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

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...

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

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

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

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. Want to stay up to date? Subscribe here → sabzian.be/weekly-review

“‘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

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. Want to stay up to date? Subscribe here → sabzian.be/weekly-review

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

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

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

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

Two new translations of Serge Daney from the ICA London program earlier this month. Thanks to @sabzian.bsky.social 1 of 2: On Raoul Ruiz's City of Pirates sergedaney.blogspot.com/2025/09/city...

Observations on the Long Take, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Teorema, Nicolas Philibert, André Bazin, Frans van de Staak Retrospective, .... all included in our latest Weekly Review newsletter: shorturl.at/eShOB. Want to stay up to date? Subscribe here → sabzian.be/weekly-review

“So long as I’m not dead, no one will be able to guarantee he truly knows me, that is, be able to give meaning to my actions, which, as linguistic moments, are therefore indecipherable.” - Pier Paolo Pasolini, Observations on the Long Take (1967)

“I never decided to become a documentary filmmaker; that is to say, to camp once and for all inside a given space.” - Nicolas Philibert

“Whether improvised, semi-improvised, or carefully rehearsed, TV commentary should respond to certain requirements. Commentaries that accompany films of a documentary nature ought to be inspired by the restraint that has been adopted by cinema.” - André Bazin

“Whether improvised, semi-improvised, or carefully rehearsed, TV commentary should respond to certain requirements. Commentaries that accompany films of a documentary nature ought to be inspired by the restraint that has been adopted by cinema.” - André Bazin

“I never decided to become a documentary filmmaker; that is to say, to camp once and for all inside a given space.” - Nicolas Philibert

“So long as I’m not dead, no one will be able to guarantee he truly knows me, that is, be able to give meaning to my actions, which, as linguistic moments, are therefore indecipherable.” - Pier Paolo Pasolini, Observations on the Long Take (1967)

Showgirls, Nicolas Philibert, State of Cinema 2025 / Isabelle Huppert, Frans van de Staak, Rien que les heures, Nicole Brenez,... all included in our latest Weekly Review newsletter: shorturl.at/Ffley Want to stay up to date? Subscribe here → sabzian.be/weekly-review

“Ongeveer dertig jaar na datum is Showgirls – volgens Verhoevens redenering – des te meer gedoemd om te mislukken.” – Sara Schelstraete

« Si le film traverse les frontières c’est peut-être que partout, à la ville comme à la campagne, et depuis la nuit des temps, nous sommes confrontés à une même nécessité : celle d’apprendre à grandir. » – Nicolas Philibert sur Être et avoir (2002)

Superb @sabzian.bsky.social ICA Cinema Serge Daney season started last night. Tomorrow: Ford’s SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949) www.ica.art/films/daney-...

It is with great honour that Sabzian and @BozarBrussels welcome the incomparable French actress Isabelle Huppert to Brussels for the State of Cinema 2025. → sabzian.be/event/state-of-cinema-2025-isabelle-huppert

The Big Swallow (James Williamson, 1901)

Bonus! Bonus! Bonus! A collection of essays, interviews, and translations assembled on Sabzian, reflecting on Daney’s writing and influence: 'Serge Daney and the Promise of Cinema' sabzian.be/issue/serge-...

“As his move to Libération neared, Serge Daney took to probing the general state of the cinema, presciently aware of the metamorphosis it was experiencing at the dawn of the 1980s. Filmed cinema seemed to haunt the art form.” - Daniel Fairfax

“Translating is always listening, scanning for cadence, texture, influence, weight; the myth of the father is a reminder that Daney listened first.” – Christine Pichini on translating Serge Daney’s work to English

Sabzian (y @sensesofcinema.bsky.social ) deben de ser mis dos publicaciones de cine favoritas. Miradas profundas, inteligentes, informadas y mirando al presente (y futuro) del medio con un conocimiento exhaustivo del pasado. Volver (siempre) a Daney es volver a repensar el cine y el mundo.

