De Cinema Research Articles

Figuras do ressentimento no cinema brasileiro dos anos 90

Este texto de Ismail Xavier foi originalmente publicado no livro Estudos de Cinema 2000 SOCINE, organizado por Fernão Pessoa Ramos, Maria Dora Mourão, Afrânio Catani e José Gatti (Porto Alegre: Sulina, 2001, pp. 78-98). Sua reprodução aqui, após revisão, se deve a sua importância histórica no contexto da Retomada do Cinema Brasileiro, ocorrida a partir de meados dos anos 1990.

Interview with Fernando Vendrell

Portuguese Studies vol. 34 no. 2 (2018), 221–36© Modern Humanities Research Association 2018 Interview with Fernando Vendrell1 Ellen W. Sapega University of Wisconsin–Madison Ellen W. Sapega: Directing and producing films might seem like the job of one’s dreams, but in reality it can be very risky and frustrating. Can you tell us how you first got started, what motivated you, and what sustains you in doing the work you do? Fernando Vendrell: It’s difficult to say how or why I got into cinema. There were some personal moments tied to my childhood and adolescence. What impressed me the most, besides the films I’d seen as a child, happened in the context of the 25th of April, when there was a moment of great liberation. Eisenstein’s films were finally shown and I remember watching Battleship Potemkin at the Cine Império. The film made a strong impression on me, an impression I couldn’t explain. Later, in another context, when my high school was occupied as part of the student revolution, there was a cine club associated with the far left, with the MRPP [Movimento Reorganizativo do Partido do Proletariado (Reorganized Movement of the Party of the Proletariat)], that showed Eisenstein’s October in an improvised cinema that was a classroom. I was quite young, twelve or thirteen years old, I’d just started high school, and this moment stands out for me. Also, the Cinemateca was near where I lived and after the revolution it started to show recent Portuguese films from the 1980s; that’s where I saw Trás-os-Montes, by António Reis and Margarida Cordeiro. It was the film’s first Lisbon showing and both directors were present to talk with the viewers. I became a regular at the Cinemateca, I watched classic films at the Cinemateca, at the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, and on TV. After a brief failure at school, I applied to the Escola de Cinema do Conservatório Nacional (present Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema), where I met António Reis — he was my teacher — and we analysed some of the films I’d already seen in new contexts, discussing editing, aesthetics, etc. And that’s how I became a director. First a producer, then a director. I worked in the profession and, during the ’80s, after finishing my first degree in film school where I studied editing, I worked as director’s assistant and script supervisor [anotador], then as a production manager and executive producer. 1 This interview took place in Lisbon on 29 June 2017. It has been edited and translated into English. I would like to thank Logan Krishka for his help with the transcription. Ellen W. Sapega 222 The profession in Portugal is very unstable, in fact... it’s very unpredictable. I’ve been fortunate to continue to work more freely as both a producer and a director. If I’d only been a director, my situation would be more difficult. My work as a director constitutes a small part of the production company that I opened in 1992 (twenty-five years ago) with a very simple goal. My film school colleagues and I had finished school and we began working in the profession; we wanted to complete projects but the projects never came to fruition. So we formed the production company. We’ve had ups and downs but it’s always been a creative journey. At the start I produced theatre but after a while there wasn’t any more space for theatre and I dedicated myself to film and television. In fact, television production provides the company with stability, given the scarcity of subsidies or state support in Portugal right now, support that determines a director’s work. Production work is much steadier. EWS: Speaking of influences, could you tell us about some works that influenced you, whether they are other film directors, specific works of art, or books? FV: While I wouldn’t call them influences, several directors’ works have been significant. Eisenstein is a striking director for technical reasons, for the expressive transformations he introduced. I’ve always been a great fan of silent film and...

Cinema and cultural circulations in Salvador in the 1970s

“Cinema é mais que filme”: uma história das Jornadas de Cinema da Bahia (1972-1978), de Izabel de Fátima Cruz Melo, joga luz sobre as circulações culturais que gravitavam esse evento cinematográfico em plena ditadura. O texto oferece uma vívida imagem das trocas e tensões desse circuito, desde o fomento à produção local curta-metragista, passando pela exibição de títulos de outras paragens, pelas mobilizações de classe e pelas divergências entre realizadores de distintas bitolas (35 mm, 16 mm, super-8), até chegar aos embates com a censura oficial. O descentramento do olhar é o grande saldo do livro, ao descortinar outros horizontes da história das práticas audiovisuais no Brasil.

