Stanley Schtinter and Erika Balsom on Last Movies

Published: Dec. 5, 2023, 7:07 p.m.

In the epigraph to his new book, writer-slash-film programmer-slash-performance artist Stanley Schtinter succinctly describes his project: \u201cLast Movies is a dedication to the absence of choice, to chance. If there is any bias in the cast-list it is a bias coded into the tell-ing of the first century of cinema (that I parasitise); the result, a forensic of the last earthly dance of a star, and the pause they took (if indeed they did) to catch a movie.\u201d Conceived of as both a writing project and an epic durational film program, Last Movies explores the seemingly morbid subject of the final films watched by a selection of twentieth century luminaries. Delving into the lives and ultimate viewings of figures from Franz Kafka to John F. Kennedy to Kurt Cobain to the Heaven\u2019s Gate cult, the book maps a strange and surprising cultural history from a seemingly arbitrary scatter plot.\n\nFilm Comment Editors Devika Girish and Clinton Krute sat down with Schtinter and critic Erika Balsom, who wrote the book\u2019s forward, to discuss the many layers of Last Movies, how the project is actually life-affirming, why the author dressed up like a cop for a recent Q&A in London, and much more.\n\nLast Movies is available now from Tenement Press: https://tenementpress.com/Last-Movies