sailuluo 赛璐珞

---

Editorial #1:

Before embarking on a new project, it is good to bring previous activities into completion. However, every new branch sprouts from a root. Working as a writer for a few years, there are more and more texts that end up not being published due to lack of a suitable outlet, producer’s requests to wait until the distribution date is confirmed or a writer’s need to make a living that pushes work on independent (meaning, the work that will not bring any monetary income) texts further into the future until they are too old to be considered as relevant by potential magazines.

This edition collects texts that were loved and cared for, but did not find a suitable place for publication yet. The late publication of the texts brings attention to the matters of time and perspective. They are now read with the benefit of hindsight—aware of subsequent events and the directions in which cinema has evolved across different regions. For instance, Gagaland 舞迪斯科特 (2023, dir. Teng Yuhan) after its premiere at the IFFR, failed to secure domestic distribution. It joins a growing list of innovative Chinese films that vanish from view after their festival premieres. Since Locarno-winning Vengence is Mine, All Others Pay Cash (Seperti dendam, rindu harus dibayar tuntas, 2021) the producer Meiske Taurisia and director Edwin moved on to work on a film for Netflix, marking the growing hegemony of streaming platforms in Indonesia. The interview with Trương Minh Quý about his feature-length debut Viet and Nam took place at the conclusion of the film’s festival tour, as the filmmaker reflected on the reception of his work, the expectations imposed by the industry following its international success. This issue concludes with contemporary reports from the Beijing International Short Film Festival and NOMSIZ Film Festival in Tashkent.

Relevance is the issue: the “latest news,” the premiere status, and the “what is your next project?” questions during interviews. What IS new in a world so saturated with audiovisual content that the past seems to cease to exist in favour of the continuous now? The idea of the new caters to the market, but as time goes by, some of us start to notice it is just a game, increasingly losing its appeal. I am tired of running after the next new thing and would rather come back to self and to the people who care.

Finally, for this inaugural issue, I hope sailuluo 赛璐珞 can become a place where unpublished texts can find an audience and live beyond personal hard drives and clouds.

Maja Korbecka