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  1. Psychology News Robot @[email protected] ·

    DATE: May 20, 2026 at 06:00PM
    SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

    ** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
    -------------------------------------------------

    TITLE: Can tuning music to 432Hz really heal you? Scientists explain the viral trend

    URL: psypost.org/can-tuning-music-t

    If you scroll through social media for long enough, you’ll probably find videos claiming that listening to songs tuned to “A 432Hz” can provide an amazing sense of calmness or healing.

    It’s even claimed that listening to music tuned to this frequency can align your internal frequencies to those of the universe. It’s an alluring idea – that simply listening to music tuned in a specific way could improve your health.

    But does it have any scientific basis?

    An ancient idea

    Firstly, what does it even mean if songs are tuned to A 432Hz?

    Hertz (or Hz) is a measurement of frequency, or the number of times sound waves vibrate per second. Sounds are transmitted as waves through the air which hit our eardrums to create the sensation of hearing. The more quickly those sound waves are vibrating, the higher the pitch of the note.

    In standard concert tuning, the note A above middle C is tuned to 440Hz. A 432Hz tuning simply means the pitch of that A and all the other notes in the music are tuned a little lower than normal.

    Some argue 432Hz is closer to natural harmonic frequencies than 440Hz and that using this tuning is therefore better for wellbeing.

    The idea that sounds or music can heal or even align us with the cosmos is not new. Long before social media, the ancient Greeks linked sound to the frequencies of the universe. Pythagoras proposed musical notes were governed by simple numerical ratios, the same ratios he believed underpinned the cosmos itself.

    Later, medieval and Renaissance thinkers built on these ideas with the concept of “music of the spheres” – the idea that sound could be used to align us with the vibrations of the planets in a kind of cosmic harmony that influenced human emotions and wellbeing.

    No magical effect

    Although the concept of cosmic alignment is intriguing, there’s little scientific support for the idea that specific frequencies have any magical effect on wellbeing.

    In one study from 2019, researchers played movie soundtracks tuned to 440 Hz to participants on one day and to 432 Hz on another day, finding that after listening to the 432 Hz tunings participants had slightly decreased heart rate and blood pressure. However, the study was limited by a very small sample and non-randomisation of participants, making it difficult to separate true frequency effects from expectancy or general relaxation responses.

    Modern research suggests the effects of sound or music on wellbeing are less about any single special frequency, and more about how we perceive and interpret sound.

    Some have theorised the use of frequencies that correspond to specific brainwave patterns such as delta waves (0.5–4Hz, associated with deep sleep), or alpha waves (8–12Hz, associated with relaxed wakefulness), can make the brain synchronise to those frequencies and achieve a relaxed state.

    However, research in support of this theory is inconclusive. One study from 2017 found no changes in electrical activity in the brain after hearing such frequencies presented as binaural beats.

    Binaural beats themselves are another form of sound that many claim can have miraculous effects on wellbeing. When two slightly different frequencies are played separately into each ear, the brain perceives a rhythmic pulse at a rate equal to the difference between the two frequencies. This is called a binaural beat.

    There is some evidence that our physiological systems (such as breathing and heart rate) synchronise to any beat that we hear. This can help lower our levels of arousal or alertness.

    That’s why most of us tend to be attracted to slower, calmer sounding music when we want to relax, for example, since the slower beat helps slow our breathing and heart rate and make us feel sleepier or calmer.

    Focusing on your own response

    Does that mean binaural beats have any special therapeutic effect? Not really.

    A recent study found binaural beats can increase relaxation and alter brain activity. But crucially, similar effects were also observed with other types of moving or spatialised sounds. The authors concluded the benefits were likely driven by general auditory features rather than the binaural beats themselves.

    It all comes down to individual preferences and perceptions. For example, binaural beats are frequently associated with meditation or mantras. And it could be this association which enhances the supposed wellbeing effects of binaural beats for some people.

    Similarly with music tuned to A 432Hz.

    Our brains tend to interpret sounds as expressions of emotional states. When humans are relaxed, our voices are usually lower in pitch than when we are excited or agitated.

    Thus, notes of a lower pitch are sometimes perceived as more relaxing than notes that are higher pitched. Again, this doesn’t mean there is anything special or magical about 432Hz tunings – just that for many people, lower pitched notes seem calmer. The same effect could be achieved by listening to other music or frequencies with a lower pitch.

    So while 432Hz might sound soothing to some ears, it’s not a shortcut to cosmic alignment. Rather than thinking about the numbers, focus on really becoming aware of your own response. Notice how different sounds make you feel, what slows your breathing, eases your body, or lifts your mood.

    When it comes to wellbeing, what works is what works for you.

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

    URL: psypost.org/can-tuning-music-t

    -------------------------------------------------

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    Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

    NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot

    Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: nationalpsychologist.com

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    It's primitive... but it works... mostly...

    -------------------------------------------------

    #psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist 432HzMythScience HealingHz SoundWellbeing DebunkingMusic FrequenciesDebate MusicAndHealth BinauralBeatsReality FrequencyPerception LowerPitchCalm

    #psychotherapist #depression #healthcare #psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychotherapy
  2. Psychology News Robot @[email protected] ·

    DATE: May 20, 2026 at 06:00PM
    SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

    ** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
    -------------------------------------------------

    TITLE: Can tuning music to 432Hz really heal you? Scientists explain the viral trend

    URL: psypost.org/can-tuning-music-t

    If you scroll through social media for long enough, you’ll probably find videos claiming that listening to songs tuned to “A 432Hz” can provide an amazing sense of calmness or healing.

    It’s even claimed that listening to music tuned to this frequency can align your internal frequencies to those of the universe. It’s an alluring idea – that simply listening to music tuned in a specific way could improve your health.

    But does it have any scientific basis?

    An ancient idea

    Firstly, what does it even mean if songs are tuned to A 432Hz?

    Hertz (or Hz) is a measurement of frequency, or the number of times sound waves vibrate per second. Sounds are transmitted as waves through the air which hit our eardrums to create the sensation of hearing. The more quickly those sound waves are vibrating, the higher the pitch of the note.

    In standard concert tuning, the note A above middle C is tuned to 440Hz. A 432Hz tuning simply means the pitch of that A and all the other notes in the music are tuned a little lower than normal.

    Some argue 432Hz is closer to natural harmonic frequencies than 440Hz and that using this tuning is therefore better for wellbeing.

    The idea that sounds or music can heal or even align us with the cosmos is not new. Long before social media, the ancient Greeks linked sound to the frequencies of the universe. Pythagoras proposed musical notes were governed by simple numerical ratios, the same ratios he believed underpinned the cosmos itself.

    Later, medieval and Renaissance thinkers built on these ideas with the concept of “music of the spheres” – the idea that sound could be used to align us with the vibrations of the planets in a kind of cosmic harmony that influenced human emotions and wellbeing.

    No magical effect

    Although the concept of cosmic alignment is intriguing, there’s little scientific support for the idea that specific frequencies have any magical effect on wellbeing.

    In one study from 2019, researchers played movie soundtracks tuned to 440 Hz to participants on one day and to 432 Hz on another day, finding that after listening to the 432 Hz tunings participants had slightly decreased heart rate and blood pressure. However, the study was limited by a very small sample and non-randomisation of participants, making it difficult to separate true frequency effects from expectancy or general relaxation responses.

    Modern research suggests the effects of sound or music on wellbeing are less about any single special frequency, and more about how we perceive and interpret sound.

    Some have theorised the use of frequencies that correspond to specific brainwave patterns such as delta waves (0.5–4Hz, associated with deep sleep), or alpha waves (8–12Hz, associated with relaxed wakefulness), can make the brain synchronise to those frequencies and achieve a relaxed state.

    However, research in support of this theory is inconclusive. One study from 2017 found no changes in electrical activity in the brain after hearing such frequencies presented as binaural beats.

    Binaural beats themselves are another form of sound that many claim can have miraculous effects on wellbeing. When two slightly different frequencies are played separately into each ear, the brain perceives a rhythmic pulse at a rate equal to the difference between the two frequencies. This is called a binaural beat.

    There is some evidence that our physiological systems (such as breathing and heart rate) synchronise to any beat that we hear. This can help lower our levels of arousal or alertness.

    That’s why most of us tend to be attracted to slower, calmer sounding music when we want to relax, for example, since the slower beat helps slow our breathing and heart rate and make us feel sleepier or calmer.

    Focusing on your own response

    Does that mean binaural beats have any special therapeutic effect? Not really.

    A recent study found binaural beats can increase relaxation and alter brain activity. But crucially, similar effects were also observed with other types of moving or spatialised sounds. The authors concluded the benefits were likely driven by general auditory features rather than the binaural beats themselves.

    It all comes down to individual preferences and perceptions. For example, binaural beats are frequently associated with meditation or mantras. And it could be this association which enhances the supposed wellbeing effects of binaural beats for some people.

    Similarly with music tuned to A 432Hz.

    Our brains tend to interpret sounds as expressions of emotional states. When humans are relaxed, our voices are usually lower in pitch than when we are excited or agitated.

    Thus, notes of a lower pitch are sometimes perceived as more relaxing than notes that are higher pitched. Again, this doesn’t mean there is anything special or magical about 432Hz tunings – just that for many people, lower pitched notes seem calmer. The same effect could be achieved by listening to other music or frequencies with a lower pitch.

    So while 432Hz might sound soothing to some ears, it’s not a shortcut to cosmic alignment. Rather than thinking about the numbers, focus on really becoming aware of your own response. Notice how different sounds make you feel, what slows your breathing, eases your body, or lifts your mood.

    When it comes to wellbeing, what works is what works for you.

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

    URL: psypost.org/can-tuning-music-t

    -------------------------------------------------

    DAILY EMAIL DIGEST: Email [email protected] -- no subject or message needed.

    Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: clinicians-exchange.org

    Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

    NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot

    Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: nationalpsychologist.com

    EMAIL DAILY DIGEST OF RSS FEEDS -- SUBSCRIBE: subscribe-article-digests.clin

    READ ONLINE: read-the-rss-mega-archive.clin

    It's primitive... but it works... mostly...

    -------------------------------------------------

    #psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist 432HzMythScience HealingHz SoundWellbeing DebunkingMusic FrequenciesDebate MusicAndHealth BinauralBeatsReality FrequencyPerception LowerPitchCalm

    #psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy #mentalhealth #psychiatry
  3. WE AND THE COLOR @[email protected] ·

    These are the Top 5 Mirrorless Cameras for 2026: The Definitive Ranking Guide for Every Serious Photographer

    This post contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you click on them and make a purchase. It’s at no extra cost to you and helps us run this site. Thanks for your support!

    Honestly, the mirrorless camera market has never been more mature—or more ruthlessly competitive. Right now, five bodies are pulling ahead of the pack. They aren’t just marginally better than last year’s options. They represent a structural shift in what a professional imaging tool can be. AI-powered autofocus, stacked CMOS sensors, and built-in stabilization ratings above eight stops have turned the “good enough” threshold into something almost absurdly high. So the real question isn’t whether these cameras are impressive. It’s about which one actually fits how you shoot.

    This ranking covers the top five mirrorless cameras for 2026 across full-frame and APS-C categories. Each entry is evaluated through what I call the Performance Utility Index—a framework weighing real-world keeper rate, sensor versatility, ergonomic intelligence, video readiness, and ecosystem depth. The result is a list that prioritizes working photographers over spec-sheet enthusiasts. Let’s get into it.

    Which Mirrorless Camera Leads the Pack in 2026?

    Before ranking individual bodies, it helps to understand the forces reshaping this market. Three trends define 2026’s mirrorless landscape. First, AI subject detection has moved from a novelty to a baseline expectation. Second, stacked sensor architecture—which dramatically reduces rolling shutter and enables genuinely fast electronic shutters—is no longer reserved for flagship bodies. Third, the gap between still photography performance and video capability has collapsed. A camera that can’t do both well is increasingly hard to justify.

    These shifts matter because they reframe how we evaluate value. A $2,900 body today outperforms what $6,000 bought you three years ago. That compression changes the calculus for every buyer at every budget level.

    1. Sony A1 II—The Unreasonable All-Rounder

    The Sony A1 II is the closest thing the industry has produced to a universal answer. It costs around $6,500, which isn’t rational for most photographers. But as a demonstration of what mirrorless engineering can achieve right now, it’s genuinely without peer.

    Sensor, Speed, and the AI Autofocus Advantage

    At its core, the A1 II runs a 50.1-megapixel stacked Exmor RS CMOS sensor—the same architecture as the original A1, but paired with a redesigned BIONZ XR processor and a dedicated AI unit. That combination enables blackout-free continuous shooting at 30 frames per second with full AF and AE tracking active. Sony’s Auto subject detection mode—a first for the Alpha line—now identifies humans, animals, birds, insects, cars, trains, and aircraft automatically. You don’t choose a mode. The camera reads the scene and decides.

    The AI autofocus unit drives 120 AF and AE calculations per second. Sony claims eye detection accuracy improved roughly 30% over the original A1. In practice, the tracking is shockingly reliable even with partial occlusion or unusual subject angles. The camera’s pose estimation system predicts eye position even when the subject looks away. That’s not a marketing claim—it’s a measurable improvement in keeper rate during fast, unpredictable action.

    IBIS, Video, and Why This Camera Is Overbuilt for Most People

    In-body image stabilization now rates at 8.5 stops in the center of the frame—up from 5.5 stops on the original A1. Video capabilities include 8K at up to 30p and full-width 4K at up to 60p, with 10-bit 4:2:2 internal recording, S-Log3, S-Cinetone, and support for up to 16 custom LUTs. The fully articulating LCD and pre-capture burst mode—saving up to 30 frames before you fully press the shutter—round out what is, without exaggeration, the most capable hybrid mirrorless body available in 2026.

    Is it worth $6,500? For most photographers, the honest answer is no. The Sony A9 III is a purer action tool. The A7R V resolves more detail for less money. The A1 II dominates when you genuinely need everything at once: peak resolution, peak speed, peak video, peak stabilization. If that’s your workflow, nothing else comes close. If it isn’t, save the money.

    • Sensor: 50.1MP full-frame stacked CMOS
    • Burst rate: 30 fps blackout-free
    • IBIS: 8.5 stops
    • Video: 8K/30p, 4K/60p, 10-bit 4:2:2 internal
    • Price: ~$6,500

    2. Canon EOS R5 Mark II—The Hybrid Shooter’s Sweet Spot

    Canon’s EOS R5 Mark II is the camera that made the most photographers stop and reconsider their loyalty to existing systems. It sits at around $4,300, packs a 45-megapixel fully stacked CMOS sensor, and delivers 8K/60p RAW internal video alongside 30 fps burst shooting with a pre-capture buffer that saves lossless RAW files. That last point matters enormously. The Nikon Z8 offers pre-capture too, but only in JPEG. Canon’s solution captures fully editable RAW frames in the moments before you’ve even committed to pressing the shutter.

