Projections 15 (+ The European Film Academy)

By Antonio Pasolini

(24/01/08) - What is European cinema? This is the question that lastest instalment of the series Projections (edited by Peter Cowie and Pascal Edelmann), poses to the reader as something of a philosophical quest. The series has arrived at its 15th edition in a collaboration with the European Film Academy and published by Faber. The Academy is an organisation created, according to the text on the book jacket, as 'a cinematic brotherhood' to bring together 'filmmakers from across the East/West divide" .

The 'European cinema' brand was established in the post-War period when there was an urgent burst of creativity led by Italian neo-realism and then expressed in the several new waves that took place across the continent. The birth of the auteur cult gave further kudos to the cinema of the old continent. But auteurism from the days of Godard, Fellini and Fassbinder was closely linked with a type of cinephilia that existed in the 1960s and 1970s and which had waned by the 1980s. Consequently, European cinema started to lose its gloss, the label itself came under fire and so the European Film Academy was created in 1988 to counteract the impact of a dying film culture on the reception of films made in Europe.

The introduction to the book, written by British film critic Derek Malcolm, acknowledges that the golden days of cinematic achievement may be well past us: "When you look at the past and measure it against the present in Europe, there is a sense that the golden age for European films has passed. Where are the Bergmans, Fellinis, Fassbinders, Truffauts and Tarkovskys of today?" That's a good question, but probably not exclusive to Europe. A similar question is likely to be asked in every country with a cinematic tradition that peaked creatively between the 1960s and 1970s. And the answer probably is that we live in a different world with different cultural conditions. Cinema is a 20th century art form that arrived at the 21st century to find a very crowded media environment. It has a different place in our imagination and people get into cinema with different intentions.

Apart from another introduction by Cowie, Projections is a compilation of interviews that are loosely arranged under sections with titles like 'A Greater Europe', 'Independent and Successful?' and 'The Audience: Who Sees These Films?'. Among the interviewees are people like Irène Jacob, Cristi Puiu, Agnieska Holland, Michael Winterbottom and the Dardenne Brothers, to name but a few. These interviews cover every geographical corner of the continent as well as different artistic views from people in different professional capacities within the Euro-film ecosystem. The 'choir of voices' effect of the interview format creates an immediacy that pleasantly offsets the institutional provenance of the book.

So what do we take from reading this panoramic book? Not a clear definition of what 'European cinema' means, as the book wisely avoids definitive answers to contentious questions. But it does assert that in this age of mega-budgets, gross-out comedies and franchise movies, usually targeted at teenagers, there is, as there's always been, a need for realistic fare. A need for films that deal with contemporary issues, that evade rigid narrative formulas and appeal to people over thirty who want more than scatological humour and special effects from their two hours spent at the cinema.

That kind of 'humanistic' cinema, if you like, is what Europe can best offer and although it is bound to be crushed by the weight of Hollywood's relentless machine, it will produce the occasional run-away hit such as Caché (Hidden, 2005. Dir: Michael Haneke) that keeps European cinema abuzz and sparkling with a touch of international glitz for good measure. What the future holds is uncertain; after YouTube (mentioned in passing), who can tell what's next? Instead of making predictions, Projections discusses several topics from many different points of view and covers different aspects of film-making, from the financial side of the business to the aesthetic considerations of the art form. In short, it is faithful to what has become one of the main characteristics of contemporary European cinema, namely variety.

Projections 15 + The European Film Academy is published by Faber on 08 February. Please follow the links provided to buy a copy and support Kamera by doing so.