Fine Cuts: Interviews on the Practice of European Film Editing

In the expanded second edition of Fine Cuts, Roger Crittenden reveals the experiences of the greatest European film editors through his warm and perceptive interviews. This new edition builds on the foundations laid out in 2005, including interviews with the editors of films such as Day for Night, The Sacrifice, The Kid with a Bike, and Fanny and Alexander; new interviews with editors of such films as Tyrannosaur and The Other Side of Hope; and editors from a wider range of countries, including Austria, Belgium, Finland, Portugal, and Russia. The book now embraces all aspects of post-production, with insights into sound editing from Larry Sider, originator of the renowned School of Sound, and music composition from Oscar winner Dario Marianelli (Atonement).

Editors relate their experiences with directors including:

• Claire Atherton [Chantal Akerman]
• Mick Audsley [Terry Gilliam, Stephen Frears]
• Yann Dedet [François Truffaut, Claire Denis, Maurice Pialat]
• Marie-Hélène Dozo [Dardenne Brothers]
• François Gédigier [Patrice Chéreau, Lars von Trier]
• Samu Heikkilä [Aki Kaurismäki]
• Sylvia Ingemarsdotter [Ingmar Bergman]
• Tony Lawson [Nicolas Roeg, Stanley Kubrick, Neil Jordan]
• Michal Leszczylowski [Andrei Tarkovsky, Lukas Moodysson]
• Roberto Perpignani [Orson Welles, Bernardo Bertolucci, Tavianni Brothers]
• Mary Stephen [Éric Rohmer]

Each interview also includes a list of cited and notable films for further study. An online eResource contains additional interviews with editors Sabine Mamou, Agnès Guillemot, and Nino Baragli.

Roger Crittenden: After a distinguished career at the BBC, where he gained a special award for sustained excellence as a film editor, he was recruited to the new National Film and Television School as Head of Editing and later became Director of the MA programme. While with the NFTS, he taught in Moscow, Mexico City, Manila, Copenhagen, Singapore, Brisbane Australia, and in Cuba. In 2014 he was given the first ever CILECT International Teaching Award for his outstanding contribution to media pedagogy. More recently, he was appointed Adjunct Professor of Film at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. Roger is the author of two books on editing, as well as a book on Truffaut’s Day For Night for the British Film Institute's Film Classic Series.

As a result of the first edition of Fine Cuts, Roger was invited to curate symposia on film editing in Poland, Japan, Brazil, Cuba, Australia, and in his home institution (NFTS) in the UK, where he continues to act as a consultant and visiting tutor.