    The Stacked Sensor Difference and the RF Ecosystem

    The upgrade from the original R5 is structural, not cosmetic. The stacked architecture eliminates the rolling shutter anxiety that plagued sports and event shooters in the first generation. Canon’s autofocus engine—featuring over 1,053 manually selectable AF points plus Eye Control AF—tracks subjects with a precision that consistently challenges Sony’s lead. In real-world testing, the R5 Mark II’s subject detection for athletes, wildlife, and people of color in challenging light conditions has proven excellent, even matching or exceeding Sony’s system in specific scenarios.

    The RF lens ecosystem is now genuinely deep. Canon’s RF glass lineup includes lenses at nearly every focal length and price tier, plus a growing catalog of affordable third-party options. The EF-to-RF adapter works transparently with existing Canon lenses. If you’re already in the Canon system, this is your obvious upgrade path. If you’re not, the lens ecosystem quality is a compelling argument for switching.

    Why the R5 II Punches Above Its Price

    The EOS R5 Mark II occupies a strategic price position. It costs roughly $2,200 less than the Sony A1 II and delivers comparable image quality in stills and more capable video in several respects. The body is compact and meaningfully lighter than the Nikon Z8—over 160 grams lighter, in fact. For working professionals who need to carry a full kit through an event or a shoot day, that weight difference is felt by the end of the afternoon.

    Where it gives up ground: the buffer depth at maximum burst is smaller than the Z8’s, and the base ISO dynamic range slightly favors Nikon for landscape and architecture work. But for wedding photographers, portrait pros, wildlife shooters, and hybrid video creators, the R5 Mark II is arguably the most complete camera at its price point available anywhere in 2026.

    • Sensor: 45MP full-frame stacked CMOS
    • Burst rate: 30 fps (RAW pre-capture)
    • Video: 8K/60p RAW internal
    • AF points: 1,053 manually selectable
    • Price: ~$4,300

    3. Nikon Z8—The Landscape and Architecture Standard

    The Nikon Z8 is the most quietly dominant camera on this list. It has been leading expert rankings since 2023, and in 2026, it still sits at the top of most professional recommendations for photographers who prioritize maximum image quality over maximum shooting speed. At around $3,999, it packs the same 45.7-megapixel sensor and autofocus architecture as the flagship Z9—in a lighter, grip-forward body that’s $1,200 cheaper.

    Why Landscape Photographers Keep Choosing the Z8

    The Z8’s base ISO advantage is real. Its native ISO 64 setting delivers exceptional shadow recovery and dynamic range, which defines the Nikon Z8’s edge for any shooter working in controlled or tripod-based conditions. The lack of an anti-aliasing filter and a native high-resolution sensor shift mode push detail extraction beyond what the Canon R5 II can achieve in architectural and macro work. Add a mechanical shutter that supports exposures up to 900 seconds natively, and you have a camera purpose-built for landscape, astrophotography, and long-exposure work.

    The Z8 also focuses in lower light than the Canon R5 II—a meaningful, practical advantage for wildlife photographers working at dawn and dusk. Autofocus tracking in good light is outright fast and uses Nikon’s deep-learning subject detection, which has improved steadily through firmware updates. The camera can now recognize birds, animals, people, and vehicles with the kind of reliability that was exclusive to Sony two years ago.

    The Buffer Advantage and Why It Matters

    One specification rarely gets enough attention in reviews: the Z8 can sustain over 1,000 frames at 20 fps before its buffer fills. Compare that with the Canon R5 II’s 93 frames at 30 fps. For wildlife and sports photographers shooting extended action sequences, the Z8’s depth transforms the workflow. You’re not constantly waiting for a buffer to clear during peak action. That operational freedom is a genuine quality-of-life upgrade that doesn’t show up in spec tables.

    The Z8 is larger and heavier than the R5 II—another real-world variable that informs the buying decision. Its multi-hinged screen, while flexible, lacks the full articulation of the Canon’s design. These are real trade-offs. But for photographers who prioritize sustained shooting endurance and supreme static image quality, the Nikon Z8 remains the standard in 2026.

    • Sensor: 45.7MP full-frame BSI CMOS
    • Burst rate: 20 fps (1,000+ frame buffer)
    • Base ISO: 64
    • Video: 8K/60p RAW output
    • Price: ~$3,999

    4. Sony A7 V—The Best All-Around Mirrorless Camera Under $3,000

    The Sony A7 V arrived in late 2025 and immediately reset the expectations for what a “mid-range” mirrorless body should deliver. At around $2,900, it carries a 33-megapixel partially stacked CMOS sensor, shoots 30 fps blackout-free with the same AI autofocus architecture borrowed from the A1, and delivers 7.5 stops of in-body stabilization. That stabilization figure alone would have been flagship-level two years ago.

    Why the A7 V Represents the Best Value in Full-Frame Mirrorless

    The A7 series has always occupied the most strategically important position in Sony’s lineup. It’s the camera most photographers actually buy, rather than aspire to. The A7 V continues that tradition while upgrading nearly every technical dimension of its predecessor. The 33-megapixel sweet spot is genuinely smart engineering. It’s large enough for aggressive cropping in wildlife and sports work, and small enough to keep file sizes manageable in a high-volume workflow.

    What separates the A7 V from the A7 IV most decisively is the AI autofocus unit. The system now tracks subjects with a reliability and speed much closer to the A1 and A9 III than to the A7 IV it replaced. Sony has over 350 native E-mount lenses available at every price point—the largest native mirrorless lens ecosystem in the industry. That matters for long-term value. Whatever focal length you need three years from now, it will be available.

    A Practical Honesty Check on the A7 V

    The A7 V uses a partially stacked sensor rather than a fully stacked one. This means rolling shutter performance is better than a conventional BSI sensor, but not as clean as the A1 II or the R5 Mark II under extreme electronic shutter conditions. For most photographers—especially those using mechanical or first-curtain electronic shutter—this is never an issue. But if you’re shooting flash at high speeds or photographing fast subjects under artificial light, it’s worth knowing the limitation exists.

    For a photographer upgrading from an entry-level body or a professional looking for a capable second body to complement a flagship, the A7 V is the rational first choice in full-frame mirrorless for 2026. Nothing else at this price point combines resolution, speed, stabilization, and lens ecosystem depth with equivalent authority.

    • Sensor: 33MP full-frame partially stacked CMOS
    • Burst rate: 30 fps blackout-free
    • IBIS: 7.5 stops
    • Lens ecosystem: 350+ native E-mount lenses
    • Price: ~$2,900

    5. Fujifilm X-T5—The APS-C Camera That Refuses to Be Outclassed

    The Fujifilm X-T5 was released in late 2022. In May 2026—three and a half years later—it remains the definitive APS-C mirrorless recommendation for photographers who prioritize image quality over raw speed. Its 40-megapixel X-Trans BSI CMOS sensor with in-body stabilization, packaged into a retro-styled body weighing under 560 grams, is a combination that no competitor has directly challenged. The X-T6 hasn’t arrived yet. So the X-T5 holds the crown, and it holds it comfortably.

    The X-T5 as a Craft-First Camera—and Why That’s a Feature, Not a Compromise

    The Fujifilm X-T5 is built around a specific philosophy: prioritize the act of photography. Its physical shutter speed and ISO dials, combined with a traditional aperture ring on most XF lenses, create a shooting experience that’s fundamentally different from the menu-driven logic of Sony and Canon bodies. This is what I call the Tactile Fidelity Principle—the idea that physical control surfaces reduce cognitive overhead and keep the photographer’s attention on the scene rather than the interface.

    The 40-megapixel sensor delivers exceptional detail. You can crop aggressively and still produce large, printable files. Fujifilm’s X-Trans color filter array, combined with the X-Processor 5 engine, produces JPEG files with natural color rendering—especially in skin tones and foliage—that many photographers use straight out of the camera without editing. The film simulation modes aren’t a gimmick. For street, documentary, travel, and portraiture work, they’re a genuine workflow accelerator.

    What the X-T5 Gets Right—and Where It Still Trails

    Weather sealing at 56 points, operation down to -10°C, and one of the best APS-C lens lineups in the industry complete the argument for the X-T5. The XF lens catalog includes fast primes, compact zooms, and professional telephoto options at prices that undercut full-frame glass by a significant margin.

    The autofocus system has improved substantially since launch and handles eye detection for humans and animals reliably in most conditions. However, it still trails Canon, Sony, and Nikon for tracking the most erratic and fast-moving subjects. If your work centers on sports, fast wildlife, or high-speed action, the X-T5 isn’t the right tool. But for landscape, architecture, travel, street, documentary, portrait, and wedding work, it’s one of the most satisfying cameras available at any price, full-frame or otherwise. Its longevity in top rankings across multiple years is proof that great fundamentals don’t expire on a product cycle.

    • Sensor: 40MP APS-C X-Trans BSI CMOS
    • Burst rate: 15 fps mechanical
    • IBIS: 7 stops
    • Video: 6.2K/30p, 4K/60p, F-Log2
    • Price: ~$1,699

    The Performance Utility Index: How to Apply This Framework to Your Decision

    The Performance Utility Index introduced at the start of this article asks one fundamental question: how much of a camera’s capability can you actually use? The Sony A1 II scores a perfect ten on raw capability. But for a landscape photographer, a seven from the Z8 or an eight from the R5 Mark II translates to higher real-world utility because their specific strengths map directly to the workflow.

    Think about your primary use case first. Then work backward through this list. A sports or wildlife professional who needs sustained burst shooting and a deep buffer should look at the Z8 before the R5 II. A hybrid shooter who needs both premium stills and cinema-grade video should look at the R5 II before the Z8. A photographer who demands the best possible image quality from a compact, lightweight APS-C system should start and end their search with the X-T5.

    There’s also a framework I call the Ecosystem Lock-In Gradient. The deeper you are in a lens system, the more expensive a system switch becomes—not just financially, but in time and familiarity. If you own Canon glass, the R5 Mark II is almost certainly your answer, regardless of how impressive Sony’s specs look on paper. The body is the variable. The glass is the investment.

    Mirrorless Camera Buying Advice for 2026: What the Spec Wars Miss

    Reviewers—myself included—spend enormous energy comparing megapixels, burst rates, and AF point counts. These specifications matter. But they don’t capture the variable that most separates photographers who make great images from those who don’t: the willingness to carry the camera.

    Weight and ergonomics determine daily use more reliably than sensor resolution. The photographer who reaches for a lighter, more comfortable body every morning will produce better work over a year than the photographer who occasionally pulls out the objectively superior tool because it’s too heavy to bother with. The Fujifilm X-T5’s presence in this top five is partly a statement about that principle. Its longevity as a recommendation reflects real-world desirability, not just engineering excellence.

    Additionally, consider the forward trajectory of firmware updates. Both Sony and Nikon have a strong track record of materially improving camera performance through post-launch firmware. The Z8 received bird detection and video improvements after launch. Sony’s A7 V will almost certainly receive autofocus refinements over its life cycle. Buying into a brand with a strong firmware support culture is a long-term investment.

    Predictions: Where Mirrorless Camera Technology Goes Next

    Several trends will define the next generation of mirrorless cameras beyond 2026. First, a fully stacked sensor architecture will move down from flagship pricing into the $2,000–$3,000 tier. The Sony A7 V’s partially stacked sensor is an intermediate step toward that inevitability. Second, AI subject detection will expand into behavioral prediction—cameras will anticipate where a subject is moving, not just track where it is. Third, computational photography techniques borrowed from smartphone imaging will arrive in full-frame mirrorless cameras. Multi-frame HDR, AI noise reduction baked into the processing pipeline, and real-time subject separation for selective exposure are all on the near horizon.

    The Fujifilm X-T6, when it arrives, will need to close the autofocus gap that remains the X-T5’s primary limitation. Canon’s rumored EOS R5 Mark III will push stacked sensor performance and video capabilities further. And Sony’s A9 III global shutter architecture—which eliminates rolling shutter entirely—will likely spread to other bodies in Sony’s lineup within the next eighteen months.

    For photographers buying now, the message is clear: any camera on this list is a long-term investment. The gap between the best mirrorless cameras and the next tier is wide enough that a top-five body purchased today will remain professionally competitive for five or more years. Buy what fits your work. Shoot with it constantly. The technology is not the limiting factor.

    FAQ: Top Mirrorless Cameras 2026

    What is the best mirrorless camera in 2026 for professional photographers?

    The Sony A1 II is the most technically capable mirrorless camera available in 2026. However, “best” depends on the use case. For hybrid shooters, the Canon EOS R5 Mark II offers superior value. For landscape and architecture work, the Nikon Z8 leads in image quality. For those who need a compact, high-resolution system, the Fujifilm X-T5 remains unmatched in APS-C.

    Is full-frame mirrorless always better than APS-C?

    Not necessarily. Full-frame sensors offer better low-light performance, wider dynamic range, and more background separation at equivalent apertures. But APS-C cameras like the Fujifilm X-T5 produce exceptional image quality at a lower cost and weight. For many photographers—especially those in travel, street, and documentary—APS-C is the more practical and equally satisfying choice.

    Which mirrorless camera has the best autofocus in 2026?

    Sony, Canon, and Nikon now sit in a near-three-way tie for autofocus leadership. The Sony A1 II’s AI Auto subject detection system is the most sophisticated available. Canon’s Eye Control AF and person registration modes offer advantages in specific professional contexts like wedding and sports photography. Nikon’s deep-learning system is excellent for wildlife. Fujifilm trails the three leaders but has closed the gap significantly with firmware updates.

    What is the best mirrorless camera for video in 2026?

    The Canon EOS R5 Mark II leads for hybrid photo-video work, with its 8K/60p RAW internal recording and improved thermal management. The Sony A1 II is equally capable but costs $2,200 more. For dedicated video work, the Sony FX series and Canon Cinema EOS line offer purpose-built alternatives, but within the hybrid mirrorless category, the R5 Mark II is the standard for 2026.

    Is the Fujifilm X-T5 still worth buying in 2026?

    Yes. The X-T5’s 40-megapixel sensor, in-body stabilization, physical control layout, and extensive XF lens ecosystem remain unmatched in the APS-C category. Its autofocus isn’t as advanced as Sony or Canon equivalents, but for most photography genres, it delivers exceptional results. Given persistent rumors of an incoming X-T6, buyers should monitor pricing—but the X-T5 remains a fully recommended purchase even in mid-2026.

    What does the Performance Utility Index mean when choosing a mirrorless camera?

    The Performance Utility Index is a framework for evaluating how much of a camera’s total technical capability maps to a specific photographer’s actual workflow. A camera that scores ten on raw specs but delivers seven on real-world utility for your use case is a worse buy than a camera that scores eight on both dimensions. Prioritize fit over prestige.

