Introduced and Co-curated by Scott MacDonaldWhen viewers are faced with forms of film that cause them to wonder, "Is this a movie?" they have the opportunity to recontextualize their previous filmgoing experiences and to expand their understanding of what film and film history is, has been, and can be. The achievement of the critical cinema, which has been evolving at the margins of the popular cinema, has been the continual proliferation of critical film forms-that is, forms of cinema capable of surprising viewers and catalyzing critique-by filmmakers with limited economic means.-Scott MacDonaldWe have asked writer and teacher Scott MacDonald to work with us in selecting six programs of works by artists whom he interviewed for A Critical Cinema 3, a fascinating collection of twenty-six interviews with independent and experimental filmmakers. He will be in person to introduce the program on July 21, as well as for a booksigning. We invite you, our audience, to explore critical cinema-both through viewing this far-ranging selection of films and videos, and by reading the interviews on a weekly basis, before or after viewing the films, as a way of discovering the artist's view of his/her work and creative process. For our Calendar notes, we have condensed a selection from MacDonald's introductions to the artists and a quote from each. Many of these artists are seldom exhibited, and in the case of Jordan Belson and Arthur Peleshian, we present rare prints from the PFA Collection. A Critical Cinema 3: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers (University of California Press, 1998) is sold in the BAM/PFA Bookstore, and will be available for purchase at the booksigning. Scott MacDonald has begun work on A Critical Cinema 4 and is writing a book, The Garden in the Machine, on sense of place in recent independent cinema and in nineteenth-century visual and literary arts. Kathy Geritz Tuesday July 21, 1998