Tiradentes, festival de cinema e opiniões

Relato da minha experiência como curador de curtas da Mostra de Cinema de Tiradentes há 5 anos. Criado em 1998, o festival foca no cinema brasileiro independente e autoral e se tornou uma das grandes plataformas de exibição e discussão do cinema brasileiro contemporâneo.

A rotary joint for a flapping wing actuated by dielectric elastomers: design and experiment

Exhibiting high energy densities, light weight, and elegant form factor, dielectric elastomers are poised as a promising alternative to the driving of flying robots. A rotary joint for a flapping wing actuated by a dielectric elastomer minimum energy actuation mechanism is reported. The deformation process and characteristics of the dielectric elastomer during joint rotation are analyzed, and the DE film will warp like saddle surface. The geometry parameter of the rotary joint will influence voltage-induced strain of DE film, and the natural frequency will restrict dynamics performance of the joint. Additionally, experimental results validate the characteristic of above saddle surface and the influence principle. A rotary joint and a flapping wing prototype were fabricated to validate design principles, demonstrating the design principles can be used to this kind of dielectric elastomer joint and flapping wing.

The Cinema of Katinka Heyns

THE CINEMA OF KATINKA HEYNSIn the 119-year history of South African cinema only two books have been devoted to South African film directors: Martin Botha and Hubert Dethier’s Kronieken van Zuid-Afrika: de films van Manie van Rensburg (1997) and Martin Botha’s Jans Rautenbach: Dromer, Baanbreker en Auteur (2006).(1) In general the artistic achievements of film directors received little scholarly attention. Attempts to rework the history of South African cinema such as Isabel Balseiro and Ntongela Masilela’s edited volume, To Change Reels: Film and Film Culture in South Africa (2003) as well as Jacqueline Maingard’s South African National Cinema (2007), devoted entire chapters to the ideological analysis of films such as De Voortrekkers (1916), Cry, the Beloved Country (1951) and Come Back, Africa (1959), but in the process they ignored the significant oeuvres of directors such as Ross Devenish, Manie van Rensburg, Jans Rautenbach, Katinka Heyns, Darrell Roodt...

Da memória dos lugares aos lugares sem memória : construção espacial em Manoel de Oliveira

The Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira makes use of two opposing space creation procedures concerning memory locations. In the first, he uses the space as a trigger memory of the characters, to address his own memories or the collective memory of its people. Then, invests spaces created especially for his movies to avoir naturalistic representation and use the relationship between spaces and memory to denounce the artificiality of the making of a film.Keywords : Manoel de Oliveira, portuguese cinema, aesthetics and film history