    How long will a mirrorless camera purchased in 2026 remain relevant?

    Any top-tier mirrorless body purchased in 2026 should remain professionally competitive for five to eight years with proper maintenance. Modern shutters are rated for 200,000 to 500,000 actuations. Lens ecosystems provide long-term value independent of body upgrades. Buying a camera from this list is a durable investment, not a short-term purchase.

    Which mirrorless camera brand has the best lens ecosystem in 2026?

    Sony’s E-mount system has over 350 native lenses—the largest mirrorless lens ecosystem available. Canon’s RF mount is growing rapidly and features exceptional optical quality. Nikon’s Z-mount lineup is strong, particularly at the high end. Fujifilm’s XF mount is the deepest and most mature APS-C system available, with compact, affordable options unmatched in its format class.

    Hungry for more? If so, feel free to browse WE AND THE COLOR’s photography and tech categories.

    #bestCameras #camera #camers #canon #Fujifilm #MirrorlessCamera #MirrorlessCameras #nikon #photography #sony
    #bestcameras #camera #camers #canon #fujifilm #mirrorlesscamera
  4. grobi @[email protected] ·

    2026 May 16

    Aurora Slathers Up the Sky
    * Image Credit: Jack Fischer, Expedition 52, NASA
    uniphigood.com/portfolio_page/
    nasa.gov/mission_pages/station
    nasa.gov/

    Explanation:
    Like salsa verde on your favorite burrito, a green aurora slathers up the sky in this 2017 June 25 snapshot from the International Space Station. About 400 kilometers (250 miles) above Earth, the orbiting station is itself within the upper realm of the auroral displays. Aurorae have the signature colors of excited molecules and atoms at the low densities found at extreme altitudes. Emission from atomic oxygen dominates this view. The tantalizing glow is green at lower altitudes, but rarer reddish bands extend above the space station's horizon. The orbital scene was captured while passing over a point south and east of Australia, with stars above the horizon at the right belonging to the constellation Canis Major, Orion's big dog. Sirius, alpha star of Canis Major, is the brightest star near the Earth's limb.
    ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211.fall2
    webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/
    eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/
    spaceplace.nasa.gov/constellat
    noirlab.edu/public/education/c
    stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/s

    apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260516.ht

    #space #earth #aurora #astrophotography #photography #NASA #science #physics #nature #education #apod #4sAur

    #space #earth #aurora #astrophotography #photography #nasa
  5. grobi @[email protected] ·

    2026 May 16

    Aurora Slathers Up the Sky
    * Image Credit: Jack Fischer, Expedition 52, NASA
    uniphigood.com/portfolio_page/
    nasa.gov/mission_pages/station
    nasa.gov/

    Explanation:
    Like salsa verde on your favorite burrito, a green aurora slathers up the sky in this 2017 June 25 snapshot from the International Space Station. About 400 kilometers (250 miles) above Earth, the orbiting station is itself within the upper realm of the auroral displays. Aurorae have the signature colors of excited molecules and atoms at the low densities found at extreme altitudes. Emission from atomic oxygen dominates this view. The tantalizing glow is green at lower altitudes, but rarer reddish bands extend above the space station's horizon. The orbital scene was captured while passing over a point south and east of Australia, with stars above the horizon at the right belonging to the constellation Canis Major, Orion's big dog. Sirius, alpha star of Canis Major, is the brightest star near the Earth's limb.
    ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211.fall2
    webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/
    eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/
    spaceplace.nasa.gov/constellat
    noirlab.edu/public/education/c
    stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/s

    apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260516.ht

    #space #earth #aurora #astrophotography #photography #NASA #science #physics #nature #education #apod #4sAur

    #space #earth #aurora #astrophotography #photography #nasa
  6. grobi @[email protected] ·

    2026 May 16

    Aurora Slathers Up the Sky
    * Image Credit: Jack Fischer, Expedition 52, NASA
    uniphigood.com/portfolio_page/
    nasa.gov/mission_pages/station
    nasa.gov/

    Explanation:
    Like salsa verde on your favorite burrito, a green aurora slathers up the sky in this 2017 June 25 snapshot from the International Space Station. About 400 kilometers (250 miles) above Earth, the orbiting station is itself within the upper realm of the auroral displays. Aurorae have the signature colors of excited molecules and atoms at the low densities found at extreme altitudes. Emission from atomic oxygen dominates this view. The tantalizing glow is green at lower altitudes, but rarer reddish bands extend above the space station's horizon. The orbital scene was captured while passing over a point south and east of Australia, with stars above the horizon at the right belonging to the constellation Canis Major, Orion's big dog. Sirius, alpha star of Canis Major, is the brightest star near the Earth's limb.
    ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211.fall2
    webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/
    eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/
    spaceplace.nasa.gov/constellat
    noirlab.edu/public/education/c
    stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/s

    apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260516.ht

    #space #earth #aurora #astrophotography #photography #NASA #science #physics #nature #education #apod #4sAur

    #space #earth #aurora #astrophotography #photography #nasa
  7. grobi @[email protected] ·

    2026 May 16

    Aurora Slathers Up the Sky
    * Image Credit: Jack Fischer, Expedition 52, NASA
    uniphigood.com/portfolio_page/
    nasa.gov/mission_pages/station
    nasa.gov/

    Explanation:
    Like salsa verde on your favorite burrito, a green aurora slathers up the sky in this 2017 June 25 snapshot from the International Space Station. About 400 kilometers (250 miles) above Earth, the orbiting station is itself within the upper realm of the auroral displays. Aurorae have the signature colors of excited molecules and atoms at the low densities found at extreme altitudes. Emission from atomic oxygen dominates this view. The tantalizing glow is green at lower altitudes, but rarer reddish bands extend above the space station's horizon. The orbital scene was captured while passing over a point south and east of Australia, with stars above the horizon at the right belonging to the constellation Canis Major, Orion's big dog. Sirius, alpha star of Canis Major, is the brightest star near the Earth's limb.
    ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211.fall2
    webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/
    eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/
    spaceplace.nasa.gov/constellat
    noirlab.edu/public/education/c
    stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/s

    apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260516.ht

    #space #earth #aurora #astrophotography #photography #NASA #science #physics #nature #education #apod #4sAur

    #4saur #apod #education #nature #physics #science
  8. grobi @[email protected] ·

    2026 May 16

    Aurora Slathers Up the Sky
    * Image Credit: Jack Fischer, Expedition 52, NASA
    uniphigood.com/portfolio_page/
    nasa.gov/mission_pages/station
    nasa.gov/

    Explanation:
    Like salsa verde on your favorite burrito, a green aurora slathers up the sky in this 2017 June 25 snapshot from the International Space Station. About 400 kilometers (250 miles) above Earth, the orbiting station is itself within the upper realm of the auroral displays. Aurorae have the signature colors of excited molecules and atoms at the low densities found at extreme altitudes. Emission from atomic oxygen dominates this view. The tantalizing glow is green at lower altitudes, but rarer reddish bands extend above the space station's horizon. The orbital scene was captured while passing over a point south and east of Australia, with stars above the horizon at the right belonging to the constellation Canis Major, Orion's big dog. Sirius, alpha star of Canis Major, is the brightest star near the Earth's limb.
    ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211.fall2
    webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/
    eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/
    spaceplace.nasa.gov/constellat
    noirlab.edu/public/education/c
    stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/s

    apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260516.ht

    #space #earth #aurora #astrophotography #photography #NASA #science #physics #nature #education #apod #4sAur

    #space #earth #aurora #astrophotography #photography #nasa
  9. Chris Aldrich @[email protected] ·
    Acquired 1938 Woodstock No. 5 Standard typewriter (Woodstock)

    Serial Number: 8-12-512178E
    Elite (12 CPI), 6 lines/inch, bichrome, keyset tabulator, typebar hood, 12" carriage, carriage shift, American keyboard, 42 keys, 84 characters, foundry marks: alpha: backwards "2 slash", numeric: "8", in black enamel with glass keys, manufactured in the U.S.A.

    My first ever Woodstock. Acquired via thrift for $50 on 2026-05-08. Possibly a bit more expensive than it might have otherwise been, but the key rings are in stunning shape, and the work to polish them is easily worth several hundred in labor! The decals are also in exceptional condition. Aside from some cosmetic damage to the typebar hood, this machine is in exceptionally great cosmetic condition and will be even more so following a full polish of the body and the brights.

    Quick initial work

    • Naturally it needs a new ribbon, but it’s got enough ink left for a quick typesample.
    • A fast dusting and a preliminary scrub of the carriage rails and a few other parts with isopropyl alcohol and it’s ready for some basic work. Primarily the return lever and the margin sets were very gummy, while the keylevers had some pretty good action without any attention. (Someone really loved this machine.)
    • The carriage return lever needed some forming so that it no longer scrapes on the typebar hood.
    • A quick cleaning of the slugs which were in reasonable shape. List of work to be done:
    • The tabulator needs some adjustment to work properly as the tab mechanism is sitting a bit high and causes the carriage to scrape.
    • It’s going to need a ring and cylinder adjustment so that it’s not damaging the platen anymore, though the platen is so hard that it needs replacement anyway.
    • The rubber feet are usable, but need replacement.
    • The space key also may need some timing attention, but perhaps the slow symptoms will disappear with a full cleaning?
    • The rulers (5!) are slightly out of adjustment.
    • Full clean, oil, and adjust A day’s worth of cleaning and some modest adjustments and this should be a fantastic little machine.

    Interesting features

    • I love the fact that this has some interesting paper fingers. They don’t seem to be well-suited to index card work however.
    • The unique ribbon reverse mechanism (a small metal button) is adjustable on either side.
    • It doesn’t have an individual tab clear button, but, in lieu, has a clear all tabs lever.
    • I love the design of the ribbon color selector which requires pulling a spring-loaded button out to switch colors—no accidental color changes here.
    • Rather than a traditional “margin release” button it has a “line lock release”, but like the Olympia SG series, it only locks when typing characters, but will blow past the margins if using the spacebar.
    • Rather than a more common line space selector, this has a knurled knob that needs to be pulled out and set with a pin-type mechanism. This also means that the selector can’t accidentally change its setting for any reason.
    • The Woodstock No. 5 is an early carriage shift standard
    • The typebar hood is made of some sort of early plastic and slides onto the top of the machine. While it’s borne the brunt of most of the machine’s cosmetic damage, it is easy to remove for typing “naked”. It goes on quickly to help protect the internals from ambient dust.

    According to the TWdB page for the Woodstock, the 8-12 prefix on the serial number indicates a 12″ carriage (the width of the rubber portion of the platen). There isn’t any extant detail to indicate what the suffix “E” in the serial number means, though one might presume the elite or 12 pitch typeface?

    Historic Users of the Woodstock

    Users of Woodstock typewriters included:

    • Robert Bloch
    • Howard Fast
    • Alger Hiss (1929 standard #230099)
    • Sir Patrick Moore
    • J.C. Oldfield (editor of the Associated Press’s London bureau, 1930s)
    • Gordon Parks (“Can you dig it?”)

    Woodstock manuals

    Richard Polt has manuals for the Woodstock available on his site at: 

    #typewritercollection #woodstockno5 #woodstocktypewriters
  10. StefanPfeiffer.Blog @[email protected] ·

    Digitalministerium, Telekom-Fusionspläne und Palantir – Souveränität als Dauerbaustelle

    Für Euch kuratiert: Karsten Wildberger treibt Projekte voran, Timotheus Höttges plant den großen Sprung nach Amerika — und irgendwo dazwischen liegt das, was wir in Deutschland gerne „digitale Souveränität” nennen. Die Widersprüche verdichten sich wie selten: ein Jahr Digitalministerium mit großen Versprechen und begrenztem Einfluss, eine Telekom, die gleichzeitig die Bürger-App bauen und sich in eine US-Holding umwandeln soll, eine KI-Hoffnung namens Aleph Alpha, die still im kanadischen Cohere-Konzern aufgeht. Ich habe das alles zusammengestellt — und wer meinen Beitrag über das französische Modell gelesen hat, ahnt: Die Lage ist weiter herausfordernd.

    Digitalministerium: Wie Wildberger viel verspricht und sich noch wenig bewegt

    „Wir packen es an. Wir meinen es ernst.” So hat Karsten Wildberger sein Digitalministerium eingeläutet. Eine neue Studie des Leibniz-Zentrums für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung hat den gesamten Bundeshaushalt nach Digitalausgaben durchkämmt — über 3.000 Suchbegriffe, 1.675 potenziell relevante Posten, am Ende 675 als wirklich digital eingestuft. Das Ergebnis: 21,2 Milliarden Euro hat der Bund 2025 für Digitalprojekte ausgegeben, davon liegen nur 2,3 Milliarden Euro in der Hand des Digitalministeriums.

    Knapp 90 Prozent des Geldes fließen durch andere Ressorts — ohne Gesamtüberblick, ohne Strategie, ohne klare Zieldefinition. Das 500-Milliarden-Sondervermögen, das eigentlich den Aufbruch markieren sollte, ist laut Agora-Chef Stefan Heumann in weiten Teilen ein Verschiebebahnhof: Projekte, die vorher im Haushalt standen, wandern ins Sondervermögen — mehr nicht. Und eine zentrale strategische Aussage des Ministeriums, wohin die Reise eigentlich gehen soll, fehle bislang. Souveränitätsgipfel mit Kanzlerrede: ja. Souveränitätsausgaben: rückläufig.

    Gleichzeitig zahlt allein das Bundesfinanzministerium über 250 Millionen Euro pro Jahr für externe Softwarelizenzen, fast ausschließlich an US-Konzerne. Das Bundesverteidigungsministerium kommt auf 94 Millionen. Über 250.000 Windows-Arbeitsplätze allein beim Verteidigungsministerium. Man schreibt groß „Souveränität” und zahlt kleinlaut an Microsoft und Konsorten.

    Stolperstein Digitalsteuer: 3,4 Prozent — und keiner greift ein

    Wenn auf der anderen Seite eine stärkere Besteurung von Alphabet, Apple, Meta und Microsoft gefordert wird, setzen sich sofort die Bedenkenträger durch. Die GAFAM-Konzerne zahlen in Deutschland laut Netzwerk Steuergerechtigkeit 3,4 Prozent Steuern auf ihren Umsatz. Das Tax Justice Network schätzt, dass die US-Konzerne Deutschland zwischen 2016 und 2021 rund 15 Milliarden Euro an Steuereinnahmen gekostet haben. Der Grünen-Antrag für eine Digitalsteuer liegt vor: 10 Prozent auf die 40-prozentige Umsatzrendite, das brächte bis zu 19 Milliarden Euro im Jahr. Die Union lehnt ab — aus Angst vor US-Gegenmaßnahmen.

