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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 14h

“Television gives rise to a new notion of presence, void of all visible human content – nothing, in short, but the presence of the spectacle to itself.” – André Bazin, 1952

Reporting on Eternity: TV Visits the Musée Rodin, André Bazin, 1952

Television gives rise to a new notion of presence, void of all visible human content – nothing, in short, but the presence of the spectacle to itself [la présence du spectacle à lui-même]. A tracking ...

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 15h

On the occasion of the Frans van de Staak retrospective at CINEMATEK, Sabzian and Punto de Vista present an in-depth conversation between Van de Staak and writer Jacq Firmin Vogelaar on the film 𝘏𝘦𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘢𝘨𝘥𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘬 (1983).

A Conversation, Johanneke van Slooten, 1983

The way the actors stand there is as important as the text they utter – everything must become equally important, and therefore meaningless, because then it dissolves into itself. The texts you hear i...

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 2d

Afternoons of Solitude, Albert Serra, Gerard-Jan Claes, Frans van de Staak, Nicholas Philibert, Ken Jacobs (1933-2025), Cécilia Mangini, ... all included in our Weekly Review newsletter: shorturl.at/iit9m.

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 7d

“Are we being given what we long to see? Why, then, are we bored?”

New text: @gerardjanclaes.bsky.social on Albert Serra’s Tardes de soledad [Afternoons of Solitude] (2024)

An Empty Ritual, Gerard-Jan Claes, 2025

The viewing box that is cinema is presented to us in a stripped-down form: as permitted voyeurs, balancing between identification and sadism, hoping for a “good” outcome, we watch what we are given to...

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 8d

Clip from his film Little Stabs at Happiness (1960)

Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 8d

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

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 9d

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’.

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.

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 9d

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 @sabzian.bsky.social · 13d

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

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 14d

Et l’original en français :

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...

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 14d

Ook in Nederlandstalige vertaling:

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...

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 14d

“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.”

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Reposted by Sabzian

Andrew Burke @aaburke.bsky.social · 15d

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...

Hartmut Bitomsky (1942-2025)

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

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 14d

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

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 ...

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 15d

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

Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 15d

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

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 15d

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

Hartmut Bitomsky (1942-2025)

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

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 15d

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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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 21d

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.

Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 21d

“‘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

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...

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 23d

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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Reposted by Sabzian

Andrew Burke @aaburke.bsky.social · Sep 15

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

Georges Simenon: A Novelist in Eight Journeys

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Reposted by Sabzian

laurentktz.bsky.social @laurentktz.bsky.social · 29d

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

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · 27d

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

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Sabzian @sabzian.bsky.social · Sep 15

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

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