French film historian, scholar and curator Nicole Brenez presents her State of Cinema, titled ‘Projections. Provisoires. Provisions’. Brenez has entrusted filmmaker Othello Vilgard with the task of reading her text and putting the recording into form.
The text is now available on Sabzian in French as well as in Dutch and English translation: https://sabzian.be/text/state-of-cinema-2021-1

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In 2018, by analogy with similar initiatives in other art forms, Sabzian created a new yearly tradition: Sabzian invites a guest to write a State of Cinema and to choose a film that connects to it. This way, once a year, the art of film is held against the light: a speech that challenges cinema, calls it to account, points the way or refuses to define it, puts it to the test and on the line, summons or embraces it, praises or curses it. A plea, a declaration, a manifest, a programme, a testimony, a letter, an apologia or maybe even an indictment. In any case, a call to think about what cinema means, could mean or should mean today.
For the 2021 edition, Sabzian welcomed the French film historian, scholar and curator Nicole Brenez. She chose the film A.I. at War (2021), in which filmmaker Florent Marcie confronts Sota, an AI robot, with the tragedy of mankind in the war zones of Mosul and Raqqa, then in Paris during the Yellow Vests uprising.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the State of Cinema’s fourth edition took place online, with brenez presenting her State of Cinema to a worldwide audience, followed by a single online screening of Florent Marcie’s A.I. at War. The screening was followed by a Q&A with Florent Marcie, Nicole Brenez and Gerard-Jan Claes.

More info on the event: https://sabzian.be/event/state-of-cinema-2021-nicole-brenez