This Is Not a Film

Jul 15, 2011 — Cinephiles, man your battle stations: Abel Gance’s legendary silent behemoth Napoleon, which hasn’t been shown theatrically in the U.S. with live accompaniment for nearly thirty years, will be presented by the 2012 San Francisco Silent Film Festival in four special...

Jul 19, 2010 — “Why do you want to dance?” “Why do you want to live?” A question followed by another question stands at the beating heart of The Red Shoes. It’s an entirely rhetorical exchange, but it underscores the power and the mystery...

Feb 22, 1999 — Flipping around the channels of late-night TV in my Tokyo apartment in 1984 I came across what seemed like a B movie from the ’60s. The studio: Nikkatsu. The star: Joe Shishido. The director: Seijun Suzuki. I was not at...

Oct 21, 1991 — Written under the German occupation of France, and produced with the sanction of occupation censors, Marcel Carné’s masterpiece began shooting on August 17, 1943, at the Victorine Studios in Nice.

Jul 3, 2024 — Pop Shakespeare, 100 years of Disney, and conversations with Isaac Julien and Steven Soderbergh are among this week’s highlights.

Apr 14, 2023 — This week: Interviews with Rob Tregenza and Ari Aster and new writing on Lubitsch, Jarmusch, and Laura Citarella.

Mar 10, 2026 — Metrograph presents a retrospective of work by a filmmaker championed by Godard, Rivette, and Bazin.

May 30, 2025 — The week wraps with an overlooked gem starring Jamie Lee Curtis, a new issue of Cineaste, and conversations with Lisa Lu and Takashi Miike.

Aug 12, 2022 — The sublime comedies of Ernst Lubitsch, a state-of-the-doc address, and the spectacular work of three graphic designers.

Feb 25, 2022 — A young Luc Moullet’s thoughts on Luis Buñuel and Ethan Hawke’s work with Richard Linklater are among this week’s highlights.