Deja_Vu

We're joining the rest of the Emerson College community in celebrating women this month--and what better way than by focusing on women in cinema? So, for the month of March, we are making some of our collection's films directed by women available for circulation. The rules are the same: students can borrow one title at a time, for 24 hours or over a weekend, and late fines will apply. On our list, the Media Librarian's admittedly and typically idiosynchratic list of her 10 favorite films directed by women:
Meshes of the Afternoon (on The collected Films of Maya Deren, V 973)
Dance, Girl Dance (Dorothy Arzner, V 2424)
Vagabond (Agnes Varda, V701)
Morvern Caller (Lynne Ramsay, DVD 487)
Monsoon Wedding (Mira Nair, DVD 410)
Beau Travail (Claire Denis, DVD 983)
The Piano (Jane Campion, V 1500)
Chilly Scenes of Winter (Joan Micklin Silver, V 655)
The Last Days of Chez Nous (Gillian Armstrong, V 3366)
Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman, DVD 404)

How about it, Deja Vu readers? Do you have a Top Ten list of women directors you'd like to share?

The Media Librarian was demonstrating some streaming video from Films Media Group, as well as from PBS and other sites for members of the Library Committee Monday. Noting that the picture quality wasn't great, she asked faculty in attendance if that was a concern for them in using this delivery system, and pretty unanimously, they said no. They were most interested in accessing short clips for content, and therefore, resolution wasn't a big issue, provided it was viewable. For film study, they conceded, streaming video might not be the best choice.

That doesn't mean that film studies faculty aren't interested in easier access to the moving image, or that they are immune to the lure of video-on-demand. Anyone who loves film has to be happy that viewing options are increasing: from theatre screens to computer monitors to cell phones, there's the opportunity to watch movies all the time!

Still, the Media Librarian crankily wonders if we're not forgetting Marshall McCluhan's aphorism (good thing Tom Cooper is coming back to remind us!)--the medium really does affect the message. Ok, as someone who first viewed Truffaut's Jules and Jim crouching six inches from a 12 inch portable TV, holding the rabbit ears antenna in one hand to get a better image, she knows that a great film can transcend a lousy delivery. But . . . shouldn't educators and students acknowledge the fact that the viewing experience is different if you're watching a movie on your IPod? While your roommate is watching another one on her computer screen?

In other words, is fastest/easiest/newest always the best way to go?
Check out David Denby's January 7 New Yorker article on the future of Hollywood in light of new technology, as well as A.O.Scott's article from last Sunday's New York Times, for more thoughts on this subject. And let us know what you think!

Check out UbuWeb's collection of rare film and video holdings. Artists include perennial Emerson favorites Jean Genet, Carolee Schneeman, Yoko Ono, Marcel Duchamp, and Kathryn, Vertical Roll is there, complete with clicking spoon soundtrack!!!!

On your desktop, on demand. I love to say "on demand".

Imagine my chagrin, however, to find my idol, Harold Pinter, listed in UbuWeb's Hall of Shame. Apparently BBC asked that Pinter's material be withdrawn. I'm sure Harold knew nothing about this! http://www.ubu.com/