^{www.camerastylo.com}

     ^{the cinema will gradually break free from the tyranny of what is visual, from the image for its own sake, from the immediate and concrete demands of the narrative, to become a means of writing just as flexible and subtle as written language.} 

     ^{alexandre astruc, "the birth of a new avant-garde: la caméra-stylo"} 

Welcome to Caméra-Stylo, a New York-based film criticism website dedicated to writing about the best and most interesting in contemporary world cinema.  Here you will find, with each update, a list of current releases that are must-sees, plus a number of critical essays.  Forthcoming pieces will focus on filmmakers or works which, in our opinion, have received less critical attention than they deserve: check back to find out more about I Am Twenty, Marlen Khutsiev's remarkable work from the Soviet New Wave (a highlight of the eye-opening Soviet Cinema of the '60s retrospective that recently toured the U.S.), and an overview of the life and works of King Hu, the greatest director of the martial arts film and an artist who remains sadly neglected despite the widespread success of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  Also on the horizon are articles on Edward Yang's pre-Yi Yi oeuvre and Johan van der Keuken's stunning Face Value, shown earlier this year at MoMA's admirable, comprehensive JVDK retrospective.  So stay tuned! 

^{Derek Lam
Caméra-Stylo webmaster}

     currently an MFA directing candidate at columbia university's film division, Derek Lam majored in english as an undergraduate at cornell, and saw some of his favorite films from the '90s at cornell cinema, where he also wrote for the film calendar and served as an undergraduate representative.  besides making occasional DV shorts and working on the non-profit, idealistic project of Caméra-Stylo, he wishes to find a girlfriend who enjoys Godard and a job whereby he can continue to share his interest in movies from around the world (information on either will always be welcome at his e-mail address: derek@camerastylo.com).  he had the privilege of interning last year with some truly inspiring cinephiles whose fierce dedication to great movies help fuel his own passion for the art, at his favorite magazine since high school - Film Comment! 

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^{A Note on Cornell Cinema:}

^{For the four years when I worked there as a student, Cornell Cinema held complete retrospectives of Shohei Imamura and Edward Yang.  Guest filmmakers included Chantal Akerman and Sadie Benning.  The latest Sokurov and Kiarostami had their place in the schedule, and even the legendary Decalogue was screened in its entirety.  Of course Mike Myers was there as well, but the sheer breadth of the programming testifies to a commendably well-informed and receptive intelligence.  And so I wish here to express my gratitude to Mary Fessenden, enlightened director of Cornell Cinema, for tracking prints and balancing commercial fare with more select films with such aplomb.  If only more college campuses were blessed with institutions like Cornell Cinema!} 

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^{All written material (c) 2002 by Derek Lam}