Espaces by James Mitchell, Cheryl Tano

Reviews 195 “les verbes pronominaux ne peuvent pas être mis à la forme passive”(115). Si certains points de grammaire peuvent être sources de confusion, les notes lexicales, les exercices et les expressions expliquées et contextualisées sont à recommander. Western Washington University Edward Ousselin Mitchell, James, and Cheryl Tano. Espaces. 3rd ed. Boston: Vista, 2015. ISBN 9781 -62680-054-0. Pp. 768. $266. This textbook is a clearly-presented and well-organized beginning-level French manual. Each of the fifteen chapters is divided into sections A and B, with each section comprised of the following: Espace Contextes (Contextes or vocabulary and Les sons et les lettres); Espace Roman-Photo, a photo-novel depiction with transcription of each character’s dialogue of the video segments that fosters student learning by allowing students to listen and read simultaneously in French as well as prompting class reenactments of the video segments; Espace Culture (Culture à la loupe and Portrait, short glossed readings with guided comprehension questions); Espace Structures, two distinct grammatical presentations per section with concise explanations and examples to support the appropriate range in difficulty of written and speaking exercises; and Espace Synthèse (Révision—comprehensive speaking activities that encompass the chapter’s grammar and vocabulary, Le Zapping—cultural activities incorporating video, for Section A, and À l’écoute—techniques for improving listening skills, for Section B).Rounding out each chapter is Savoir-Faire,composed of Panorama,detailed cultural readings to complement the chapter’s two Culture à la loupe and two Portrait components; Lecture, longer readings with strategies that help students to read for the main idea and arrive at individual conclusions; and Écriture, a themed composition activity with suggested methods that encourage students, for example, to express and support their opinions, while brainstorming their ideas before actually writing their formal composition, followed by recommendations for revising.While currently most beginning-level French textbooks propose a broad range of materials on the Francophone world, Espaces offers a balanced approach. Specifically, each chapter’s Espace Culture will typically have the focus of Culture à la loupe be on a cultural aspect of France and that of Portrait be on a similar aspect of another Francophone country. Thus, from the start, students are exposed to the wide range of countries and cultures where French is spoken and are able to make informed comparisons. Then, these comparisons are reinforced in Panorama which focus on a variety of French regions and departments or other Francophone countries or regions. The Espaces Supersite, whose features vary by access level selected by the instructor, is the user-friendly online source for combining textbook, technology, and media resources (online virtual and partner chats,a downloadable digital image bank,oral testing suggestions,and streaming video of Roman-photo episodes, with instructor-managed options for subtitles and transcripts in French and English). It is the precise synchronization between the textbook and the Espaces Supersite that allows for more face-to-face communication and enhanced exposure to relevant authentic materials. Canisius College (NY) Eileen M. Angelini Film edited by Michèle Bissière Block, Marcelline, ed. World Film Locations: Marseilles. Bristol: Intellect, 2013. ISBN 978-1-84150-723-1. Pp. 128. $22. Publié dans une série dédiée à l’étude de films selon la ville qu’ils montrent (entre autres: New York, Paris, Madrid, Melbourne, Reykjavík, Helsinki), cet ouvrage propose d’explorer la production cinématographique qui met en valeur la cité phocéenne.Afin de stimuler une cinéphilie géographique, World Film Locations: Marseilles s’avère riche en illustrations (cartes, photos de sites, captures d’écran) et comporte quarante-six analyses de scènes tirées d’autant de films organisés chronologiquement. La majorité des œuvres incluses sont françaises, bien que s’y mêlent quelques films principalement anglophones comme les remakes de la trilogie de Pagnol, The French Connection et sa suite, ou encore A Good Year, de Ridley Scott. Sept essais d’environ mille mots s’intercalent parmi ces analyses de scènes.Ainsi Steven Ungar historicise-t-il la production cinématographique représentant Marseille tandis que Rebecca Prime se focalise sur la trilogie de Pagnol Fanny, Marius et César. L’essai de...