    Stolperstein Deutschland-Stack: Wenn Wirtschaftslobby vor Zivilgesellschaft kommt

    Parallel treibt Wildbergers Digitalministerium diverse Projekte energisch voran – aber mit Stolpersteinen. Bei der Definition des Deutschland-Stacks, dem Herzstück von Wildbergers digitalem Aufbruch, bleiben Vertreter der Zivilgesellschaft außen vor. Öffentlich rief das BMDS alle zur Teilnahme auf — parallel fanden nichtöffentliche Workshops statt, ausgerichtet von Lobbyverbänden, eco, Bitkom und dem KI-Verband, ohne Bericht, ohne Protokoll.

    Agentische KI soll künftig Wohnberechtigungsscheine bearbeiten, mit all den Haftungsfragen, die das aufwirft — aber die Menschen, die seit Jahren ehrenamtlich Digitalisierungsprojekte begleiten und genau wissen, wo Systeme reißen, werden besser nicht gefragt. Vor einem Jahr schien Wildberger noch den Kontakt zur Netzszene und Zivilgesellschaft auf der re:publica zu suchen. Beim Deutschland-Stack scheint deren Input nicht erwünscht.

    Stolperstein Telekom und T-Mobile US: Wenn Souveränität zur Fassade wird

    „Das wird krass.” Wildberger hat die Messlatte für ein weiteres Prestigeprojekt selbst hoch gelegt. Die neue Bürger-App soll eine KI-gestützte Verwaltungsplattform werden, zentraler Zugang für Bürgerinnen und Bürger zu allen staatlichen Dienstleistungen. Kein Portal, dass auf bestehende Lösungen verlinkt. Stattdessen will man eine echte Plattform, die in Behördenprozesse eingreift, Antragsbearbeitung und automatisiert und Fachverfahren vernetzt. Entwickelt werden soll sie von Telekom und SAP, ohne Ausschreibung, ohne Wettbewerb.

    Doch das könnte nach hinten losgehen. Timotheus Höttges, der auf der Hannover Messe über KI und Souveränität geschwärmt hat, arbeitet intern an einer Fusion von Deutscher Telekom und T-Mobile US unter einer neuen Holding — mutmaßlich außerhalb Deutschlands, wahrscheinlich unter US-Recht. Das bedeutet wiederum: Cloud Act, Patriot Act, NSA-Zugriff ohne Benachrichtigung der Kunden, egal wo die Server stehen.

    Derselbe Konzern, der gerade ohne Ausschreibung den Auftrag für die Bürger-App bekommen hat, könnte bald ein transatlantischer Konzern sein, dessen Prioritäten am US-Kapitalmarkt und an US-Regulierern hängen. Höttges hat bereits gezeigt, wie er priorisiert: Als T-Mobile US auf Druck der Trump-nahen FCC alle Diversitäts- und Inklusions-Programme strich, war er sofort dabei. Für Marktanteile und Regulierungswohlgefälligkeit.

    Carolin Wagner (SPD) bringt es im Golem-Kommentar auf den Punkt: „Wer Netze in Deutschland betreibt und staatliche Infrastruktur mitverantwortet, dem muss seine strategische Verantwortung bewusst sein. Diese Verantwortung darf nicht durch die Hintertür in die Hände der USA entgleisen.” Anke Domscheit-Berg fordert: Wenn die Fusion kommt, muss der Bund den Deutschland-App-Vertrag kündigen und neu ausschreiben — diesmal nur für rein europäische Unternehmen. Das ist der einzig konsequente Schluss.

    Stolperstein? Aleph Alpha und Cohere

    Parallel unterstützt Wildberger ein weiteres Projekt: Aleph Alpha und der kanadische Anbieter Cohere fusionieren — Berlin und Ottawa haben den Deal aktiv vorangetrieben. Das Ergebnis wird ein transatlantisches KI-Unternehmen sein, in dem Cohere-Anteilseigner rund 90 Prozent halten, Aleph-Alpha-Investoren etwa zehn. Ein Insider, den das Handelsblatt zitiert, sagt es direkt: Cohere kauft Aleph Alpha nicht wegen der Technologie, sondern wegen der zugesicherten Regierungsaufträge.

    Der Handelsblatt-Autor Stephan Scheuer schreibt mit lachendem und weinendem Auge darüber — lachend, weil ein ernst zu nehmender Anbieter mit deutschen Wurzeln entsteht; weinend, weil der Deal ein Versprechen beerdigt: dass Deutschland aus eigener Kraft einen globalen KI-Champion hervorbringt. Doch schauen wir der bitteren Realität einfach in die Augen. Wir brauchen Verbündete. Selbst schaffen wir es nicht.

    Stolperstein Sovereign Cloud: Souveränitätswashing mit europäischem Preisschild

    Unterdessen versuchen die großen US-Tech-Konzerne ihre Marktposition mit Händen und Füßen zu verteidigen. Die Zeit hat das in einem langen Stück über Amazons European Sovereign Cloud präzise aufgedröselt: In Massen-Niederlausitz entsteht ein AWS-Rechenzentrum, das Deutschland unabhängiger machen soll. Betreiber: ein US-Konzern. Anwendbares Recht: US-amerikanisch. Die Universitätsprofessoren nennen es, was es ist — „klassisches Souveränitätswashing.” US-Sicherheitsbehörden haben das Recht, auf Daten zuzugreifen, auch wenn eine europäische Tochter den Server betreibt.

    Das BSI hat jetzt Kriterien vorgelegt, die Criteria Enabling Cloud Computing Autonomy (C3A), die konkret definieren, wann eine Cloud wirklich souverän ist: EU-Jurisdiktion, EU-Mitarbeiter, nachgewiesene Trennbarkeit vom US-Mutterkonzern. Nur verbindlich sind sie nicht.

    Stolperstein Palantir: Krieg als Softwarefrage

    Ein Augenöffner für Ziele von US Tech Bros ist das Manifest der „Technologischen Republik” von Palantir-Chef Alex Karp — er erklärt KI-Waffen zur rationalen Notwendigkeit, moralische Debatten zur theatralischen Ablenkung. Golem, der Spiegel und andere Medien lesen das Papier als das, was es ist: ein ideologisch verkleidetes Verkaufsargument — wer KI-Waffen braucht, kauft sie bei Palantir. Krieg wird zur Softwarefrage, Zielauswahl zum Produkt, betrieben von Unternehmensmitarbeitern. Wer zögert, so der Subtext, überlässt das Feld den Bösen. Mit dieser Logik lässt sich bekanntlich alles rechtfertigen.

    Es gibt einen kleinen Lichtblick: Vizeadmiral Thomas Daum, Cyber-Chef der Bundeswehr, erklärt es für „unvorstellbar”, dass Palantir-Mitarbeiter Zugriff auf nationale Datenbestände erhalten — die Bundeswehr baut stattdessen eine eigene militärische Cloud mit europäischen Anbietern. Das ist noch keine echte Souveränität, aber immerhin der Reflex, den Schlüssel nicht einfach weiterzureichen.

    Der Haken bleibt: Im NATO-Verbund ist Palantirs Maven-System gesetzt, und in mehreren Bundesländern läuft die Polizeiarbeit weiterhin mit Palantir-Software wie HessenDATA, VeRA oder DAR. Wir kennen dieses Muster — aus der Energiepolitik, aus der Chipabhängigkeit, aus jeder Debatte, die wir dreißig Jahre zu spät geführt haben.

    Zwischenfazit nach einem Jahr Digitalministerium

    Der rote Faden durch all das: Wildberger versucht, Deutschland als aktiven Gestalter der digitalen Ordnung zu präsentieren. Doch die Hebel liegen längst bei Konzernen, die sich an US-Märkten, US-Recht und US-Politik ausrichten. Nextcloud-Chef Karlitschek bringt es auf eine Formel, die hängen bleibt: „Wenn ein deutscher Bundeskanzler einen Tesla fahren würde, wundern sich alle. Aber in der IT ist das normal.”

    Wenn in diesem Geflecht — US-Konzerne wie Microsoft und Palantir auf der einen, deutsche Anbieter mit tiefen US-Abhängigkeiten auf der anderen Seite — Bürger-App, digitale Identität und kritische Infrastruktur entstehen sollen, ist Misstrauen kein Reflex typisch deutscher Bedenkenträger. Es ist eine nüchterne Folgeanalyse. Die Frage lautet nicht mehr, ob wir digitale Souveränität wollen — das sagen inzwischen alle. Die Frage lautet: Wer hat den Mut, den Preis dafür zu bezahlen und zügig Gas zu geben?

    Quellen und weiterführende Links

    #AlephAlpha #BürgerApp #BSI #Cohere #Deutschland #DeutschlandStack #DigitaleSouveränität #Digitalministerium #Digitalsteuer #Geopolitik #Palantir #Telekom #USA #Wildberger
    #wildberger #usa #telekom #palantir #geopolitik #digitalsteuer
  11. Aptivi @[email protected] ·

    Linux 7.0 is now officially live!

    A new major version of Linux is now live as of April 13th, 2026! Linux 7.0 is the brand new major version of Linux, after 6.x, that provides you with improvements regarding lots of kernel portions.

    According to Phoronix, Linux 7.0 provides the following changes when it comes to the CPU portion, including, but not limited to:

    • Intel Transactional Synchronization Extensions (TSX) auto mode is now the default on Linux 7.0, as all known TSX security-related issues are now fixed.
    • Turbostat for Linux 7.0 can now report L2 cache statistics.
    • Performance events and metrics support for AMD Zen 6 processors.
    • Intel NTB and performance events support for Xeon Diamond Rapids.
    • Sound and Intel LPSS driver support for Nova Lake.
    • New LoongArch CPU features have been added to Linux 7.0.
    • User-space CFI support for RISC-V processors.
    • Single-copy atomic LS64 and LS64V instructions for ARM64 processors.
    • SPARC and Alpha CPU support improvements.

    Additionally, the graphics portion of the kernel has seen improvements and additions, including:

    • Graphics hardware support in the kernel for upcoming AMD graphics cards for day-1 support.
    • Improvements made to SR-IOV and multi-device SVM for the Intel Xe graphics card drivers.
    • Multi-queue support for the upcoming Intel Crescent Island AI inference accelerator for day-1 support.
    • Intel Nova Lake graphics card driver support.
    • More graphics card temperature sensors support has been added.
    • Nouveau earns larger page support for better performance in NVK.
    • AM62P support has been added for Imagination’s PowerVR graphics card drivers.
    • Fixes and improvements for GCN 1.0 and 1.1 hardware.
    • Various other improvements.

    As for the file system, the following changes have been made:

    • Autonomous self-healing capabilities for the XFS file system.
    • Experimental remap-tree feature for the BTRFS file system.
    • Concurrent drive I/O writers improvements for the EXT4 file system.
    • Performance improvements made to the F2FS file system.
    • Fixes for the NTFS3 file system.
    • More upstream patches for the ecryptfs file system.
    • Dynamic thread pool sizing for the NFS server.
    • Power sequencing driver for PCIe M.2 connectors.
    • Various other improvements.

    Other miscellaneous changes have been made to the kernel to improve user experience and to improve performance of your device, such as more frequent usages of the “sheaves” to make the kernel faster, performance improvements to the memory management code and the CPU scheduler system, and performance enhancements up to 50-75% for file-backed large folios. Additionally, the UDP network performance improvement has been earned by inviting a function, and several NICs have been added to the supported devices list, including:

    • Realtek RTL8127ATF 10G Fiber SFP
    • Airoha AN8811HB 2.5 Gbps PHY
    • Qualcomm QCC2072

    Additionally, more hardware support has been added, including the Rock Band 4 PS4/PS5 guitar support, which adds support for the following devices in the Sony HID driver:

    • PDP RiffMaster
    • CRKD Gibson SG

    Alongside the guitar support for Rock Band 4, there have been various laptop-related improvements made to the kernel, including the Apple USB Type-C PHY support and the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite PHY support.

    As for Rust, the kernel’s Rust support is no longer considered as experimental, with Rust in the kernel being here to stay in the source code of the kernel, which means that more secure code is already on the way, with preparations for the Rust 1.95 programming language and the driver core improvements made there.

    The official announcement has been made by Linus Torvalds in the kernel mailing list, which says:

    The last week of the release continued the same "lots of small fixes" trend, but it all really does seem pretty benign, so I've tagged the final 7.0 and pushed it out.

    I suspect it's a lot of AI tool use that will keep finding corner cases for us for a while, so this may be the "new normal" at least for a while. Only time will tell.

    Anyway, this last week was a little bit of everything: networking (core and drivers), arch fixes, tooling and selftests, and various random fixes all over the place.

    Let's keep testing, and obviously tomorrow the merge window for 7.1 opens. I already have four dozen pull requests pending - thank you to all the early people.

    Linux v7.1 will be the second version from the v7.x series that will be released after today’s Linux 7.0, which will bring many improvements and additions to enhance your user experience.

    Arch Linux and other distributions will be updated to utilize Linux 7.0, with rolling distros being updated first, then the subsequent distributions will utilize this version of Linux according to the distro’s release schedule. Meanwhile, keep checking for updates in your Linux distro (such as pacman -Syu as root in Arch Linux), or compile it from source.

    To download Linux 7.0’s source code, click on the below buttons:

    Source code Patch PGP signature #Linux #Linux7 #Linux70 #news #Tech #Technology #update
    #linux #linux7 #linux70 #news #tech #technology
  12. Aptivi @[email protected] ·

    Linux 7.0 is now officially live!

    A new major version of Linux is now live as of April 13th, 2026! Linux 7.0 is the brand new major version of Linux, after 6.x, that provides you with improvements regarding lots of kernel portions.

    According to Phoronix, Linux 7.0 provides the following changes when it comes to the CPU portion, including, but not limited to:

    • Intel Transactional Synchronization Extensions (TSX) auto mode is now the default on Linux 7.0, as all known TSX security-related issues are now fixed.
    • Turbostat for Linux 7.0 can now report L2 cache statistics.
    • Performance events and metrics support for AMD Zen 6 processors.
    • Intel NTB and performance events support for Xeon Diamond Rapids.
    • Sound and Intel LPSS driver support for Nova Lake.
    • New LoongArch CPU features have been added to Linux 7.0.
    • User-space CFI support for RISC-V processors.
    • Single-copy atomic LS64 and LS64V instructions for ARM64 processors.
    • SPARC and Alpha CPU support improvements.

    Additionally, the graphics portion of the kernel has seen improvements and additions, including:

    • Graphics hardware support in the kernel for upcoming AMD graphics cards for day-1 support.
    • Improvements made to SR-IOV and multi-device SVM for the Intel Xe graphics card drivers.
    • Multi-queue support for the upcoming Intel Crescent Island AI inference accelerator for day-1 support.
    • Intel Nova Lake graphics card driver support.
    • More graphics card temperature sensors support has been added.
    • Nouveau earns larger page support for better performance in NVK.
    • AM62P support has been added for Imagination’s PowerVR graphics card drivers.
    • Fixes and improvements for GCN 1.0 and 1.1 hardware.
    • Various other improvements.

