All posts tagged: In Memoriam

Jonathan Demme ( 1944-2017)

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Jonathan Demme’s death has moved the film world. Jonathan Demme was a founding member of a cinematic generation. He started out with Roger Corman, then left Hollywood to go back East and hung his shingle in New York city at the exact moment when the independent film movement began. Never an intellectual or theorist of his own work, he could be scorned as cinema-lite, yet the eulogies piling up reveal how universally beloved he was. FQ has always paid attention to Demme. Here are two articles from the FQ archives to mark his passing.

In Memoriam: Brian Henderson

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In Memoriam: Brian Henderson. April 17, 1941- March 1, 2017. Brian Henderson wrote frequently for FQ and was a longtime member of the FQ Editorial Board. To celebrate his contribution to the field of film and media studies, we offer here his first feature-length article published in FQ’s pages.

Film Criticism in the Era of Algorithms

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FQ Editor-in-Chief B. Ruby Rich’s survey of the Winter 2016 issue. Her roadmap for navigating the ideas, authors, films, TV shows, and interviews featured within; a reflection on the state of film and media criticism, the beginning of awards season, and special tributes to Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor and Curtis Hanson.

A Vocation in Film

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FQ Editor-in-Chief B. Ruby Rich’s roundup of the Summer 2016 issue: Volume 69, Number 4. Rich recalls the early years of university-level film history courses, assesses the barrage of industry news that lands on her desk daily, and pays homage to Richard Dyer, who was honored by the Society for Cinema and Media Studies at their annual conference. Dyer’s first published monograph, GAYS AND FILM (1977), came into the world in a vacuum. There was simply no such field. Today, it is difficult to comprehend the force of imagination and courage required to launch such a career at such a time. Forty years ago, a grand ballroom would not have filled with people and applause for a gay scholar; today, it was unremarkable that one did.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead: What’s at Stake

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In February 2015, Anita Hill came to the University of California, Santa Cruz, to deliver a lecture, “Speaking Truth to Power: Gender and Racial Equality, 1991-2015.” She also presented a seminar, “‘An Intersectional Problem’: Gender, Race, Class, Political Standing and the Sexual Assault of Black Women.”

In Memoriam: Chick Callenbach

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We are extremely sorry to announce that Ernest “Chick” Callenbach passed away peacefully, April 17, at home in Berkeley. Film Quarterly’s founding editor, Chick steered the journal from 1958 to 1991 (joining the editorial board thereafter) and was also editor of the University of California Press’s cinema studies list of books. In his dual role, he was a major influence on the development of film culture and film study in the U.S. and beyond. A highly influential figure in ecology and natural history as well, he was the author of Ecology: A Pocket Guide and the landmark novel Ecotopia. The loss is a profound one for all of us at the Press. An obituary will be published in the Summer issue of Film Quarterly. Read the LA Times’ obituary here.