36ͤ Festival International de Films de Femmes

Reviews 231 toward the target features and provides a wide selection of relevant practice activities. In addition to treating key phonetic elements that are common to all varieties of French (e.g., syllable stress, enchaînement), the authors have also opted to address a number of socio-phonetic variation phenomena (e.g., optional schwa deletion) raising students’ awareness to the fact that French is a highly diverse language which varies according to geographical, social, situational, and medial contexts of use. In addition, the content of each chapter is embedded in a cultural topic which will likely appeal to learners. However, from a sociolinguistic perspective, there are a few terminological issues with this textbook. The authors present français standard, français international, and français de référence as equals. Yet, work by Guérin informed by Koch and Oesterreicher clearly illustrates that standard French is only a situated realization of a national variety of French, one that is typically found in formal monological oral or written communicative situations. It is therefore inaccurate and misleading to refer to Swiss or Belgian French as instances of regional non-standard varieties. Moreover, to my knowledge, there is no consensual description of what constitutes français international. Lyche proposes a thorough phonological description of français de référence, which she based on a large amount of oral data collected for the ongoing research project Phonologie du français comtemporain (PFC). The authors’ operationalization of français standard thus appears to rest on their shared agreement of what phonetic features best describe that variety. In spite of this shortcoming, Sons et Sens is an invaluable pedagogical resource for French L2 classrooms. It will enrich students’ perspectives on the diversity and richness of modern French language and cultures. Université Laval Suzie Beaulieu Film edited by Michèle Bissière 36e Festival International de Films de Femmes, Créteil, 14–23 mars 2014. . Some of the most rewarding sides to the FIFF remain the pedagogical interactions with junior high and high school students.Once again,the high school group published the daily newsletter, What’s up, posted online during the festival. Their remarks and research were particularly valuable this year. Among the most pertinent and significant sections was the Colloque femmes et cinéma/Women in Films. It included“Statistiques et valorisation des femmes travaillant dans le secteur de l’audiovisuel”;“Mise en réseau, l’histoire et les meilleures pratiques”; “Introduction à l’analyse politique et au contenu/Genre et le cinéma des femmes.” This last presentation included Maria de Medeiros (featured in the Portraits section), Dominique Gros (a member of the documentary jury) and Kate Millett, continuing to inspire so many years after her seminal book, Sexual Politics. Her presence, her film (Three Lives, that follows three American women in the 1970s), and her remarks bridged the gap between American feminists in the 1960s and 1970s and modern French women. It was remarkable to watch twenty- and thirty-year-olds discover the work of their American predecessor/s and interact with it/them. Cinéast(e)s,the documentary by Julie Gayet and Mathieu Busson on French women filmmakers represented an impressive number of women interviewed (20), spanning generations, from the pioneers (such as Agnès Varda, who rightfully reminds us of the earliest pioneer, Alice Guy) to recent first time filmmakers. Those interviewed were: Varda,Balasko,Marshall,Bruni Tedeschi,Zlotowski,Donzelli,Sciamma,Delpy,HansenLove ,Achache,Azuelos, Doillon, Ferran, Garcia, Letourneur, Mazuy, Moreau, Nakache, Roüan. Gayet sets up the interviews with questions such as: Does the public listen to men more than to women? Can we speak of a strictly feminine cinema? Is it more difficult for a woman than for a man to find funding for a film? Are gender quotas necessary for film? And she does remind us that France is the country with the highest percentage of women filmmakers, although that number still remains around 20%. What she does not explore is why the percentage is higher. For example, she could have contemplated the possible impact of the feminization of the teaching staff at FEMIS; the inclusion of more women in the CNC that attributes l’avance...

The Cinema of Katinka Heyns

In the 119-year history of South African cinema only two books have been devoted to South African film directors: Martin Botha and Hubert Dethier’s Kronieken van Zuid-Afrika: de films van Manie van Rensburg (1997) and Martin Botha’s Jans Rautenbach: Dromer, Baanbreker en Auteur (2006). In general the artistic achievements of film directors received little scholarly attention. Attempts to rework the history of South African cinema such as Isabel Balseiro and Ntongela Masilela’s edited volume, To Change Reels: Film and Film Culture in South Africa (2003) as well as Jacqueline Maingard’s South African National Cinema (2007), devoted entire chapters to the ideological analysis of films such as De Voortrekkers (1916), Cry, the Beloved Country (1951) and Come Back, Africa (1959), but in the process they ignored the significant oeuvres of directors such as Ross Devenish, Manie van Rensburg, Jans Rautenbach, Katinka Heyns, Darrell Roodt as well as many of the directors...

Representações imagéticas do fazer científico no contexto do Instituto Nacional do Cinema Educativo

Considera a divulgação científica como ponto central no desenvolvimento da educação científica. Focaliza o Instituto Nacional de Cinema Educativo (Ince) e o ideário da Escola Nova com relação ao uso de filmes em processos educativos. Analisa o filme O oxigênio para subsidiar a discussão, delineando as representações ligadas ao fazer científico. O filme apresenta três partes harmônicas: a) contextualização: apresentação genérica da substância; b) segmento experimental: espaço do laboratório e dos experimentos; c) consolidação: destaque para a presença da substância oxigênio em diferentes instâncias, inclusive a militar. Considerando uma nova concepção de processo educativo, à época, destacam-se, das análises: a percepção da Física com sua estrutura experimental e o uso do laboratório; a ideia de aceleração nos campos sociais e econômicos, levando à sensação de transformação; a divulgação científica sendo focalizada como elemento principal nos processos de educação científica.

