^{www.camera-stylo.f2s.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 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.  Currently, we have a report from the 38th New York Film Festival, an introduction to the works of Hou Hsiao-Hsien, and a short piece on the Ten Best Films of 2000.  Forthcoming essays 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 currently touring 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 current success of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  Also on the horizon are pieces on Bela Tarr's Werckmeister Harmonies and Aleksandr Sokurov's Moloch, two extraordinary films that have yet to find distribution in America.  So stay tuned!} 

^{Derek Lam
Caméra-Stylo webmaster}

     ^{currently an MFA 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 the non-profit, idealistic project of Caméra-Stylo, he wishes to find a job where he can continue to share his interest in movies from around the world.  he still can't believe that he's interning at one of his favorite magazines 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 you had your Mike Myers as well, but the sheer breadth of the programming testifies to a commendably well-informed and receptive intelligence.  And so I wish her 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.  Perhaps the greatest tribute is that, even though I now live and study in New York City, I still make the occasional trip to Cornell Cinema for that odd movie: Tsai Ming-Liang's The River, for instance.  There are times when I worry whether Cornell Cinema can survive funding cuts and ill-informed inquiries from the student board ("why not more movies we've heard about?")  So I'm all the happier to report that Cornell Cinema is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month (February 2000) with a schedule that includes  a Hou Hsiao-Hsien retrospective and a gala party featuring "Metropolis" accompanied by frequent Cornell Cinema guests, the Alloy Orchestra.  A guest panel even includes such Cornell Cinema alums as Wendy Lidell of Winstar.  Happy 30th to Cornell Cinema, and here's to another 30!} 

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^{All written material (c) 2001 by Derek Lam}