The Grand Illusion: Tito and 24 Million Metres of Celluloid (2014) [Serbian/English]

“The Grand Illusion is dedicated to the great passion of Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980) for all forms of moving pictures – movies, newsreels and other film and documentary forms. The project is based on the carefully maintained records of films which Tito watched from 15 March 1949 to 16 January 1980.

The Grand Illusion is about Tito as a watcher of films, but also about him as an actor, shadow director and most powerful producer. About a man who watched an average of 280 films a year, in all his residences, on land, sea and rail. About his encounters with the greatest film personalities of the second half of the twentieth century – Simone Signoret, Yves Montand, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Vivien Leigh, Orson Welles, Richard Burton and Laurence Olivier. About a statesman who was relaxed and entertained by film, and who could say about films “they simply blow your mind”, but who knew how to promote and sell them to serve him for educational purposes, as well as to prepare for travelling or when someone was coming to visit him.”

Publisher Museum of Yugoslav History, Belgrade, 2014
ISBN 9788684811259, 8684811259
67 pages

Exhibition
WorldCat

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Coco Fusco: Young, British and Black: The Work of Sankofa and Black Audio Film Collective (1988)

“Sankofa Film/Video Collective and Black Audio Film Collective are the most celebrated and controversial Black media groups to emerge from the British workshop movement of the 1980s. Their work focuses on the representation of the Black subject in mainstream and alternative media, also touching on such issues as institutionalized racism, sexual politics and national identity in postcolonial Britain. Challenging stylistic conventions of both documentary and fiction film, their work provides a basis for critical reflection on the history of Black film culture, Third Cinema, and their future directions.” (back cover)

Featuring essays “A Black Avant-Garde?” by Coco Fusco (originally published as “Black Filmmaking in Britain’s Workshop Sector” appearing in a 1988 issue of Afterimage Vol 14, No 7); “An Interview with Martina Attille and Isaac Julien of Sankofa Film/Video Collective,” and “An Interview with Black Audio Film Collective: John Akomfrah, Lina Gopaul, Avril Johnson and Reece Auguiste,” both interviews by Coco Fusco.

A publication designed to accompany a touring film exhibition of the same title curated by Coco Fusco and produced by Ada Gay Griffin.

Publisher Hallwalls, Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, NY, 1988
ISBN 0936739150, 9780936739151
65 pages
via publisher

Publisher
WorldCat

PDF, PDF (9 MB)

Jack Smith: Wait For Me at the Bottom of The Pool: The Writings of Jack Smith (1997)

“During thirty years of activity as a filmmaker, photographer and performer, Jack Smith produced a body of creative, antic writing that intersects and transcends the genres of hothouse fantasy, criticism and social comment. Bringing together long unavailable essays, performance scripts, interviews and other material, Wait for Me at the Bottom of the Pool reveals the ideas and personality of an artist whose distinctive vision has influenced generations of filmmakers and performance artists. With caustic wit, Smith praises the performances of Maria Montez as well as the sculpture of Walter de Maria, examines the cult success of Reefer Madness and the uses of pornography, and discusses the perils of democracy, the evils of property and the police state, art history and architecture.”

Edited by J. Hoberman and Edward Leffingwell
Publisher High Risk Books, with Institute of Contemporary Art/P.S. 1 Museum, New York, 1997
ISBN 1852424281, 9781852424282
177 pages

WorldCat

PDF (16 MB)