    As for the file system, the following changes have been made:

    • Autonomous self-healing capabilities for the XFS file system.
    • Experimental remap-tree feature for the BTRFS file system.
    • Concurrent drive I/O writers improvements for the EXT4 file system.
    • Performance improvements made to the F2FS file system.
    • Fixes for the NTFS3 file system.
    • More upstream patches for the ecryptfs file system.
    • Dynamic thread pool sizing for the NFS server.
    • Power sequencing driver for PCIe M.2 connectors.
    • Various other improvements.

    Other miscellaneous changes have been made to the kernel to improve user experience and to improve performance of your device, such as more frequent usages of the “sheaves” to make the kernel faster, performance improvements to the memory management code and the CPU scheduler system, and performance enhancements up to 50-75% for file-backed large folios. Additionally, the UDP network performance improvement has been earned by inviting a function, and several NICs have been added to the supported devices list, including:

    • Realtek RTL8127ATF 10G Fiber SFP
    • Airoha AN8811HB 2.5 Gbps PHY
    • Qualcomm QCC2072

    Additionally, more hardware support has been added, including the Rock Band 4 PS4/PS5 guitar support, which adds support for the following devices in the Sony HID driver:

    • PDP RiffMaster
    • CRKD Gibson SG

    Alongside the guitar support for Rock Band 4, there have been various laptop-related improvements made to the kernel, including the Apple USB Type-C PHY support and the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite PHY support.

    As for Rust, the kernel’s Rust support is no longer considered as experimental, with Rust in the kernel being here to stay in the source code of the kernel, which means that more secure code is already on the way, with preparations for the Rust 1.95 programming language and the driver core improvements made there.

    The official announcement has been made by Linus Torvalds in the kernel mailing list, which says:

    The last week of the release continued the same "lots of small fixes" trend, but it all really does seem pretty benign, so I've tagged the final 7.0 and pushed it out.

    I suspect it's a lot of AI tool use that will keep finding corner cases for us for a while, so this may be the "new normal" at least for a while. Only time will tell.

    Anyway, this last week was a little bit of everything: networking (core and drivers), arch fixes, tooling and selftests, and various random fixes all over the place.

    Let's keep testing, and obviously tomorrow the merge window for 7.1 opens. I already have four dozen pull requests pending - thank you to all the early people.

    Linux v7.1 will be the second version from the v7.x series that will be released after today’s Linux 7.0, which will bring many improvements and additions to enhance your user experience.

    Arch Linux and other distributions will be updated to utilize Linux 7.0, with rolling distros being updated first, then the subsequent distributions will utilize this version of Linux according to the distro’s release schedule. Meanwhile, keep checking for updates in your Linux distro (such as pacman -Syu as root in Arch Linux), or compile it from source.

    To download Linux 7.0’s source code, click on the below buttons:

    Source code Patch PGP signature #Linux #Linux7 #Linux70 #news #Tech #Technology #update
    #linux #linux7 #linux70 #news #tech #technology
  13. Aptivi @[email protected] ·

    Linux 7.0 is now officially live!

    A new major version of Linux is now live as of April 13th, 2026! Linux 7.0 is the brand new major version of Linux, after 6.x, that provides you with improvements regarding lots of kernel portions.

    According to Phoronix, Linux 7.0 provides the following changes when it comes to the CPU portion, including, but not limited to:

    • Intel Transactional Synchronization Extensions (TSX) auto mode is now the default on Linux 7.0, as all known TSX security-related issues are now fixed.
    • Turbostat for Linux 7.0 can now report L2 cache statistics.
    • Performance events and metrics support for AMD Zen 6 processors.
    • Intel NTB and performance events support for Xeon Diamond Rapids.
    • Sound and Intel LPSS driver support for Nova Lake.
    • New LoongArch CPU features have been added to Linux 7.0.
    • User-space CFI support for RISC-V processors.
    • Single-copy atomic LS64 and LS64V instructions for ARM64 processors.
    • SPARC and Alpha CPU support improvements.

    Additionally, the graphics portion of the kernel has seen improvements and additions, including:

    • Graphics hardware support in the kernel for upcoming AMD graphics cards for day-1 support.
    • Improvements made to SR-IOV and multi-device SVM for the Intel Xe graphics card drivers.
    • Multi-queue support for the upcoming Intel Crescent Island AI inference accelerator for day-1 support.
    • Intel Nova Lake graphics card driver support.
    • More graphics card temperature sensors support has been added.
    • Nouveau earns larger page support for better performance in NVK.
    • AM62P support has been added for Imagination’s PowerVR graphics card drivers.
    • Fixes and improvements for GCN 1.0 and 1.1 hardware.
    • Various other improvements.

    As for the file system, the following changes have been made:

    • Autonomous self-healing capabilities for the XFS file system.
    • Experimental remap-tree feature for the BTRFS file system.
    • Concurrent drive I/O writers improvements for the EXT4 file system.
    • Performance improvements made to the F2FS file system.
    • Fixes for the NTFS3 file system.
    • More upstream patches for the ecryptfs file system.
    • Dynamic thread pool sizing for the NFS server.
    • Power sequencing driver for PCIe M.2 connectors.
    • Various other improvements.

    Other miscellaneous changes have been made to the kernel to improve user experience and to improve performance of your device, such as more frequent usages of the “sheaves” to make the kernel faster, performance improvements to the memory management code and the CPU scheduler system, and performance enhancements up to 50-75% for file-backed large folios. Additionally, the UDP network performance improvement has been earned by inviting a function, and several NICs have been added to the supported devices list, including:

    • Realtek RTL8127ATF 10G Fiber SFP
    • Airoha AN8811HB 2.5 Gbps PHY
    • Qualcomm QCC2072

    Additionally, more hardware support has been added, including the Rock Band 4 PS4/PS5 guitar support, which adds support for the following devices in the Sony HID driver:

    • PDP RiffMaster
    • CRKD Gibson SG

    Alongside the guitar support for Rock Band 4, there have been various laptop-related improvements made to the kernel, including the Apple USB Type-C PHY support and the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite PHY support.

    As for Rust, the kernel’s Rust support is no longer considered as experimental, with Rust in the kernel being here to stay in the source code of the kernel, which means that more secure code is already on the way, with preparations for the Rust 1.95 programming language and the driver core improvements made there.

    The official announcement has been made by Linus Torvalds in the kernel mailing list, which says:

    The last week of the release continued the same "lots of small fixes" trend, but it all really does seem pretty benign, so I've tagged the final 7.0 and pushed it out.

    I suspect it's a lot of AI tool use that will keep finding corner cases for us for a while, so this may be the "new normal" at least for a while. Only time will tell.

    Anyway, this last week was a little bit of everything: networking (core and drivers), arch fixes, tooling and selftests, and various random fixes all over the place.

    Let's keep testing, and obviously tomorrow the merge window for 7.1 opens. I already have four dozen pull requests pending - thank you to all the early people.

    Linux v7.1 will be the second version from the v7.x series that will be released after today’s Linux 7.0, which will bring many improvements and additions to enhance your user experience.

    Arch Linux and other distributions will be updated to utilize Linux 7.0, with rolling distros being updated first, then the subsequent distributions will utilize this version of Linux according to the distro’s release schedule. Meanwhile, keep checking for updates in your Linux distro (such as pacman -Syu as root in Arch Linux), or compile it from source.

    To download Linux 7.0’s source code, click on the below buttons:

    Source code Patch PGP signature #Linux #Linux7 #Linux70 #news #Tech #Technology #update
    #linux #linux7 #linux70 #news #tech #technology
  14. Aptivi @[email protected] ·

    Linux 7.0 is now officially live!

    A new major version of Linux is now live as of April 13th, 2026! Linux 7.0 is the brand new major version of Linux, after 6.x, that provides you with improvements regarding lots of kernel portions.

    According to Phoronix, Linux 7.0 provides the following changes when it comes to the CPU portion, including, but not limited to:

    • Intel Transactional Synchronization Extensions (TSX) auto mode is now the default on Linux 7.0, as all known TSX security-related issues are now fixed.
    • Turbostat for Linux 7.0 can now report L2 cache statistics.
    • Performance events and metrics support for AMD Zen 6 processors.
    • Intel NTB and performance events support for Xeon Diamond Rapids.
    • Sound and Intel LPSS driver support for Nova Lake.
    • New LoongArch CPU features have been added to Linux 7.0.
    • User-space CFI support for RISC-V processors.
    • Single-copy atomic LS64 and LS64V instructions for ARM64 processors.
    • SPARC and Alpha CPU support improvements.

    Additionally, the graphics portion of the kernel has seen improvements and additions, including:

    • Graphics hardware support in the kernel for upcoming AMD graphics cards for day-1 support.
    • Improvements made to SR-IOV and multi-device SVM for the Intel Xe graphics card drivers.
    • Multi-queue support for the upcoming Intel Crescent Island AI inference accelerator for day-1 support.
    • Intel Nova Lake graphics card driver support.
    • More graphics card temperature sensors support has been added.
    • Nouveau earns larger page support for better performance in NVK.
    • AM62P support has been added for Imagination’s PowerVR graphics card drivers.
    • Fixes and improvements for GCN 1.0 and 1.1 hardware.
    • Various other improvements.

    As for the file system, the following changes have been made:

    • Autonomous self-healing capabilities for the XFS file system.
    • Experimental remap-tree feature for the BTRFS file system.
    • Concurrent drive I/O writers improvements for the EXT4 file system.
    • Performance improvements made to the F2FS file system.
    • Fixes for the NTFS3 file system.
    • More upstream patches for the ecryptfs file system.
    • Dynamic thread pool sizing for the NFS server.
    • Power sequencing driver for PCIe M.2 connectors.
    • Various other improvements.

    Other miscellaneous changes have been made to the kernel to improve user experience and to improve performance of your device, such as more frequent usages of the “sheaves” to make the kernel faster, performance improvements to the memory management code and the CPU scheduler system, and performance enhancements up to 50-75% for file-backed large folios. Additionally, the UDP network performance improvement has been earned by inviting a function, and several NICs have been added to the supported devices list, including:

    • Realtek RTL8127ATF 10G Fiber SFP
    • Airoha AN8811HB 2.5 Gbps PHY
    • Qualcomm QCC2072

    Additionally, more hardware support has been added, including the Rock Band 4 PS4/PS5 guitar support, which adds support for the following devices in the Sony HID driver:

    • PDP RiffMaster
    • CRKD Gibson SG

    Alongside the guitar support for Rock Band 4, there have been various laptop-related improvements made to the kernel, including the Apple USB Type-C PHY support and the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite PHY support.

    As for Rust, the kernel’s Rust support is no longer considered as experimental, with Rust in the kernel being here to stay in the source code of the kernel, which means that more secure code is already on the way, with preparations for the Rust 1.95 programming language and the driver core improvements made there.

    The official announcement has been made by Linus Torvalds in the kernel mailing list, which says:

    The last week of the release continued the same "lots of small fixes" trend, but it all really does seem pretty benign, so I've tagged the final 7.0 and pushed it out.

    I suspect it's a lot of AI tool use that will keep finding corner cases for us for a while, so this may be the "new normal" at least for a while. Only time will tell.

    Anyway, this last week was a little bit of everything: networking (core and drivers), arch fixes, tooling and selftests, and various random fixes all over the place.

    Let's keep testing, and obviously tomorrow the merge window for 7.1 opens. I already have four dozen pull requests pending - thank you to all the early people.

    Linux v7.1 will be the second version from the v7.x series that will be released after today’s Linux 7.0, which will bring many improvements and additions to enhance your user experience.

    Arch Linux and other distributions will be updated to utilize Linux 7.0, with rolling distros being updated first, then the subsequent distributions will utilize this version of Linux according to the distro’s release schedule. Meanwhile, keep checking for updates in your Linux distro (such as pacman -Syu as root in Arch Linux), or compile it from source.

    To download Linux 7.0’s source code, click on the below buttons:

    Source code Patch PGP signature #Linux #Linux7 #Linux70 #news #Tech #Technology #update
    #update #technology #tech #news #linux70 #linux7
  15. Aptivi @[email protected] ·

    Linux 7.0 is now officially live!

    A new major version of Linux is now live as of April 13th, 2026! Linux 7.0 is the brand new major version of Linux, after 6.x, that provides you with improvements regarding lots of kernel portions.

    According to Phoronix, Linux 7.0 provides the following changes when it comes to the CPU portion, including, but not limited to:

    • Intel Transactional Synchronization Extensions (TSX) auto mode is now the default on Linux 7.0, as all known TSX security-related issues are now fixed.
    • Turbostat for Linux 7.0 can now report L2 cache statistics.
    • Performance events and metrics support for AMD Zen 6 processors.
    • Intel NTB and performance events support for Xeon Diamond Rapids.
    • Sound and Intel LPSS driver support for Nova Lake.
    • New LoongArch CPU features have been added to Linux 7.0.
    • User-space CFI support for RISC-V processors.
    • Single-copy atomic LS64 and LS64V instructions for ARM64 processors.
    • SPARC and Alpha CPU support improvements.

    Additionally, the graphics portion of the kernel has seen improvements and additions, including:

    • Graphics hardware support in the kernel for upcoming AMD graphics cards for day-1 support.
    • Improvements made to SR-IOV and multi-device SVM for the Intel Xe graphics card drivers.
    • Multi-queue support for the upcoming Intel Crescent Island AI inference accelerator for day-1 support.
    • Intel Nova Lake graphics card driver support.
    • More graphics card temperature sensors support has been added.
    • Nouveau earns larger page support for better performance in NVK.
    • AM62P support has been added for Imagination’s PowerVR graphics card drivers.
    • Fixes and improvements for GCN 1.0 and 1.1 hardware.
    • Various other improvements.

    As for the file system, the following changes have been made:

    • Autonomous self-healing capabilities for the XFS file system.
    • Experimental remap-tree feature for the BTRFS file system.
    • Concurrent drive I/O writers improvements for the EXT4 file system.
    • Performance improvements made to the F2FS file system.
    • Fixes for the NTFS3 file system.
    • More upstream patches for the ecryptfs file system.
    • Dynamic thread pool sizing for the NFS server.
    • Power sequencing driver for PCIe M.2 connectors.
    • Various other improvements.