Before Six Years After. Notes on the re-emergence of a film archive in Guinea-Bissau

In 2011, the artist Filipa César was given access to the archive of the Instituto Nacional de Cinema e Audiovisual (INCA) in Bissau, which holds the remains of a precarious but dedicated documentary film production during the final phase of the liberation war and the first years of independence in Guinea-Bissau (roughly from 1972 to 1980). Together with two of the film-makers involved, Flora Gomes and Sana na N'Hada, and a group of researchers and film-makers from Bissau, Filipa César is since then engaged in an ongoing project experimenting with various forms of re-visualization and re-evaluation of this archive. Tobias Hering has participated in this process on several occasions and wrote about it in the essay "Before six years after," published for Filipa César's exhibition at Jeu de Paume (Paris) in October 2012. The text published here is a critically revised and annotated version of this earlier essay.

Przed "Six years after". Notatki o powrocie pewnego archiwum filmowego w Gwinei-Bissau

W 2011 roku artystka Filipa César miała możliwość pracy w archiwach Instituto Nacional de Cinema e Audiovisual (INCA) w Bissau, w których przechowywane są materiały filmowe z okresu wojny wyzwoleńczej i pierwszych lat niepodległości Gwinei-Bissau (1972-1980). Razem z dwoma zaangażowanymi reżyserami z Gwinei-Bissau (Flora Gomes i Sana na N'Hada) i grupą badaczy i filmowców z tego kraju, Filipa César pracuje od tego momentu nad rozmaitymi, często eksperymentalnymi formami ukazania i rewaluacji tego archiwum. Tobias Hering uczestniczył na wielu poziomach w tym procesie i poświęcił temu projektowi esej "Before six years after", opublikowany z okazji wystawy Filipy César w Jeu de Paume w Paryżu (2012). Tekst ten jest rozszerzoną i krytycznie zrewidowaną wersją tamtego eseju.

35e Festival International de Films de Femmes

Film edited by Michèle Bissière 35e Festival International de Films de Femmes, Créteil, 22–31 mars 2013. . The FIFF continues to increase in quality on the pedagogical side that sets it apart from most film festivals, bringing in classes from local junior high and high schools, and continuing the jury composed of high school students, La graine de cinéphage. One of the highlights remains the daily newsletter and video, entirely shot and produced by high school students. Similarly, the pre-release showings and “master classes” remain strong contributions to the festival. The Master Classes afford the opportunity to participate in small group discussions with the filmmaker. The sections in 2013 included Les pionnières du cinéma, honoring the memory of women filmmakers from the first fifty years of the cinema: Alice Guy, Loïs Weber, Frances Marion, Dorothy Arzner, Germaine Dulac, Lotte Reiniger. Another section, Homoparentalité, featured Marie Mandy. This year, she showed her own Nos parents sont gays et c’est pas triste (2003) and J’ai deux mamans by Christine François (2003). Mandy’s film was the first French-speaking documentary to engage the children of lesbian parents,to seek out their opinions and life experiences. J’ai deux mamans sheds light on the legal consequences for the mother who is not the biological parent. Raising their children before the PACS or same-gender marriage law, Marie-Laure had to renounce claims to her children so that Carla could adopt them, then re-file for maternity rights. A series of interviews, especially with the two women, the film is a powerful answer to those who ask why marriage is necessary, especially given the rights accorded by the PACS. Another master class, La liberté de voir, with Québécois filmmaker Helen Doyle, brought another point of view to the European audience. Discussing the lack of support for Québécois films within the Canadian context and even more so for women, she decried the lack of a film school in Québec when she started. Truly a self-taught filmmaker, she reiterated the forbidden subjects for film at the beginning of her thirtyfive -year career: female sexuality, menopause, rape. At the end of the session, the director of FIFF underscored an ongoing primordial strength of festivals—the remarks just heard from Helen Doyle are not written anywhere. Therein lies another critical element of attending film festivals, of chronicling the rich array of showings and activities. The two roundtable sections had particular resonance for the connections between cinema and cultural movements,including political and socio-economic upheavals.One category, L’Europe extrême, a panorama of twenty-five contemporary films, exposed the precarious situation in post-communist Eastern Europe.The second topic,Nouvelles formes du féminisme, followed uncannily the press surrounding the feminist group 190 FRENCH REVIEW 87.4 Reviews 191 Femen. Since the festival was sandwiched between the group’s demonstration against the Pope in Notre-Dame and the one outside the Paris Mosque, the screening of the 2012 documentary Nos seins, nos armes (Nadia El Fani and Caroline Fourest) and the ensuing discussion presaged the coming front page coverage (see Libération from 6 June, among others). Originally from the Ukraine, and beginning their resistance movement against the patriarchy, dictators, and obscurantist religions there, the group is now headquartered in Paris, where they train new members and plan protests. Several members of Femen, their heads adorned with the trademark crown of flowers, fielded questions from the floor, many of which questioned their motives in baring their breasts since they are almost all young and beautiful. Whatever one’s opinion of the movement may be, the film is eloquent, tracing their beginnings, their early and ongoing struggles and targets as well as their training and planning sessions. Coupled with Nos seins was another documentary of a more personal nature. Même pas mal (Nadia El Fani and Alina Isabel Pérez, 2012) follows El Fani’s double combat against Islamists and against her cancer. The Franco-Tunisian artist’s film treats freedom of expression and the artistic, creative, and political struggles made ever more necessary due to continuing obscurantist tendencies. The...

