World Cinema: Diary of a Day

To mark the centenary of cinema--which began with the Lumiere Brothers' 1895 showing of the first films in Paris--the British Film Institute asked some 1000 film people worldwide--directors, producers, actors, screenwriters, technicians, composers, executives, teachers, critics--to keep diaries for a single day, June 10, 1993. The result, a feast for film buffs, offers a unique window on the global film scene. Jottings by Martin Scorsese, Anthony Hopkins, Akira Kurosawa, Bertrand Tavernier, Penelope Spheeris, Li Shaohong and hundreds of others, interleaved with 350 photos (150 in color), provide an extraordinary close-up of cinematic creativity, covering the entire production cycle from story conception to shooting to distribution. Moving from Hollywood budget meetings to the outer frontiers of independent cinema, and from Russia to Haiti to Egypt, this kaleidoscopic mosaic often portrays today's filmmaker as a Jack or Jill of all trades, juggling artistic and financial concerns. Cowie is international publishing director of Variety and author of Ingmar Bergman and Coppola. (Mar.)