    Other miscellaneous changes have been made to the kernel to improve user experience and to improve performance of your device, such as more frequent usages of the “sheaves” to make the kernel faster, performance improvements to the memory management code and the CPU scheduler system, and performance enhancements up to 50-75% for file-backed large folios. Additionally, the UDP network performance improvement has been earned by inviting a function, and several NICs have been added to the supported devices list, including:

    • Realtek RTL8127ATF 10G Fiber SFP
    • Airoha AN8811HB 2.5 Gbps PHY
    • Qualcomm QCC2072

    Additionally, more hardware support has been added, including the Rock Band 4 PS4/PS5 guitar support, which adds support for the following devices in the Sony HID driver:

    • PDP RiffMaster
    • CRKD Gibson SG

    Alongside the guitar support for Rock Band 4, there have been various laptop-related improvements made to the kernel, including the Apple USB Type-C PHY support and the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite PHY support.

    As for Rust, the kernel’s Rust support is no longer considered as experimental, with Rust in the kernel being here to stay in the source code of the kernel, which means that more secure code is already on the way, with preparations for the Rust 1.95 programming language and the driver core improvements made there.

    The official announcement has been made by Linus Torvalds in the kernel mailing list, which says:

    The last week of the release continued the same "lots of small fixes" trend, but it all really does seem pretty benign, so I've tagged the final 7.0 and pushed it out.

    I suspect it's a lot of AI tool use that will keep finding corner cases for us for a while, so this may be the "new normal" at least for a while. Only time will tell.

    Anyway, this last week was a little bit of everything: networking (core and drivers), arch fixes, tooling and selftests, and various random fixes all over the place.

    Let's keep testing, and obviously tomorrow the merge window for 7.1 opens. I already have four dozen pull requests pending - thank you to all the early people.

    Linux v7.1 will be the second version from the v7.x series that will be released after today’s Linux 7.0, which will bring many improvements and additions to enhance your user experience.

    Arch Linux and other distributions will be updated to utilize Linux 7.0, with rolling distros being updated first, then the subsequent distributions will utilize this version of Linux according to the distro’s release schedule. Meanwhile, keep checking for updates in your Linux distro (such as pacman -Syu as root in Arch Linux), or compile it from source.

    To download Linux 7.0’s source code, click on the below buttons:

    Source code Patch PGP signature #Linux #Linux7 #Linux70 #news #Tech #Technology #update
    #linux #linux7 #linux70 #news #tech #technology
  16. stgiga (they/them) :polygender_verify: @[email protected] ·

    @[email protected]

    Seeing as you're making dice that are fighting the current situation in the USA right now, I think     this would be up your alley. https://stgiga.github.io/gigaware/TarouijaD120files.zip would be up your alley. It is a 3D model with OpenSCAD for tweaks, of a d120 but instead of the numbers 1-120, it has extended Tarot and extended Ouija as its symbols, via Unicode shenanigans, following this mapping https://www.reddit.com/r/d120Lists/comments/17mr2uv/d120_tarot_and_spirit_board/

    Roll: Result
    1: Ace of Spades

    2: Two of Spades

    3: Three of Spades

    4: Four of Spades

    5: Five of Spades

    6: Six of Spades

    7: Seven of Spades

    8: Eight of Spades

    9: Nine of Spades

    10: Ten of Spades

    11: Jack of Spades

    12: Knight of Spades

    13: Queen of Spades

    14: King of Spades

    15: Ace of Hearts

    16: Two of Hearts

    17: Three of Hearts

    18: Four of Hearts

    19: Five of Hearts

    20: Six of Hearts

    21: Seven of Hearts

    22: Eight of Hearts

    23: Nine of Hearts

    24: Ten of Hearts

    25: Jack of Hearts

    26: Knight of Hearts

    27: Queen of Hearts

    28: King of Hearts

    29: Ace of Diamonds

    30: Two of Diamonds

    31: Three of Diamonds

    32: Four of Diamonds

    33: Five of Diamonds

    34: Six of Diamonds

    35: Seven of Diamonds

    36: Eight of Diamonds

    37: Nine of Diamonds

    38: Ten of Diamonds

    39: Jack of Diamonds

    40: Knight of Diamonds

    41: Queen of Diamonds

    42: King of Diamonds

    43: Black Joker

    44: Ace of Clubs

    45: Two of Clubs

    46: Three of Clubs

    47: Four of Clubs

    48: Five of Clubs

    49: Six of Clubs

    50: Seven of Clubs

    51: Eight of Clubs

    52: Nine of Clubs

    53: Ten of Clubs

    54: Jack of Clubs

    55: Knight of Clubs

    56: Queen of Clubs

    57: King of Clubs

    58: White Joker

    59: Fool

    60: Individual

    61: Childhood

    62: Youth

    63: Maturity

    64: Old Age

    65: Morning

    66: Afternoon

    67: Evening

    68: Night

    69: Earth and Air

    70: Water and Fire

    71: Dance

    72: Shopping

    73: Open Air

    74: Visual Arts

    75: Spring

    76: Summer

    77: Autumn

    78: Winter

    79: The Game

    80: Collective

    81: 0

    82: 1

    83: 2

    84: 3

    85: 4

    86: 5

    87: 6

    88: 7

    89: 8

    90: 9

    91: A

    92: B

    93: C

    94: D

    95: E

    96: F

    97: G

    98: H

    99: I

    100: J

    101: K

    102: L

    103: M

    104: N

    105: O

    106: P

    107: Q

    108: R

    109: S

    110: T

    111: U

    112: V

    113: W

    114: X

    115: Y

    116: Z

    117: Yes

    118: No

    119: Hello

    120: Goodbye

    And in Unicode

    🂡🂢🂣🂤🂥🂦🂧🂨🂩🂪🂫🂬🂭🂮🂱🂲🂳🂴🂵🂶🂷🂸🂹🂺🂻🂼🂽🂾🃁🃂🃃🃄🃅🃆🃇🃈🃉🃊🃋🃌🃍🃎    🃏🃑🃒🃓🃔🃕🃖🃗🃘🃙🃚🃛🃜🃝🃞🃟🃠🃡🃢🃣🃤🃥🃦🃧🃨🃩🃪🃫🃬🃭🃮🃯🃰🃱🃲🃳🃴🃵𝟶𝟷𝟸𝟹𝟺𝟻𝟼𝟽𝟾𝟿𝙰𝙱𝙲𝙳𝙴𝙵𝙶𝙷𝙸𝙹𝙺𝙻𝙼𝙽𝙾𝙿𝚀𝚁𝚂𝚃𝚄𝚅𝚆𝚇𝚈𝚉👍👎⎆⎋

    The first section of characters is the contents of the Playing Cards block in Unicode, minus Red Joker (white is kept) and Playing Card Back. So that means the 52 cards (jokers included) in an English/American deck of playing cards, plus Tarot's Knight cards, so 56 cards (and these are basically a graphical suit with the value above it, in a 12pt cell), plus the 22 cards in the Major Arcana, with "Fool" as XXII as is done on some decks. That section is rendered as a 12pt card with Roman numerals I through XXII with IX and XI having disambiguation dots. The naming I used for the cards is the     alias names Unicode gives the cards. So none of the "The Hanged Man" or the generic numbered-only names that Unicode gives as their official codepoint names. After that is Ouija's 0-9 and uppercase A-Z, using Unicode's Mathematical Monospaced characters (Courier) from Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols block, in order to fit the 1800s playbill font commonly seen on Ouija boards, also 12pt. Now the next ones are the interesting ones. To represent Yes and No, I used the Thumbs-Up and Thumbs-Down emoji respectively, and the real interesting part is what I did for Hello and Goodbye. For those, I used two characters from the Miscellaneous Technical block, namely the Enter Symbol and the Escape Symbol, both seen on old Mac keyboards. The first one is a diamond with an arrow pointing inwards, and the second one is a circle with an arrow pointing outwards. The metaphor here is that "Hello" is entering a conversation, and "Goodbye" is leaving one, obviously with a spirit. And all this fills ALL 120 slots on a d120, with no empty or duplicate entries. A unique glyph for each side. The only fonts usable for this by the way are Unifont Smooth (bundled) or UnifontEX. No other font, even Unifont itself, has all the characters together, due to the fact that Hello and Goodbye symbols are in Plane 0, meanwhile the rest of the characters are in Plane 1 AND even include emoji, never mind that some fonts do not support the Major Arcana part of the Playing Cards block. So basically, you're stuck with these two forks of GNU Unifont, but UnifontEX is pixel and so is not exactly a fitting theme unless you're a hacker like I am. Plus, by a bout of sheer chance, ALL the characters after vectorization turned out fine (though White Joker's J is too skeletal in the loop), something that related characters (some of the other stuff in the same block as the thumbs up and thumbs down emoji didn't vectorize well) have trouble with. I was very pleasantly surprised that the emoji and the Roman numerals turned out fine. But ultimately this was a feat of engineering I did when I was bored from 2023 to nowadays.

    Anyways, what makes this a compelling protest product is that it combines several things that fundamentalist Christians are very prone to hating. It takes Tarot cards and Ouija boards and shoves them onto dice that are literally divisible into an entire set of common and rare TTRPG dice, on top of the shape being a D&D d20 but divided into 6 triangles (putting a d4 on each face and then dividing by 2), a D&D d12 but divided into 10 triangles for each pentagon, as well as being a derivative shape of the d30 and d60. So basically, this "Tarouija" d120 combines multiple things that fundamentalist Christians consider "demonic" into one divination ritual item and thus is a great form of protest against the religious right. For the record I live in California. Hopefully this is interesting. Oh the OpenSCAD file needs the nightly build of OpenSCAD.     #dicemaking #dicemaker #dice #d120 #unicode #unifontex #tarotcard #tarotdecks #tarotcards #tarotcardsreading #ouijaboard #ouija #3d #3dp #3dprinting #3dprinter #spiritboard #majorarcana #fuckice #protest #unifont #openscad #scad #3dart #art #tech #technology #code #font #fontdev #fonts #3dmodel #3dmodeling #3dmodels #3dmodeled #computerscience #compsci #boredom #activism #ice

    #dicemaking #dicemaker #dice #d120 #unicode #unifontex
  17. stgiga (they/them) :polygender_verify: @[email protected] ·

    @[email protected]

    Seeing as you're making dice that are fighting the current situation in the USA right now, I think     this would be up your alley. https://stgiga.github.io/gigaware/TarouijaD120files.zip would be up your alley. It is a 3D model with OpenSCAD for tweaks, of a d120 but instead of the numbers 1-120, it has extended Tarot and extended Ouija as its symbols, via Unicode shenanigans, following this mapping https://www.reddit.com/r/d120Lists/comments/17mr2uv/d120_tarot_and_spirit_board/

    Roll: Result
    1: Ace of Spades

    2: Two of Spades

    3: Three of Spades

    4: Four of Spades

    5: Five of Spades

    6: Six of Spades

    7: Seven of Spades

    8: Eight of Spades

    9: Nine of Spades

    10: Ten of Spades

    11: Jack of Spades

    12: Knight of Spades

    13: Queen of Spades

    14: King of Spades

    15: Ace of Hearts

    16: Two of Hearts

    17: Three of Hearts

    18: Four of Hearts

    19: Five of Hearts

    20: Six of Hearts

    21: Seven of Hearts

    22: Eight of Hearts

    23: Nine of Hearts

    24: Ten of Hearts

    25: Jack of Hearts

    26: Knight of Hearts

    27: Queen of Hearts

    28: King of Hearts

    29: Ace of Diamonds

    30: Two of Diamonds

    31: Three of Diamonds

    32: Four of Diamonds

    33: Five of Diamonds

    34: Six of Diamonds

    35: Seven of Diamonds

    36: Eight of Diamonds

    37: Nine of Diamonds

    38: Ten of Diamonds

    39: Jack of Diamonds

    40: Knight of Diamonds

    41: Queen of Diamonds

    42: King of Diamonds

    43: Black Joker

    44: Ace of Clubs

    45: Two of Clubs

    46: Three of Clubs

    47: Four of Clubs

    48: Five of Clubs

    49: Six of Clubs

    50: Seven of Clubs

    51: Eight of Clubs

    52: Nine of Clubs

    53: Ten of Clubs

    54: Jack of Clubs

    55: Knight of Clubs

    56: Queen of Clubs

    57: King of Clubs

    58: White Joker

    59: Fool

    60: Individual

    61: Childhood

    62: Youth

    63: Maturity

    64: Old Age

    65: Morning

    66: Afternoon

    67: Evening

    68: Night

    69: Earth and Air

    70: Water and Fire

    71: Dance

    72: Shopping

    73: Open Air

    74: Visual Arts

    75: Spring

    76: Summer

    77: Autumn

    78: Winter

    79: The Game

    80: Collective

    81: 0

    82: 1

    83: 2

    84: 3

    85: 4

    86: 5

    87: 6

    88: 7

    89: 8

    90: 9

    91: A

    92: B

    93: C

    94: D

    95: E

    96: F

    97: G

    98: H

    99: I

    100: J

    101: K

    102: L

    103: M

    104: N

    105: O

    106: P

    107: Q

    108: R

    109: S

    110: T

    111: U

    112: V

    113: W

    114: X

    115: Y

    116: Z

    117: Yes

    118: No

    119: Hello

    120: Goodbye

    And in Unicode

    🂡🂢🂣🂤🂥🂦🂧🂨🂩🂪🂫🂬🂭🂮🂱🂲🂳🂴🂵🂶🂷🂸🂹🂺🂻🂼🂽🂾🃁🃂🃃🃄🃅🃆🃇🃈🃉🃊🃋🃌🃍🃎    🃏🃑🃒🃓🃔🃕🃖🃗🃘🃙🃚🃛🃜🃝🃞🃟🃠🃡🃢🃣🃤🃥🃦🃧🃨🃩🃪🃫🃬🃭🃮🃯🃰🃱🃲🃳🃴🃵𝟶𝟷𝟸𝟹𝟺𝟻𝟼𝟽𝟾𝟿𝙰𝙱𝙲𝙳𝙴𝙵𝙶𝙷𝙸𝙹𝙺𝙻𝙼𝙽𝙾𝙿𝚀𝚁𝚂𝚃𝚄𝚅𝚆𝚇𝚈𝚉👍👎⎆⎋

    The first section of characters is the contents of the Playing Cards block in Unicode, minus Red Joker (white is kept) and Playing Card Back. So that means the 52 cards (jokers included) in an English/American deck of playing cards, plus Tarot's Knight cards, so 56 cards (and these are basically a graphical suit with the value above it, in a 12pt cell), plus the 22 cards in the Major Arcana, with "Fool" as XXII as is done on some decks. That section is rendered as a 12pt card with Roman numerals I through XXII with IX and XI having disambiguation dots. The naming I used for the cards is the     alias names Unicode gives the cards. So none of the "The Hanged Man" or the generic numbered-only names that Unicode gives as their official codepoint names. After that is Ouija's 0-9 and uppercase A-Z, using Unicode's Mathematical Monospaced characters (Courier) from Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols block, in order to fit the 1800s playbill font commonly seen on Ouija boards, also 12pt. Now the next ones are the interesting ones. To represent Yes and No, I used the Thumbs-Up and Thumbs-Down emoji respectively, and the real interesting part is what I did for Hello and Goodbye. For those, I used two characters from the Miscellaneous Technical block, namely the Enter Symbol and the Escape Symbol, both seen on old Mac keyboards. The first one is a diamond with an arrow pointing inwards, and the second one is a circle with an arrow pointing outwards. The metaphor here is that "Hello" is entering a conversation, and "Goodbye" is leaving one, obviously with a spirit. And all this fills ALL 120 slots on a d120, with no empty or duplicate entries. A unique glyph for each side. The only fonts usable for this by the way are Unifont Smooth (bundled) or UnifontEX. No other font, even Unifont itself, has all the characters together, due to the fact that Hello and Goodbye symbols are in Plane 0, meanwhile the rest of the characters are in Plane 1 AND even include emoji, never mind that some fonts do not support the Major Arcana part of the Playing Cards block. So basically, you're stuck with these two forks of GNU Unifont, but UnifontEX is pixel and so is not exactly a fitting theme unless you're a hacker like I am. Plus, by a bout of sheer chance, ALL the characters after vectorization turned out fine (though White Joker's J is too skeletal in the loop), something that related characters (some of the other stuff in the same block as the thumbs up and thumbs down emoji didn't vectorize well) have trouble with. I was very pleasantly surprised that the emoji and the Roman numerals turned out fine. But ultimately this was a feat of engineering I did when I was bored from 2023 to nowadays.