“Cinema is a promise to be one day a citizen of the world.” – Serge Daney Read the introduction to our new issue on Daney’s cinephilic internationalism, by Arta Barzanji and @gerardjanclaes.bsky.social

“Serge Daney advanced smoothly, at varying but always exhilarating speeds. [...] Each of his texts offers all the spectacle of a satisfying chess game.” – Pierre Eugène

Sabzian is going into summer mode. During July and August, Sabzian will publish at a reduced pace. We'll be back to full speed in September! → sabzian.be

New Book Releases, Marva Nabili, Serge Daney and the Promise of Cinema, Le chantier des gosses, all included in our last Weekly Review newsletter before our summer break: shorturl.at/Ieah2 Want to stay up to date? Subscribe here → sabzian.be/weekly-review

📚 Just published: the Summer edition of our seasonal roundup of recently released and upcoming film publications.

P. Adams Sitney "played a central role in shaping the canon of experimental film and co-founded Anthology Film Archives, where he helped curate the influential Essential Cinema series." sabzian.be/news/p-adams...

Programme is out www.ica.art/films/serge-...

Good spot! And there is the Sabzian issue with new texts on Daney and a translation. sabzian.be/issue/serge-...

Hong Sangsoo @nplusonemag.com, Serge Daney @sabzian.bsky.social, 1975 @sightsoundmag.bsky.social, Mikio Naruse @metrographnyc.bsky.social, Jesse Armstrong @ Metropolitan Review … Did You See This? www.criterion.com/current/post...

“A work of rare beauty and quiet defiance, [Marva Nabili’s] 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘪𝘭 stands as a luminous gem in the canon of Iranian classical and arthouse cinema – a testament to the enduring power of feminist filmmaking.” – Tania Ahmadi

New issue on Sabzian! Serge Daney and the Promise of Cinema With contributions by Pierre Eugène, Mónica Delgado, Mohammad Reza Amiri, Emmanuel Burdeau, Christine Pichini, Jun Fujita Hirose, Daniel Fairfax, and a new Daney translation.

Frieda Grafe, Volker Pantenburg, IAM / JLG, Junji Hori, DAFilms × Sabzian: Thinking Through Images, Wang Bing Focus, all included in our latest Weekly Review newsletter: shorturl.at/Skl4X. Want to stay up to date? Subscribe here → sabzian.be/weekly-review

New issue on Sabzian! Described Film / The Film Criticism of Frieda Grafe Twelve English-language translations of pieces by Grafe, with an introductory text by Volker Pantenburg and a coda by Eric de Kuyper. → sabzian.be/issue/described-film

Film Atlas: New Interactive Guide to Every Motion Picture Film Format

The Rehearsal, Nathan Fielder, Tillo Huygelen, Film Atlas, Knokke Cinema, Frieda Grafe, Abbas Kiarostami, Dogville, Lars von Trier, all included in our latest Weekly Review newsletter: shorturl.at/Z70mv. Want to stay up to date? Subscribe here → sabzian.be/weekly-review

“His irony observes, analyses, and simulates, but it ultimately revolves around its own centre. It opens no radically new perspective.” Tillo Huygelen on the second season of Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal

American film historian and theorist P. Adams Sitney, who passed on June 8, walking the streets of New York alongside Henri Langlois in Jonas Mekas’ He Stands in the Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life (1986). → sabzian.be/news/p-adams-sitney-1944-2025

André Bazin, Chantal Akerman, André Delvaux, P. Adams Sitney, Ruben Demasure, Theo Angelopoulos, Herman Asselberghs, Gerard-Jan Claes, all included in our latest Weekly Review newsletter: shorturl.at/tLg02 Want to stay up to date? Subscribe here → sabzian.be/weekly-review

In memory of Chantal Akerman (6 June 1950), we present a 1996 conversation between Akerman and André Delvaux, recently rediscovered and digitised. A warm dialogue on film, teaching, and Un divan à New York. Watch now → sabzian.be/screening-room/chantal-akerman-interviewed-by-andre-delvaux

Is Cinema Mortal? “The fact that one can reasonably ask oneself such a question today, and that it requires some thinking through to come to an optimistic answer, should be enough to justify astonishment and musing.” – André Bazin