A Rabbit’s Foot No. 4 is available now on loremnotipsum.com. It has been a year since we boldly launched our independent publication A Rabbit’s Foot, celebrating film, art and culture. We are learning ’mucho’ as we go along, and we plan to keep learning, exploring and celebrating—so stay with us, and we won’t let you down.
I am immensely proud that we have come so far, and have found that what we have to say has resonated with a loyal readership that stands with us in our journey to chronicle the point of view of the artists and work we cherish. For this issue number 4, our theme of ‘Love and Passion’ shares with you some stories of film and filmmakers, and writers and artists known to explore and to celebrate these most powerful human emotions.
We are never completely sure what any issue is going to offer up—whether anyone will agree to be in our pages, or if the theme of the issue we are working on is going to resonate until deep in the editing process. As we meander along, we find, or rather stumble on a ’shaded’ path through the forest of ideas and writing we have commissioned, and that work then leads us to the book you have in your hand.
A Rabbit’s Foot is a British-based quarterly printed film and art bookazine, founded and edited by the film producer and businessman Charles Finch. Finch hosts the Oscars, Cannes, and BAFTA dinners and has long- standing connections to the film industry. Established as an “insider’s look at the industry, from a current, historical and international perspective” with a premium, handmade feel, A Rabbit’s Foot aims to be a cerebral companion for those curious about arts and films, with a consumer-facing focus. Each quarterly edition is themed around a cultural motif (such as French cinema or Politics and Film) and contains interviews, essays and biographical writing around that chosen topic, alongside photography, behind the scene-images and film stills.
A Rabbit’s Foot Magazine is celebrating film, art and culture and the fascinating ‘peeps’ that create these things we love…The filmmakers, the actors, writers, musicians. The painters, photographers and, of course, the stories themselves. From the mind of producer, writer, and filmmaker Charles Finch, we are a new bookazine and digital platform with an informed focus on film, art, and culture. A Rabbit’s Foot Magazine is for those of you who require a more cerebral approach in your interest in cinema and the arts – whether you are a film student, an artist in need of inspiration, or an industry expert. Thoughtful essays and stories from leading directors and actors are joined by the most wonderful photographers.
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To this end, Richard Gianorio profiles Marion Cotillard, the great French actress, star and beauty, who both in life and in work embodies love and passion—particularly to us repressed Anglo Saxons! Marion possesses a mystical other-worldliness that draws us in deeply to her magical eyes, and her story and work is most captivating.
The acclaimed writer Natasha A. Fraser returns to our pages with a profile on the exquisite muse of all muses, Fanny Ardant. I have known Fanny for many years, and she remains one of the most intoxicating people I have ever met. She is both humorous and strong.
Feminine and gracious. In short, a Goddess. Not surprising then that Truffaut loved her, and Alain Resnais made three pictures with her. Ethan Coen bravely and humorously writes of sex and love in film, and we are excited to see his and Tricia Cooke’s new movie Drive-Away Dolls.
We have profiles on Alex Cox, and his seminal punk love story Sid & Nancy from Max Arvelaiz, interviews with Oscar-winner Ava DuVernay, Nick Broomfield and Gaspar Noé. We are also most fortunate to have spent time with Sam Taylor-Johnson, the photographer and filmmaker, as well as participate in extraordinary interviews with the artist Antony Gormley, and the Oscar-winning director of photography Sir Roger Deakins. We also asked Natasha A. Fraser to explore the love story of the King of Hollywood Clark Gable and Carol Lombard, with its tragic end. Peter Bradshaw offers his insight into Rudolph Valentino, the first original sex screen symbol. Luke Georgiades brings us his brilliant profile on Isabel Sandoval, who in turn writes for us about Wong Kar-wai.
We could not have chosen our theme without pieces about Nagisa Oshima’s mind blowing erotic film In the Realm of the Senses. Other terrific pieces include photographic collector and gallerist Michael Hoppen on the photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue, and Kim Krizan on Anaïs Nin and the way the author inspired her writing for Before Sunrise. In March, we celebrated film with our POWER OF FILM event at The Royal Institution here in Mayfair, London, where speakers included Sir Christopher Hampton, Ken Loach, Sandy Powell, Nick Broomfield, Asif Kapadia with Akram Khan, Josie Rourke, and Edgar Wright.
A Rabbit’s Foot has also hosted screenings and reviewed films and openings, and the word has spread across the pond to the USA where we are now in book and magazine stores in New York and Los Angeles. This May, we urge you to visit our revamped website which will now bring you monthly cultural ’must see’ listings, and profiles. For some icing on the cake, listen to our three episode podcast, ’A Year in the Life of A Rabbit’. These last twelve months of adventure, surprises and challenges, has taught me a great deal, and I am incredibly grateful (and a little proud) that we are still going, and still as enthusiastic about publishing as we all were when we cobbled our first issue together. Thank you, team: Tristram our creative director emeritus for your gentle and wise guidance. Fatima, for taking over the mantle from Tristram as our creative director and rolling with the punches and so much, much, more—and to my deputy Chris for humour and talent and invaluable support. Thank you Luke, for a profound film insight, Anna, for her diligence and hard work, and Sam for writing—and general nonchalance.
We would clearly be nowhere without the extraordinary writers and subjects we have profiled; the great artists and the storytellers new and established who have collaborated with us and given us the benefit of the doubt to appear in our pages. Thank you to our extended team: Jason Solomons, Natasha A. Fraser, Peter Bradshaw, PK Fellowes, Sara-Ella Ozbek, Nadia Khomami, and Julien Planté.
Details: A Rabbit’s Foot No. 4
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