Ultra-compliant liquid metal electrodes with in-plane self-healing capability for dielectric elastomer actuators

The method of directly printing liquid metal films as highly conductive and super compliant electrodes for dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) was proposed and experimentally demonstrated with working mechanisms interpreted. Such soft electrodes enable DE film to approach its maximum strain and stress at relatively low voltages. Further, its unique capability of achieving two-dimensional in-plane self-healing by merely actuating the DEA was disclosed, which would allow actuators more tolerant to fault and resilient to abusive environments. This high performance actuator has important value in a wide spectrum of situations ranging from artificial muscle, flexible electronics to smart clothing etc.

Manoel de Oliveria: literatura e cinema

We intend to think about Francisca, 1981, and the creative process from Manoel de Oliveira, script and film. This script was an adaptation from Agustina Bessa-Luiss Fanny Owen, and was written in only one month. It's important to say that a lot of his films are adapted from literature and plays, what shows Oliveira as a literature director

Wielokulturowa przestrzeń miejska w "kinie blokowisk" (cinéma de banlieue)

The controversy over the advantages and disadvantages of the policy of multiculturalism has been ongoing since the 1980’s. Simultaneously the growing social mobility and migration movements in today’s Europe are accompanied by a crisis of the nation-state, or rather, as Patrick Savidan suggests, by a gradual transformation of the political project characteristic of the past aimed at strengthening the processes of social integration. The identities of different ethnic and national groups are being shaped either by dialogue or by confrontation: members of various minorities demand respect (as understood by Charles Taylor) not only in the personal sphere, but also in the public one. A good reflection of the debates on multiculturalism is offered by contemporary French cinema, which, in particular in the films directed by representatives of ethnic minorities, discusses the burning issues of integration, racism, and the heritage of the colonial past. The film art of the cinema de banlieue responds this way to the current political situation, to the deepening social inequalities and to the alienation of the young generation. Social exclusion, or marginalization, accompanied by the feeling of helplessness, are depicted as forms of oppression in films directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, Jean-Francois Richet, Thomas Gilou, and Malik Chibane. They frequently use spatial metaphors which turn out particularly relevant in showing problems related to exclusion. Translated by Dorota Chabrajska

