Introduction

The moving image is an integral part of modern human existence and the axiom underscoring the conception of Wide Screen is that there can never be an "over-study" of this field. The more new moving image technologies are introduced, for example television, home video, cable and now internet, the more they bring films to the centre of cultural production and consumption. Take for example Youtube.com where you can access full-length films (Battle of Algiers, 1966) or clips from films (Sanders of the River, 1935). The implication of this is exciting for researcher, practitioner, critic, and lay public alike. The same way as new technologies introduce new norms of distribution and reception, past concerns of pleasure, representation or meaning in moving images continue to persist as previous issues, race for example, morph into newer forms while newer issues emerge. Thus, films and the moving image keep "arriving" with every passing age and technology and consequently require continuous critical attention. The title of the journal Wide Screen embodies the complexity of screen studies, spanning from conception, finance, and production to reception. In doing so it asks, and seeks to provide answers to, the persistent question: Why should the moving image be studied?