    Anyways, what makes this a compelling protest product is that it combines several things that fundamentalist Christians are very prone to hating. It takes Tarot cards and Ouija boards and shoves them onto dice that are literally divisible into an entire set of common and rare TTRPG dice, on top of the shape being a D&D d20 but divided into 6 triangles (putting a d4 on each face and then dividing by 2), a D&D d12 but divided into 10 triangles for each pentagon, as well as being a derivative shape of the d30 and d60. So basically, this "Tarouija" d120 combines multiple things that fundamentalist Christians consider "demonic" into one divination ritual item and thus is a great form of protest against the religious right. For the record I live in California. Hopefully this is interesting. Oh the OpenSCAD file needs the nightly build of OpenSCAD.     #dicemaking #dicemaker #dice #d120 #unicode #unifontex #tarotcard #tarotdecks #tarotcards #tarotcardsreading #ouijaboard #ouija #3d #3dp #3dprinting #3dprinter #spiritboard #majorarcana #fuckice #protest #unifont #openscad #scad #3dart #art #tech #technology #code #font #fontdev #fonts #3dmodel #3dmodeling #3dmodels #3dmodeled #computerscience #compsci #boredom #activism #ice

    #dicemaking #dicemaker #dice #d120 #unicode #unifontex
  18. stgiga (they/them) :polygender_verify: @[email protected] ·

    @[email protected]

    Seeing as you're making dice that are fighting the current situation in the USA right now, I think     this would be up your alley. https://stgiga.github.io/gigaware/TarouijaD120files.zip would be up your alley. It is a 3D model with OpenSCAD for tweaks, of a d120 but instead of the numbers 1-120, it has extended Tarot and extended Ouija as its symbols, via Unicode shenanigans, following this mapping https://www.reddit.com/r/d120Lists/comments/17mr2uv/d120_tarot_and_spirit_board/

    Roll: Result
    1: Ace of Spades

    2: Two of Spades

    3: Three of Spades

    4: Four of Spades

    5: Five of Spades

    6: Six of Spades

    7: Seven of Spades

    8: Eight of Spades

    9: Nine of Spades

    10: Ten of Spades

    11: Jack of Spades

    12: Knight of Spades

    13: Queen of Spades

    14: King of Spades

    15: Ace of Hearts

    16: Two of Hearts

    17: Three of Hearts

    18: Four of Hearts

    19: Five of Hearts

    20: Six of Hearts

    21: Seven of Hearts

    22: Eight of Hearts

    23: Nine of Hearts

    24: Ten of Hearts

    25: Jack of Hearts

    26: Knight of Hearts

    27: Queen of Hearts

    28: King of Hearts

    29: Ace of Diamonds

    30: Two of Diamonds

    31: Three of Diamonds

    32: Four of Diamonds

    33: Five of Diamonds

    34: Six of Diamonds

    35: Seven of Diamonds

    36: Eight of Diamonds

    37: Nine of Diamonds

    38: Ten of Diamonds

    39: Jack of Diamonds

    40: Knight of Diamonds

    41: Queen of Diamonds

    42: King of Diamonds

    43: Black Joker

    44: Ace of Clubs

    45: Two of Clubs

    46: Three of Clubs

    47: Four of Clubs

    48: Five of Clubs

    49: Six of Clubs

    50: Seven of Clubs

    51: Eight of Clubs

    52: Nine of Clubs

    53: Ten of Clubs

    54: Jack of Clubs

    55: Knight of Clubs

    56: Queen of Clubs

    57: King of Clubs

    58: White Joker

    59: Fool

    60: Individual

    61: Childhood

    62: Youth

    63: Maturity

    64: Old Age

    65: Morning

    66: Afternoon

    67: Evening

    68: Night

    69: Earth and Air

    70: Water and Fire

    71: Dance

    72: Shopping

    73: Open Air

    74: Visual Arts

    75: Spring

    76: Summer

    77: Autumn

    78: Winter

    79: The Game

    80: Collective

    81: 0

    82: 1

    83: 2

    84: 3

    85: 4

    86: 5

    87: 6

    88: 7

    89: 8

    90: 9

    91: A

    92: B

    93: C

    94: D

    95: E

    96: F

    97: G

    98: H

    99: I

    100: J

    101: K

    102: L

    103: M

    104: N

    105: O

    106: P

    107: Q

    108: R

    109: S

    110: T

    111: U

    112: V

    113: W

    114: X

    115: Y

    116: Z

    117: Yes

    118: No

    119: Hello

    120: Goodbye

    And in Unicode

    🂡🂢🂣🂤🂥🂦🂧🂨🂩🂪🂫🂬🂭🂮🂱🂲🂳🂴🂵🂶🂷🂸🂹🂺🂻🂼🂽🂾🃁🃂🃃🃄🃅🃆🃇🃈🃉🃊🃋🃌🃍🃎    🃏🃑🃒🃓🃔🃕🃖🃗🃘🃙🃚🃛🃜🃝🃞🃟🃠🃡🃢🃣🃤🃥🃦🃧🃨🃩🃪🃫🃬🃭🃮🃯🃰🃱🃲🃳🃴🃵𝟶𝟷𝟸𝟹𝟺𝟻𝟼𝟽𝟾𝟿𝙰𝙱𝙲𝙳𝙴𝙵𝙶𝙷𝙸𝙹𝙺𝙻𝙼𝙽𝙾𝙿𝚀𝚁𝚂𝚃𝚄𝚅𝚆𝚇𝚈𝚉👍👎⎆⎋

    The first section of characters is the contents of the Playing Cards block in Unicode, minus Red Joker (white is kept) and Playing Card Back. So that means the 52 cards (jokers included) in an English/American deck of playing cards, plus Tarot's Knight cards, so 56 cards (and these are basically a graphical suit with the value above it, in a 12pt cell), plus the 22 cards in the Major Arcana, with "Fool" as XXII as is done on some decks. That section is rendered as a 12pt card with Roman numerals I through XXII with IX and XI having disambiguation dots. The naming I used for the cards is the     alias names Unicode gives the cards. So none of the "The Hanged Man" or the generic numbered-only names that Unicode gives as their official codepoint names. After that is Ouija's 0-9 and uppercase A-Z, using Unicode's Mathematical Monospaced characters (Courier) from Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols block, in order to fit the 1800s playbill font commonly seen on Ouija boards, also 12pt. Now the next ones are the interesting ones. To represent Yes and No, I used the Thumbs-Up and Thumbs-Down emoji respectively, and the real interesting part is what I did for Hello and Goodbye. For those, I used two characters from the Miscellaneous Technical block, namely the Enter Symbol and the Escape Symbol, both seen on old Mac keyboards. The first one is a diamond with an arrow pointing inwards, and the second one is a circle with an arrow pointing outwards. The metaphor here is that "Hello" is entering a conversation, and "Goodbye" is leaving one, obviously with a spirit. And all this fills ALL 120 slots on a d120, with no empty or duplicate entries. A unique glyph for each side. The only fonts usable for this by the way are Unifont Smooth (bundled) or UnifontEX. No other font, even Unifont itself, has all the characters together, due to the fact that Hello and Goodbye symbols are in Plane 0, meanwhile the rest of the characters are in Plane 1 AND even include emoji, never mind that some fonts do not support the Major Arcana part of the Playing Cards block. So basically, you're stuck with these two forks of GNU Unifont, but UnifontEX is pixel and so is not exactly a fitting theme unless you're a hacker like I am. Plus, by a bout of sheer chance, ALL the characters after vectorization turned out fine (though White Joker's J is too skeletal in the loop), something that related characters (some of the other stuff in the same block as the thumbs up and thumbs down emoji didn't vectorize well) have trouble with. I was very pleasantly surprised that the emoji and the Roman numerals turned out fine. But ultimately this was a feat of engineering I did when I was bored from 2023 to nowadays.

    Anyways, what makes this a compelling protest product is that it combines several things that fundamentalist Christians are very prone to hating. It takes Tarot cards and Ouija boards and shoves them onto dice that are literally divisible into an entire set of common and rare TTRPG dice, on top of the shape being a D&D d20 but divided into 6 triangles (putting a d4 on each face and then dividing by 2), a D&D d12 but divided into 10 triangles for each pentagon, as well as being a derivative shape of the d30 and d60. So basically, this "Tarouija" d120 combines multiple things that fundamentalist Christians consider "demonic" into one divination ritual item and thus is a great form of protest against the religious right. For the record I live in California. Hopefully this is interesting. Oh the OpenSCAD file needs the nightly build of OpenSCAD.     #dicemaking #dicemaker #dice #d120 #unicode #unifontex #tarotcard #tarotdecks #tarotcards #tarotcardsreading #ouijaboard #ouija #3d #3dp #3dprinting #3dprinter #spiritboard #majorarcana #fuckice #protest #unifont #openscad #scad #3dart #art #tech #technology #code #font #fontdev #fonts #3dmodel #3dmodeling #3dmodels #3dmodeled #computerscience #compsci #boredom #activism #ice

    #dicemaking #dicemaker #dice #d120 #unicode #unifontex
  19. stgiga (they/them) :polygender_verify: @[email protected] ·

    @[email protected]

    Seeing as you're making dice that are fighting the current situation in the USA right now, I think     this would be up your alley. https://stgiga.github.io/gigaware/TarouijaD120files.zip would be up your alley. It is a 3D model with OpenSCAD for tweaks, of a d120 but instead of the numbers 1-120, it has extended Tarot and extended Ouija as its symbols, via Unicode shenanigans, following this mapping https://www.reddit.com/r/d120Lists/comments/17mr2uv/d120_tarot_and_spirit_board/

    Roll: Result
    1: Ace of Spades

    2: Two of Spades

    3: Three of Spades

    4: Four of Spades

    5: Five of Spades

    6: Six of Spades

    7: Seven of Spades

    8: Eight of Spades

    9: Nine of Spades

    10: Ten of Spades

    11: Jack of Spades

    12: Knight of Spades

    13: Queen of Spades

    14: King of Spades

    15: Ace of Hearts

    16: Two of Hearts

    17: Three of Hearts

    18: Four of Hearts

    19: Five of Hearts

    20: Six of Hearts

    21: Seven of Hearts

    22: Eight of Hearts

    23: Nine of Hearts

    24: Ten of Hearts

    25: Jack of Hearts

    26: Knight of Hearts

    27: Queen of Hearts

    28: King of Hearts

    29: Ace of Diamonds

    30: Two of Diamonds

    31: Three of Diamonds

    32: Four of Diamonds

    33: Five of Diamonds

    34: Six of Diamonds

    35: Seven of Diamonds

    36: Eight of Diamonds

    37: Nine of Diamonds

    38: Ten of Diamonds

    39: Jack of Diamonds

    40: Knight of Diamonds

    41: Queen of Diamonds

    42: King of Diamonds

    43: Black Joker

    44: Ace of Clubs

    45: Two of Clubs

    46: Three of Clubs

    47: Four of Clubs

    48: Five of Clubs

    49: Six of Clubs

    50: Seven of Clubs

    51: Eight of Clubs

    52: Nine of Clubs

    53: Ten of Clubs

    54: Jack of Clubs

    55: Knight of Clubs

    56: Queen of Clubs

    57: King of Clubs

    58: White Joker

    59: Fool

    60: Individual

    61: Childhood

    62: Youth

    63: Maturity

    64: Old Age

    65: Morning

    66: Afternoon

    67: Evening

    68: Night

    69: Earth and Air

    70: Water and Fire

    71: Dance

    72: Shopping

    73: Open Air

    74: Visual Arts

    75: Spring

    76: Summer

    77: Autumn

    78: Winter

    79: The Game

    80: Collective

    81: 0

    82: 1

    83: 2

    84: 3

    85: 4

    86: 5

    87: 6

    88: 7

    89: 8

    90: 9

    91: A

    92: B

    93: C

    94: D

    95: E

    96: F

    97: G

    98: H

    99: I

    100: J

    101: K

    102: L

    103: M

    104: N

    105: O

    106: P

    107: Q

    108: R

    109: S

    110: T

    111: U

    112: V

    113: W

    114: X

    115: Y

    116: Z

    117: Yes

    118: No

    119: Hello

    120: Goodbye

    And in Unicode

    🂡🂢🂣🂤🂥🂦🂧🂨🂩🂪🂫🂬🂭🂮🂱🂲🂳🂴🂵🂶🂷🂸🂹🂺🂻🂼🂽🂾🃁🃂🃃🃄🃅🃆🃇🃈🃉🃊🃋🃌🃍🃎    🃏🃑🃒🃓🃔🃕🃖🃗🃘🃙🃚🃛🃜🃝🃞🃟🃠🃡🃢🃣🃤🃥🃦🃧🃨🃩🃪🃫🃬🃭🃮🃯🃰🃱🃲🃳🃴🃵𝟶𝟷𝟸𝟹𝟺𝟻𝟼𝟽𝟾𝟿𝙰𝙱𝙲𝙳𝙴𝙵𝙶𝙷𝙸𝙹𝙺𝙻𝙼𝙽𝙾𝙿𝚀𝚁𝚂𝚃𝚄𝚅𝚆𝚇𝚈𝚉👍👎⎆⎋

    The first section of characters is the contents of the Playing Cards block in Unicode, minus Red Joker (white is kept) and Playing Card Back. So that means the 52 cards (jokers included) in an English/American deck of playing cards, plus Tarot's Knight cards, so 56 cards (and these are basically a graphical suit with the value above it, in a 12pt cell), plus the 22 cards in the Major Arcana, with "Fool" as XXII as is done on some decks. That section is rendered as a 12pt card with Roman numerals I through XXII with IX and XI having disambiguation dots. The naming I used for the cards is the     alias names Unicode gives the cards. So none of the "The Hanged Man" or the generic numbered-only names that Unicode gives as their official codepoint names. After that is Ouija's 0-9 and uppercase A-Z, using Unicode's Mathematical Monospaced characters (Courier) from Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols block, in order to fit the 1800s playbill font commonly seen on Ouija boards, also 12pt. Now the next ones are the interesting ones. To represent Yes and No, I used the Thumbs-Up and Thumbs-Down emoji respectively, and the real interesting part is what I did for Hello and Goodbye. For those, I used two characters from the Miscellaneous Technical block, namely the Enter Symbol and the Escape Symbol, both seen on old Mac keyboards. The first one is a diamond with an arrow pointing inwards, and the second one is a circle with an arrow pointing outwards. The metaphor here is that "Hello" is entering a conversation, and "Goodbye" is leaving one, obviously with a spirit. And all this fills ALL 120 slots on a d120, with no empty or duplicate entries. A unique glyph for each side. The only fonts usable for this by the way are Unifont Smooth (bundled) or UnifontEX. No other font, even Unifont itself, has all the characters together, due to the fact that Hello and Goodbye symbols are in Plane 0, meanwhile the rest of the characters are in Plane 1 AND even include emoji, never mind that some fonts do not support the Major Arcana part of the Playing Cards block. So basically, you're stuck with these two forks of GNU Unifont, but UnifontEX is pixel and so is not exactly a fitting theme unless you're a hacker like I am. Plus, by a bout of sheer chance, ALL the characters after vectorization turned out fine (though White Joker's J is too skeletal in the loop), something that related characters (some of the other stuff in the same block as the thumbs up and thumbs down emoji didn't vectorize well) have trouble with. I was very pleasantly surprised that the emoji and the Roman numerals turned out fine. But ultimately this was a feat of engineering I did when I was bored from 2023 to nowadays.

