As the saying goes about history, “those who don’t know it are destined to relive it.” That in a nutshell is the reason the Quarterly is so intent on exploring where we, as a Guild and as filmmakers, have come from. It is essential to understand how we got here to know where we’re going. Case in point: Gordon Parks. As the first black filmmaker to direct a studio film, he was a pioneer, as important in his own way as Jackie Robinson. And it wasn’t that long ago. He broke the color barrier in Hollywood only in 1969 with The Learning Tree, based on his autobiography of a hardscrabble life growing up as one of 16 kids in Kansas. It’s an incredible American success story given added poignancy by its racial significance, as Desa Philadelphia reports in our cover story. For someone like Parks, who opened the door to generations of black filmmakers, it’s easy to see who he inspired, but really any director is indebted to those who have come before.

Continuing in the historical vein, our Screening Room column this month, written by Bay Area writer Sheerly Avni, presents Terry Zwigoff paying homage, in his own unique way, to the influence of Fritz Lang’s Scarlet Street in forging his cinematic sensibility. And speaking about the influence of past films on the present, no movie has had more impact on the look and feel of the future than Blade Runner. In Shot to Remember, Ridley Scott discusses with Scott Foundas how he pulled off the film’s still staggering ending without the aid of today’s CGI technology. Directors have been going to school on this film for 25 years.

One of the wonders of filmmaking is that it continues to evolve, innovations happen. With films like Amores Perros and 21 Grams, Alejandro González Iñárritu has tried some bold experiments in storytelling structure. He continues that with his latest film Babel and graciously allowed writer Henry Sheehan into the editing room to observe how he stitched together a complex narrative. This is the first in an ongoing series in which we will get to see directors at work off the set.

One of the most exciting–or disturbing, depending on whom you ask–developments in the industry today is the long-awaited arrival of digital exhibition. This is an innovation that will surely change not only how films are watched but perhaps how they are made. Veteran film journalist Alex Ben Block surveys this complicated issue and its impact on directors.

And to balance the past with the present, Time magazine’s Jeffrey Ressner visits with Sydney Pollack for the DGA Interview. Pollack has been making great films for almost 50 years. Having started out in live television, he embodies both the history of the business and its present; his latest film is a low budget documentary about his friend Frank Gehry, shot partially on digital video.

With all this talk of history, I would be remiss not to mention the upcoming 70th anniversary of the DGA in December. We are planning to commemorate the occasion in our winter issue. If you have any suggestions or stories you think should be told, please let us know. In the meantime, the Quarterly moves ahead (with an eye on the past) with its third installment. Hope you enjoy the issue.

Best,
James Greenberg
Editor in Chief