Deke Dusinberre

ENGLISH AVANT-GARDE CINEMA, 1966-1974 (Abstract)
Throughout its history, one of the aspirations of the cinema has been to engage in the aesthetic discourse of modernism in the arts. It is an aspiration which, in this country, has been frustrated until quite recently. This thesis is primarily involved in documenting the first consistently successful modernist film work in England – work which has not yet been fully or accurately documented. It offers a working definition of the complex notion of 'avant-garde' in art and in film, then briefly traces the few sporadic efforts at establishing an avant-garde film culture in England during the first six decades of this century. A thorough history of the recent period of intense activity (1966-1974) follows; a history which is the result of much primary research including personal interviews with the principals, an examination of screening schedules and bulletins of various film groups, and a review of the journalistic and critical writings of the period.
The historical analysis considers both the economic exigencies and aesthetic implications of this 'alternative' cinematic practice, dealing with the problems of financing films which have no commercial outlet, and the problems of developing an aesthetic in opposition to the dominant cinematic conventions. Avant-garde film activity in England is still growing at the time of this writing; the thesis concludes with a full critical examination and assessment of the most important of the current avant-garde film work being done here.

Paul Durand-Ruel's memoirs, first published in French in 1939, now translated into English and supplemented with contemporary and historical information, track his career as a patron and promoter of poverty-stricken and struggling impressionist artists of the fin-de-siecle period. The young collector and gallery owner supported them emotionally and financially, and relentlessly promoted works by the likes of Degas, Manet, and Milletworks now considered invaluable. His meticulous and detailed memoirs recount key events, from his grandparents desperate flight from the Terror in 1793, to his fathers early days collecting paintings to sell in his mothers stationery shop, to his own extensive records of purchases. Among Durand-Ruel's notable acquisitions were modern paintings bought from Prince Napoleon at the Palais-Royal in 1867 and Rembrandts David and Saul, purchased for just 12,500 francs in 1869. The memoirs delve into the records of his momentous career, using detailed acc...

This interview took place on 8 September, 1976, at the London Filmmakers’ Coop, Fitzroy Road, London. Frampton already had a reputation as one of the major theorist-filmmakers of the contemporary avant-garde, although his work was comparatively little known in Britain at this time.

In May 2013, after months of controversy, France legalized same-sex marriage and adoption by homosexual couples. Obstacles to adoption and parenting equality remain, however -- many of them in the form of cultural and political norms reflected and expressed in French adoption policies. In The Politics of Adoption, Bruno Perreau describes the evolution of these policies. In the past thirty years, Perreau explains, political and intellectual life in France have been dominated by debates over how to preserve "Frenchness," and these debates have driven policy making. Adoption policies, he argues, link adoption to citizenship, reflecting and enforcing the postcolonial state's notions of parenthood, gender, and Frenchness. After reviewing the complex history of adoption, Perreau examines French political debates over adoption, noting, among other things, that intercountry adoptions stirred far less controversy than the difference between the sexes in an adopting couple. He also discusses judicial action on adoption; child welfare agencies as gatekeepers to parenthood (as defined by experts); the approval process from the viewpoints of social workers and applicants; and adoption's link to citizenship, and its use as a metaphor for belonging. Adopting a Foucaultian perspective, Perreau calls the biopolitics of adoption "pastoral": it manages the individual for the good of the collective "flock"; it considers itself outside politics; and it considers not so much the real behavior of individuals as an allegorical representation of them. His argument sheds new light on American debates on bioethics, identity, and citizenship.