The purpose of this forum is to facilitate communication within the Stanford community about anything related to film at Stanford. Although there are several film related mailing lists, none of them really allow for public brainstorming, planning, or discussion of film related events and projects. In many ways, this is the niche that I hope this forum fills.

If you have an idea for a film event, program, series, discussion, project, etc... that you would like to help share with others on campus, please post it to this forum. There are no requirements for posting -- you don't have to be affiliated with any organization; in fact you don't even have to be affiliated with Stanford.

Example 1: Let's say that you are a huge fan of Kurosawa's "Dreams" and feel it's unfortunate that: (A) so few people have seen it, and (B), most of those who have seen it were forced to watch a pan-and-scan VHS copy on a small TV. It would only take a few minutes to post a message asking if anyone is interested in bringing a 35mm or laserdisc version of "Dreams" to campus to be shown on a big screen. Who knows, maybe no one will respond, and you'll be stuck watching it in Meyer library all by yourself. On the other hand, maybe there are some other Kurosawa fans out there who are interested in working with you to bring such an event to campus.

Example 2: You are making a film and you need a few actors or some technical advice. Chances are that if you post such a request someone out there will be able to help.

Example 3: A great film is playing at the Castro in San Francisco, but you don't have a way of getting there or you don't want to go by yourself or you just want to let other people know about it.

Example 4: A film worth discussing was shown last Friday night. However, you don't have anyone to discuss it with since everyone left as soon as the credits started rolling and none of your friends went to see it. Post and discuss!

As you can tell by these examples, there is quite a range of topics that may come up in the forum. The last thing that I want to happen to this forum is that it gets so unorganized that it becomes a hassle to use. I will do my best to keep it organized and maintain it in a competent manner. If you have suggestions or comments, please don't hesitate to email me.

The only restriction regarding what should be posted is: Don't post anything that isn't related to people who are interested in film at Stanford.

-- Adrian Graham (aag@stanford.edu), October 31, 1998