34e Festival International de Films de Femmes

partner to complete activities and record audio for their instructor’s review. As students interact with material ranging from classroom vocabulary or numbers to Francophone professional athletes or “une alimentation équilibrée,” this textbook provides students who have diverse interests with ample opportunities to connect with each other and the Francophone world. The artistic illustrations, dynamic film, and opportunities for pronunciation practice and authentic communication combine into a thoughtful, well-conceived resource for language learners and educators alike, particularly in the university beginning-French classroom. University of Nebraska, Lincoln Sarah Faltin Osborn Film edited by Michèle Bissière 34e Festival International de Films de Femmes, Créteil, 30 mars–8 avril 2012. . The September 2012 issue of Les Cahiers du Cinéma includes a subtitle, “Où sont les femmes?” For thirty-four years now, the Festival International de Films de Femmes has been answering that question, although it would have benefited from more French-speaking films in 2012. FIFF retains its pedagogical orientation, pairing with local schools; the students can attend master classes given by filmmakers, afternoon film viewings with filmmakers and actors present, as well as create daily videos and newsletters . The online newsletter, le petit journal, was particularly well written and astute this year. The two master classes stood out this year. Marie Mandy discussed her work and her early problems, uncovering the mystery of why she started out in fiction, but has abandoned it altogether for documentaries; hers are always strong and on target. Her earlier film, Filmer le désir, remains a classic for exploring women’s desire as expressed by women filmmakers. She discussed her latest film, Mes deux seins, journal d’une guérison, shown this year in the section “Au cœur de l’Europe,” saying that she felt she had to make it, especially since “On ne peut pas séparer le fait d’être femme et d’être cinéaste.” Her intention was to follow the development of her illness, not “her” personal story alone, thus reminding us of declarations by others such as Agnès Varda and Claire Denis, who proclaim it necessary to include details of one’s own life in order to be an “honest” artist. Mandy further advised aspiring filmmakers to be mindful of including as many women as men in the crews and added that she would like to teach a class on the history of film, covering only films by women. She proclaims that the project would be interesting, if only from the point of view of the narrative , and pinpoints that women’s films often sport a circular narrative, moving away from the stalwart chronological story line. In Mes deux seins, however, Mandy did choose a chronological narrative, starting from the first diagnosis to the final “healing.” Instead of editing for seamless transitions between scenes and an objective, removed stance, she chose stories told to the camera, in the form of questions and interviews with other patients, finding that the final product evinces an “incredible intimacy” that could not have been achieved otherwise. Mandy’s current projects explore Web documentaries, because they not only Reviews 1245 allow for quicker distribution, but encourage fresher creativity as well. To her, a Web documentary can reach a greater audience, can avoid beginnings and ends altogether, and can conclude with a final result of arborisation, of branching-out in diverse directions. Hence, the Internet becomes an asset to creation rather than the feared plague, since the medium lends itself to non-linear, circular narration and is thus particularly well-adapted to feminine modes of expression. The other master class in 2012 was with Claire Simon, the head of the directing department at FEMIS. A well-known and respected filmmaker herself, Simon explained that the direction department is perhaps the most difficult one to lead, largely because it is the area most students want to pursue. Her pedagogical philosophy is hands-on and direct support; in order to support her methodology, she organizes workshops throughout the year where she invites filmmakers to interact with students, both in discussion groups and in technical workshops, aiding the students through various stages of their projects. Simon herself began in documentaries and...

Contractile Hydrostatically Coupled Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

The so-called hydrostatically coupled dielectric elastomer actuators (HC-DEAs) have recently been described as a means to improve versatility and safety of electroactive polymer actuators made of DEs. HC-DEAs use an incompressible fluid that mechanically couples a DE-based active part to a passive part interfaced to the load. In this paper, we present the ongoing development of linear contractile HC-DEAs. The actuator is made of two rigid disks (circular frames) that support an active membrane, consisting of a DE film coated with compliant electrodes. The frames and the membrane delimit a closed chamber, filled with the fluid. The pressure of the fluid is used to provide the actuator with a barrel-like shape, while keeping the length of the structure limited by a counteracting element (such as an internal spring or the external load itself); combining this element with the internal pressure allows the structure to be axially precompressed. As a result of an electrical activation of the membrane, outward radial buckling and related axial contraction of the device are achieved. This paper presents preliminary assessment of static electromechanical performance of prototypes made of silicone and water, studying combined effects of precompression, voltage, and stress relaxation.

Vacationland: Film, Tourism, and Selling Canada, 1934-1948

Cet essai examine l’histoire des politiques et des interventions du gouvernement canadien dans l’utilisation de film cinématographiques pour vendre le Canada comme un lieu de vacances aux touristes américains entre 1934 et 1948. Le gouvernement reconnut alors que l’activité commerciale s’adressant aux touristes était un facteur clé dans la santé de l’économie nationale. Le secteur public adopta le cinéma comme le média le plus efficace et le plus moderne pour annoncer le Canada aux touristes potentiels outrefrontière. Les “films de touristes” qui sont sortis à la fois dans les salles et via d’autres réseaux de distribution ont présenté le Canada comme une destination touristique désirable en faisant un portrait antimoderniste des paysages canadiens en même temps que, paradoxalement, ils présentaient le Canada comme un état moderne.