Orson Welles Centenary

Today, May 6, 2015, marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Orson Welles. As a tribute to his intellectual and cinematic heritage, Sabzian will publish a series of texts around Welles’ oeuvre.

“What are we referring to when we speak of the world march of the cinemas, that indispensable figment of statistics? An individual sitting in a seat, in a hall. Multiply him by quite a few millions and what do you get more than the same spectator in the plural? Unconscious of his statistical importance his dreams depend obstinately on the old human scale. No super-screen will make him a superman. He is no giant, he is only numerous.”

In 1958 Orson Welles wrote a short text in response to the controversy about the aspect ratio of Touch of Evil entitled ‘Ribbon of Dreams’. You can read the original text here or the Dutch translation made by Rosanne Claes and Gerard-Jan Claes here.