International Roundtable on the world of cinema 2008

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The roundtable I had participated is online at THE AUTEURS. Here is the opening address:

Epilogue '08 is the final chapter of the year 2008. An online roundtable looking back one last time on the past year in films, after 2008 came to a close and every year-end poll and commentary has been published. We have gathered here a panel of passionate film critics from around the world to feel the pulse of the cinephile life as it unfolded in half a dozen capital cities where cinema is lively and brewing. We get a chance to take a look at the global village of cinephilia, more than ever bound together by the communitarian feelings of the blogosphere and the communication between foreign film cultures, through films and also the international exchange allowed by film discourse in the English language.

We decided to propose this interactive event to the readers of The Notebook, with the generous help of Daniel Kasman, because The Auteurs is a website representing the evolving face of online cinephilia, opened to the international market and dedicated to provide serious knowledge and quality taste to online audiences. The roundtable conversations will be published two-a-day beginning Monday, January 26. Please join our debate with your reactions, questions and comments.

—HarryTuttle, Andrew Grant, Daniel Kasman


PARTICIPANTS

Andrew Grant, New York City, New York, USA.
President of Benten Films, the first US DVD label run by film critics. Owner of the blog Like Anna Karina's Sweater. Freelance film critic whose writing has appeared in Premiere, Cineaste, Asian Cult Cinema and online at GreenCine, The Reeler and The Auteurs.

HarryTuttle, 34, Paris, France.
French cinephile, non-professional film blogger, author of the blog Screenville, founder of Unspoken Cinema, co-editor with Edwin Mak of its online journal, Unspoken, and contributor to The Auteurs. My Top 10 of 2008 (at The Auteurs).

Kevin B. Lee, New York City, New York, USA.
Kevin B. Lee, VP of Programming and Education for dGenerate Films, a distribution company specializing in Chinese independent cinema. Owner of blog Shooting Down Pictures. Producer of dozens of film criticism videos for Shooting Down Pictures, The Museum of the Moving Image and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Currently co-writing feature film set to shoot in 2008.

Edwin Mak, London, UK.
A freelance writer, media producer and post-grad student at SOAS (Uni. of London) in Global Cinemas and the Transcultural, researching Chinese cinemas, art and critical theory. His writing appears in Senses of Cinema, Offscreen, Electric Sheep and The Auteurs; his blog is the farce that is Faster than instant noodles.

Currently he is working with Harry Tuttle on Unspoken, an open access journal version of Unspoken Cinema; the first issue focusing on Bela Tarr will be guest edited by Yvette Biro.
He still thinks that 'cinephile' sounds unwholesome.

Nitesh Rohit, 22, Non-professional cinephile, living in New Delhi, India.
A graduate of Mass-Communication and a scenario writer. Currently working with a group of cinephiles to start a web-zine Indian Auteur and a film society (Cine Darbar). In the past, written for publication like Rolling Stones, India, Amnesty India, Cinema without borders, Upperstall and more. Also worked as intern/asst. director/art assistant director on feature films (Bollywood, Regional, documentary) in India. He blogs at Winds from the East.

Alexis A. Tioseco, Quezon city, Manila, The Philippines.
Film critic, lecturer, and curator from the Philippines. Founding editor of Criticine, an online journal on Southeast Asian cinema whose contributor base is comprised of writers either from or specializing in the region. Maintains the blog Concentrated Nonsense, for thoughts and notes usually unpublished elsewhere. Attempting to write weekly of film for The Philippines Free Press since December 08. Enjoys reading good criticism. An advocate of translation.



INDIAN AUTEUR.com





Film Journal on Indian Cinema
Film Club
Cinephile Meeting
More


MANIFESTO



Those who wish to sign the manifesto could do so, the discussion on the same will be done when the site is launched

The launch of the site delayed for a week due to technical reasons. More details on the upcoming events will soon be up on the site.

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