The Lady With The Torch: Columbia Pictures 1929-1959 is the book of the 77th edition Retrospective. Edited by Ehsan Khoshbakht and published by Les éditions de l’Œil.

Featuring essays by acclaimed writers like Jonathan Rosenbaum, Kim Newman, Imogen Sara Smith, David Thompson, Farran Smith Nehme, Chris Fujiwara, and many others, this detailed new volume examines the particularities of Columbia Pictutres in relation to what is generally known as the Genius of the System. It acknowledges the brilliance of this system but finds the genius somewhere between the filmmakers’ vision and the industrial infrastructure that allowed them to flourish.

Illustrated with hundreds of rare stills, the stories are as much in the images as in the words. Both words and images aim at reconstructing three exuberant decades of incessant creativity, evolution, and growth, reminding us that once upon a time there was a brilliant exchange between art and commerce, between the system and the artist.

Please note: On-site pick-up will be possible from 2 August. Online orders will only be dispatched after Locarno77.