You can walk sequentially through them, or dip in and out at will, and discover the different ways that contributors have approached the task. A couple of examples: Claire Henry frames hers within her life and film experience in New Zealand; Jane Mills offers insight into the qualities that drew her to certain releases, and ends with a beautiful tribute to Sylvia Lawson, a huge influence on Australian film thought; Virginia Wright Wexman not only identifies significant films, but significant moments and images in films as part of her list; and finally the incredible Kimberly Lindbergs who offered us a visual perspective on her ghostly year in cinema. And there are many, many more filled with interesting categories and caveats and exceptions. There is no one way that we engage with cinema, and no one way we think about it. As you dive in, enjoy the wildly varied perspectives and approaches on what a year in cinema can mean for all of us.

So grab a pad and pen, your organiser and planner or fire up your letterboxd watchlist and start plowing through this year’s entries. We have enough recommendations (and a few warnings) that will keep your film muscles pumping for the rest of 2018. That film you never heard of that is suddenly cropping up repeatedly? Write it down. That film you thought looked like nonsense but seems to be getting a lot of attention? Maybe it’s worth a look. One contributor’s entry has you intrigued? Work your way through their recommendations. However you do it, there’s plenty to pique your interest.

Enormous thanks to our incredible interns this year Sian Mann and Harry McCallum whose dedication and hard work made this year’s World Poll come together incredibly smoothly. Our wonderful webmaster Rachel Brown every year pulls this all together and makes it look as great as it does. It isn’t possible to thank her enough for all the work she does for Senses of Cinema, but again, thanks Rachel. And of course, our overwhelming gratitude to all the contributors who make this such an extraordinary project every single year.

From all of us at Senses of Cinema, please enjoy the World Poll for 2017.

– Mark Freeman

 

THE ENTRIES


PART 1 >>

AFI Research Collection
Antti Alanen
Francisco Algarín Navarro
Juan Carlos Ampie
Michael J. Anderson
Rowena Santos Aquino
Sean Axmaker
Martyn Bamber
Mike Bartlett
Nick Bartlett
Rhett Bartlett
Arta Barzanji
Raphael Bassan
Conor Bateman
Gustavo Beck
Sean Bell
Jared Beukes
Giulia Bindi
Lukas Brasiskas
Lisa K. Broad
Samantha Broadhead
Dang Bui
Buñuel in Mexico

PART 2 >>

Thomas Caldwell
Michael Campi
Nicolas Carrasco
Michael J. Casey
Celluloid Liberation Front
Daryl Chin
Graiwoot Chulphongsathorn
Roberta Ciabarra
Joel Condemi
Adam Cook
Jordan Cronk
Fergus Daly
Adrian Danks
Brian Darr
Dustin Dasig
Robert Dassanowsky
Henri De Corinth
Joanna Di Mattia
Wheeler Winston Dixon
Durnside SixNine
Dzondunkellicht

PART 3 >>

William Edwards
Jeremy Elphick
John K. Emelianoff
Kaya Erdinc
Eliú Escamilla
Adalberto Fonkén
Gwendolyn Audrey Foster
Mark Freeman
Hugo Gamarra E.
Sachin Gandhi
Stephen Gaunson
Flora Georgiou
Jim Gerow
Antony I. Ginnane
Paul Douglas Grant
Reece Gratton
Jaime Grijalba
Claire Henry
Jhon Hernandez
Alain Hertay
David Heslin
Lee Hill
Phil Hobbins-White
Jytte Holmqvist
Peter Hourigan
Brian Hu
Yue Huang
Christopher Huber

PART 4 >>

Daniel Kasman
Christopher Kearney
Ricardo Köhler
Ehsan Khoshbakht
Rainer Knepperges
Adam Kuntavanish
Eugenia Lai
Marc Lauria
Elaine Lennon
Raúl Liébana Liébana
Kimberly Lindbergs
Tara Lomax
Josh B Mabe
Bob Manning
Miguel Marias
Hind Mezaina
Jack McCulloch
Kenta McGrath
Tim McQueen
Adrian Mendizabal
Jane Mills
Olaf Möller

PART 5 >>

Peter Nagels
Thomas John Nudi
Nicholas Page
Andreea Pătru
Yoana Pavlova
Jesse Percival
Antoni Peris-Grao
Ashley Perry
Andréa Picard
Fidel Jesús Quirós
Paulette Reynolds
Stuart Richards
Peter Rist
Eloise Ross
Julian Ross
André Roy

PART 6 >>

Maria San Filippo
José Sarmiento Hinojosa
Howard Schuman
Christopher Sikich
Matthew Singleton
Christopher Small
Mark Spratt
Brad Stevens
Josh Timmermann
Gorazd Trušnovec
Matt Turner
Donatella Valente
Koen Van Daele
Jesse van der Mark
Kaj van Zoelen
Miha Veingerl
Peter Verstraten
Tom Vincent
Sarah Ward
James Waters
Jason Wierzba
Virginia Wright Wexman
Barbara Wurm
Keva York

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