In English

INTERVIEW. After cutting his teeth as a filmmaker with a series of acclaimed documentaries for the BBC during the 1990s, Pawel Pawlikowski (born 1957) was named Most Promising Newcomer by BAFTA for his feature début Last Resort (2000); the follow-up, My Summer of Love (2004), won the BAFTA award for Best British Film of the Year. But neither picture felt obviously British, since each reflected a border-zone existence (literal or figurative) in a sometimes beautiful, sometimes horrific country.

IN ENGLISH. Czech and Slovak film are often seen as two sides of the same coin, but Slovak cinema actually has a unique tradition in its own right, and a Slovak aesthetic or sensibility has evolved since the earliest days of its cinematic history. Nicholas Hudac takes us through the early history of Slovak cinema, trying to pinpoint the defining features of Slovak film while placing it in a cultural and historical perspective.

IN ENGLISH. The drama series Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul have been lauded for their unique audiovisual design, often described as “artsy” or “cinematic.” In this article, which is based on interviews with cinematographer Arthur Albert, sound designer Edmond J. Coblentz and supervising sound editor Nick Forshager, Andreas Halskov revisits the audiovisual style in the two shows, trying to define Vince Gilligan’s signature style.

IN ENGLISH. Zombies have never been more popular than in twenty-first century media as they spread virally from cinema and computer games to graphic novels and television. With each new incarnation, they undergo a transformation, sometimes subtle and sometimes drastic, but these changes impact upon how we engage with and understand the zombie. Stacey Abbotts investigates this phenomenon, focusing on one modern zombie series: iZombie (CW 2015-).

IN ENGLISH. Godard’s 3D-film Adieu au langage (2014) shapes a new cinematic aesthetic of 3D that is decidedly non-immersive. Placing the film in the history of Godard’s cinema and in the history of 3D cinema, Mathias Bonde Korsgaard argues that the film at once points to a potential crisis of the 3D film as well as its radical artistic possibilities.

VIDEO-ESSAY. Fans of the BBC’s Sherlock very actively have taken the show to their hearts. How does Sherlock succeed in involving its worldwide audiences in the show? In this video-essay Palle Schantz Lauridsen examines audience involving strategies within and around the show.

IN ENGLISH. Why do we rarely see him carry out the actual act of killing while we often get to see him eat a fancy dinner? Whenever the sadistic cannibal Hannibal Lecter enjoys another gourmet meal, this broadcast TV series displays culinary cannibalism with luxurious aesthetics that could rival most cooking shows. But why? Mads Møller Andersen analyzes the many appeals of NBC’s Hannibal and especially its food strategies.

VIDEO-ESSAY. Hou Hsiao-Hsien is a great, but somewhat underappreciated Taiwanese auteur, known for his long takes and slow pacing. In this video-essay, Adrian Martin and Cristina Álvarez López explore his unique style as seen in a scene from the 1995-film Good Men, Good Women. Mirroring the tempo and attention to detail in Good Men, Good Women, this video-essay tries to capture the very essence of Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s aesthetic.

VIDEO-ESSAY. The films of David Lynch often feature electronic devices that don’t work and people who seem to be speaking 'on different frequencies'. In this video-essay, Andreas Halskov explores noise, interference and faulty wiring as common elements in the works of David Lynch.

VIDEO-ESSAY. David Lynch’ films are full of paradoxes, and in this video-essay Andreas Halskov deals with two of the Lynchian paradoxes (the genre paradox andthe register paradox), as seen in three of David Lynch’s famous productions: Blue Velvet (1986), Twin Peaks (ABC, 1990-1991) and Wild at Heart (1990).