Filmmakers Thinking

Foreword by Jude Radu

Filmmakers Thinking begins from a simple premise: that we do not take the ongoing reflections of filmmakers about their medium, their art and their craft, seriously enough. Every day, everywhere, filmmakers are asked to talk mainly about themselves and their own works. Yet their vocation springs from a deep engagement with the history and possibilities of cinema as a whole. Going beyond the usual, oft-cited sources, Filmmakers Thinking delves into a vast archive of writings (public and private), interviews, talks, and anecdotes to discover what filmmakers think about how to create cinema – and what cinema is, or could be.

Filmmakers whose work is discussed in the book include Sergei Eisenstein, Federico Fellini, Andrei Tarkovsky, George Cukor, Alexander Mackendrick, Chantal Akerman, Jacques Rozier, Luchino Visconti, Alfred Hitchcock, John Hillcoat, Jacques Rivette, Pedro Costa, Agnès Varda, Lucrecia Martel and Jean-Luc Godard.

“Adapted from a Vecture course by the Australian critic Adrian Martin at Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola in San Sebastián, Filmmakers Thinking is many things at once, the first of which is a short but impressively nimble primer on cinema’s fundamental operations and theoretical underpinnings from the perspectives not of the usual gaggle of scholars but of creators instead. While the book may include the musings of directors whose thoughts on such matters are well documented — Vertov, Hitchcock, Godard, Tarkovsky, Akerman — Martin also sees this as a valuable opportunity to rescue a variety of undeservedly obscure writings and speculations from cinema history’s dustbin. As a result, the sources of insight are just as likely to be mavericks like lettrist provocateur Isidore Isou or American poet and filmmaker Abigail Child as they are any oft-taught titans.” — Jason Anderson, Sight and Sound.

Adrian Martin is an Australian-born film critic living in Spain. He is the author of ten books, hundreds of essays, and thousands of reviews. He also lectures, teaches and makes video essays with Cristina Álvarez López. His website is www.adrianmartinfilmcritic.com.

^{Filmmakers Thinking (2024)
Paperback ISBN 978-1-9-4278277-3 280pp 5×8 inches
Hardback ISBN 978-1-9-4278278-0 280pp 5×8 inches}