Sight and Sound January 2017

BFI: Sight & Sound magazine, for January 2017. Front cover promotes Damien's Chazelle's film 'La La Land,' with artwork depicting Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone dancing together. In the cover feature Pamela Hutchinson analyses the film in the context of the contemporary Hollywood musical and in a related article Dan Callahan profiles dancer-director Gene Kelly. The other longer articles are: Gaylene Gould looks at African-American comedy star Issa Rae's new TV series 'Insecure' and other recent comedy shows by black performer-writers such as Donald Glover's 'Atlanta'. Michael Brooke examines Krzystzof Kieslowski's early TV work in Poland and Tony Rayns recalls meeting the director in the 1980s. Catherine Wheatley looks at Eugene Green's new French comedy 'the Son of Joseph'. Richard Combs looks at the work of video artist William Kentridge, which is inspired by early and pre-cinema including filmmakers such as Georges Melies. Critics from around the word share their lists of the best films of the year in 2016 with Maren Ade's German comedy 'Toni Erdmann' voted best film. Related pieces look at the year in animation and horror while Ashley Clark examines African-American cinema in the last year of the Obama presidency and Lisa Kerrigan considers the year in television. Shorter articles in this issue are: In his editorial Nick James considers the differences in ideas of authorship between film and television between writers and directors with particular reference to Sally Wainwright. A piece by David Lynch on 'Blue Velvet' from the 1980s release is reproduced. In her Object Lessons column Hannah McGill discusses violins in film. Austrian director Ruth Beckermann is interviewed about her new film 'The Dreamed Ones' about the correspondence between poets Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann. In his column Mark Cousins pays tribute the acting style and screen image of Amy Adams. Charles Gant looks at the development of Oliver Stone's 'Snowden', about US security whistleblower Edward Snowden. His Numbers column looks at the success of Ken Loach's 'I, Daniel Blake' and features selected box office figures for Loach's films in the UK. Report from the inaugural FiSahara film festival in Algeria, particularly in relation to the Sahrawi people's resistance in Western Sahara. Nick Pinkerton looks at the work of British video artist Mark Leckey. The role of music in Todd Solondz' films. In Primal Screen Pamela Hutchinson looks at the work of Canadian female early film pioneer Nell Shipman. Report from the 2019 Vienna film Festival. Films of the Month reviewed are Ang Lee's 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk'; Billy O'Brien's 'I am Not a Serial Killer'; and Trey Edward Shults' 'Krisha'. Other releases reviewed this issue include; Robert Zemeckis' wartime thriller 'allied'; Nate Parker's controversial 'The Birth of A Nation'; John Pilger's documentary 'The Coming War on China'; Mongolia set documentary 'The Eagle Huntress'; 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'; and Gay British drama 'The Pass'. Home Cinema includes long pieces on a reissue of early African-American films, including titles by Oscar Michaeux; Kobayashi Masaki's ' Japanese film 'The Human Condition'; and Spike Milligan's 'Q' TV series. In Lost and Found Philip Kemp analyses the early Marcel Carne and Jacques Prevert film 'Jenny' from 1937. The book reviews feature Nick Pinkerton on Bresson's writing and Henry K Miller on a history of the London Film Co-Op. Endings looks at the conclusion of Charles Burnett's African-American drama 'To Sleep with Anger' from 1990.