    Anyways, what makes this a compelling protest product is that it combines several things that fundamentalist Christians are very prone to hating. It takes Tarot cards and Ouija boards and shoves them onto dice that are literally divisible into an entire set of common and rare TTRPG dice, on top of the shape being a D&D d20 but divided into 6 triangles (putting a d4 on each face and then dividing by 2), a D&D d12 but divided into 10 triangles for each pentagon, as well as being a derivative shape of the d30 and d60. So basically, this "Tarouija" d120 combines multiple things that fundamentalist Christians consider "demonic" into one divination ritual item and thus is a great form of protest against the religious right. For the record I live in California. Hopefully this is interesting. Oh the OpenSCAD file needs the nightly build of OpenSCAD.     #dicemaking #dicemaker #dice #d120 #unicode #unifontex #tarotcard #tarotdecks #tarotcards #tarotcardsreading #ouijaboard #ouija #3d #3dp #3dprinting #3dprinter #spiritboard #majorarcana #fuckice #protest #unifont #openscad #scad #3dart #art #tech #technology #code #font #fontdev #fonts #3dmodel #3dmodeling #3dmodels #3dmodeled #computerscience #compsci #boredom #activism #ice

    #3dmodel #fonts #fontdev #font #code #technology
  20. Andy Arthur - Threadinburgh @[email protected] ·

    Jimmy’s: the thread about the school on St Leonard’s Crag

    Preamble. The schools of the “School Board” era of public education (those built 1872-1918) hold a particular fascination for me, one most profound where they have been “deconsecrated” and are either no longer in use as schools or have disappeared entirely. This thread began as a couple of lines for my own notes about the “Lost Board Schools of Edinburgh” but soon snowballed into an alphabetical deep-dive into each.

    Part nine of the “Lost Board Schools of Edinburgh” series takes us to St Leonard’s Crag, the rather romantic sounding name for a quarried-out promontory where the western boundary of Holyrood Park meets the old district of St Leonard’s (a name harking back to a so-named 12th century chapel and hospital). Perched atop it is these days is a handsome old building, now converted to flats, whose striking feature is a grand corner tower in the style of a French château. For those with a keen eye, the letters ESB carved on its façade give the game away that this was once a school, the last that would be designed and built by the Edinburgh School Board and one that was strikingly different from what had come before it. This is the former James Clark School– universally known locally as Jimmy’s – the feature of chapter nine of the “Lost Board Schools of Edinburgh” series.

    The former James Clark School, southern elevation.

    The Edinburgh School Board was formed as a result of the Education (Scotland) Act 1872 which made education compulsory (but not then free) between the ages of five and thirteen. It was largely constituted from the various parish schools of the main Presbyterian churches; the Kirk and the Free Kirk between them educating around 40% of pupils in the city at this time. In the first three decades of its existence it embarked upon a mass-building programme to furnish the city with enough purpose-built new “public schools” to house and teach the children of its burgeoning population. In the Southside, no fewer than seven were opened; Bristo (1877); Causewayside (1877); St Leonard’s (1880); South Bridge (1886); Davie Street (1887); Sciennes (1892) and Preston Street (1897).

    Former South Bridge Public School, a typical early “barracks block” product of the Edinburgh School Board in its favoured Collegiate Gothic style, by its house architect Robert Wilson

    These had replaced the hodge-podge of inadequate and antiquated facilities that the Board had inherited but were only just able to meet the demand as the school-age population continued to rise. This was the result of a number of factors including the abolition of fees in 1890, more stringent efforts to ensure attendance, making it harder to employ school-age children in the daytime workplace and the raising of the minimum leaving age to fourteen by the Education (Scotland) Act 1901. By 1911 school capacity in the Southside had been well and truly exceeded; Sciennes had fifteen classes over-capacity, South Bridge eleven, St Leonard’s three and Bristo two. The Board thus felt it had no option but to built yet another new facility in the district, but the area was by now heavily developed and prospective sites were hard to come by. Eventually the relatively small and topographically complex one acre plot of the Gibraltar Villas at St. Leonard’s Bank was acquired, as well as an adjoining house to be converted for the school janitor.

    Comparison of 1893 and 1944 OS Town Plans showing the St Leonard’s district. Gibraltar Villas are on the bottom right, where the James Clark School will later be built. St Leonard’s Public School is the cruciform building in the bottom middle, on Forbes Street, later an annexe to “Jimmy’s”. To its left is Free St Paul’s where the old district school was held in the Sabbath School Hall – later a temporary annexe – and at the top left is Davie Street School also later an annexe of technical workshops. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

    Plans were approved on March 25th 1913 to the designs of the Board’s long-serving architect, John Alexander Carfrae. But architectural thinking had moved on significantly with respect to school design since the looming “barracks” blocks of previous decades and Carfrae was rapidly adapting his style at this time in response. What he proposed was a two-storey, F-plan building with a capacity for 850 children in seventeen classrooms. It would be one which embodied the latest theories about maximising natural lighting and ventilation and an evolution of his preceding work at Tollcross School. Gone were the tall, mechanically-ventilated rooms lit by high-set windows on only one side in a sinister attempt to stamp out left-handedness. Instead, in came classrooms arranged “one deep” (i.e. with external walls on opposite sides of the room), naturally lit with as many windows as possible on both sides and naturally cross-ventilated by opening these windows. Gone too were the warren of internal corridors, rooms accessed off of rooms and monumental “parade” staircases and in came open verandahs, each classroom being directly accessed from its own door to the outside, protected from the worst of the elements by glazed canopies. The windows on the verandah side could be folded open so that classes could be “taught practically in the open air“.

    Former James Clark School, from the upper playgrounds. Note there are windows on the rear (north) side of the closest classrooms, largely to provide natural cross-ventilation across from front to rear. The well considered arrangement of the buildings and use of topography means the two-storey range closest to the viewpoint casts relatively little shadow into the playground behind it. The squat, single-storey block contained toilets. The east range to the left of the photo has a first floor verandah giving access directly to each classroom from the open air. Picture via Ativa Property listing

    Previous practice had been to simply plonk the school block directly alongside the street in a central and symmetrical manner that looked pleased on the drawings but which made for dark, oppressive and stale playgrounds and classrooms badly affected by road noise. Instead, the new school was pushed north by some seventy feet from the boundary to give an open, south-facing playground which maximised sunlight and circulation of air. A second, inner playground made use of the plot’s topography to also get the best of the daylight and drouth. Again following the lead of Tollcross, the styling was restrained; a mix of plain, rustic masonry and smooth ashlar at the ground floor giving way to glass and facing brick for the upper storey. One exception to this visual austerity was made though with advantage taken “of its commanding position to give it some bolder features rather than to employ elaborate architectural detail” – that enormous tower in the southeaster corner, which elegantly morphed from a square section to a conical spire and contained the headmaster’s office and a staffroom in its upper levels. The end product would be visually unique in the landscape of Edinburgh schools.

    Former James Clark School, southern elevation showing the corner tower and Salisbury Crag’s beyond. Picture via Ativa Property listing

    The new school was to be christened King’s Park School in acknowledgement of the formal name of Holyrood Park over which it had a commanding view and tenders were solicited in March 1913, with a total cost of £18,000 approved. However its shared boundary with that park caused “friction” in July that year when the Ministry of Works – the park’s custodians – demanded an annual 2 Guineas ground rent for a boundary wall which was be demolished and encroached upon by some eighteen inches.

    The Scotsman, 15th March 1913

    A tender for furniture was invited on 24th October 1914 but by this time World War Once had commenced and opening would never come. Instead the nearly completed but empty building (the north range of the F-plan was not yet built) was requisitioned by the War Office for the billeting of troops. Here stalled and ended the brief story of King’s Park School: but it was not the end, indeed it was really only the beginning.

    A monogrammed desk from the James Clark School that formerly stood outside the headmaster’s office, now located in the Southside Heritage Association’s museum in the Nelson Halls.

    When the school board took back possession of its building in 1918 it found itself now faced with a declining need for elementary-grade schools and an increasing need for supplementary grade capacity (i.e. for ages twelve to fourteen and potentially beyond). This was to provide the specialist training needed by the city’s industries for children destined to enter their workforces in a few years time. At this time these children were taught in their normal elementary schools in what were called the Supplementary Divisions; in 1905 the School Board had 3,494 such pupils on its books but by 1912 this had tripled to 10,391, but with an estimated deficit of 6,000 spaces. 1909 they had considered building three new Supplementary Schools to centralise this teaching in purpose-built facilities equipped with the necessary technical workshops and classrooms. Ground was aquired to the west at Tynecastle – where a Technical and Commercial School would be opened in 1911 – and at Bellevue to the north for this purpose. The third such school was to serve the Southside but had been delayed owing to the outbreak of the war. Finding a brand new, empty school in its hands and a declining elementary roll in the district, the solution presented itself.

    It was decided to rename the new institution in honour of Lt. Col James Clark KC CB, late Chairman of the Edinburgh School Board and who had been killed in action at the Second Battle of Ypres. Fifty-six year old Clark – a long-serving Territorial Army officer – had volunteered to command the 9th (Dumbartonshire) Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and was hit by a shell on the morning of May 1915 when leading his battalion forward near Zouave Wood to relieve the 2nd Cameron Highlanders. During this battle the unit was reduced in strength by three quarters, with just two officers and eighty five men surviving. Clark’s deputy, Major George J. Christie, would receive the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) medal for his part in the brutal fighting.

    “A-Company of the 9th Argylls Advancing Under Heavy Fire to Reinforce the 2nd Camerons During the Second Battle of Ypres“, lithograph of a painting by Allan Stewart published in the picture book “Deeds that Thrill the Empire“. The officer leading the charge in this scene, Major George J. Christie, would receive the DSO for his part in this action which would claim the life of his superior, Lt. Col. James Clark

    The James Clark Technical School accepted its first 730 pupils in September 1918 and was formally opened on 21st March 1919 by the Right Hon. Robert Munro, Secretary of State for Scotland. Norah Kathleen Clark, widow of the late Colonel, was present on the occasion. It was the second such school of this type in Edinburgh and was the last to be built and opened by the Edinburgh School Board. The Education (Scotland) Act 1918 which came into force a few months later replaced it with a new Edinburgh Education Authority. To align with the language used by this act, the school was re-designated James Clark Intermediate, although both names would be used interchangeably throughout 1920s.

    Memorial to James Clark within the school. Detail of the inscription can be read in the Alt Text.

    Clark was widely mourned and commemorated, leading memorials in the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh (of which he was a member); the Edinburgh Naval and Military Institute where he had been founding chairman (since removed to the Scottish Veterans Residences in the Canongate); on the battalion memorial at Dumbarton Castle and at his alma mater of Paisley Grammar School. His widow would later commission a vast, nine-light stained glass window in his memory from the artist Douglas Strachan for the eastern end for Paisley Abbey.

    Part of the east window of Paisley Abbey dedicated to James Clark. Photo by Brian Madwsley, via IWM War Memorials Register

    The press deemed the new school to be a “fitting memorial of Colonel Clark’s educational work“, but not everyone was happy. One local parent wrote to the Edinburgh Evening News to express their displeasure at it not being an elementary school:

    It is not sufficient for Board members to sit in a board-room and come to decisions when the welfare of the children is at stake. Let them visit the district and get some practical experience of the conditions under which these children are suffering… Let the Board take up the question of technical education after they have dealt with the present conditions, and not start half way up the ladder.

    Letter to the Editor of the Edinburgh Evening News from “A Parent in the District”, 16th May 1918

    As an Intermediate School, Jimmy’s offered two-to-three year courses for children which were a combination of general education and either a Technical or Commercial stream aimed at preparing them for the workplace. But having been built as an elementary school it was lacking in certain facilities. In 1918 the nearby Davie Street Public School was closed to become an annexe for it, first providing additional teaching space while rooms for art, home economics and science were added to the main building in a new north wing. After this work was completed in 1924 it was converted into specialist workshops for teaching the trades of brassfinishing, tinsmithing, upholstery, plumbing, tailoring and printing (to boys only, of course!)

    Davie Street School, built by the Heriot Trust in 1875 in their house style and later taken over and extended by the Edinburgh School Board as a public school

    After 1927 depopulation in the Southside accelerated as a result of the city Corporation’s slum clearance schemes. This displaced much of the population to new housing estates to the south at Prestonfield and further east at Niddrie Mains. Families with children were relocated as a priority and so school rolls sharply declined, reaching a rate of 10% per annum at the dawn of the 1930s and resulting in some 1,200 vacant elementary school places in the district. When a brand new school at Prestonfield opened in 1931 to serve that estate the St Leonard’s Public School, just over the street from James Clark, was closed and the Education Committee approved its conversion into a second annexe for the latter.

    James Clark School uniform in 1933, worn by Esther Reid of Parkside Street. Her hat sports a black and gold band – the school colours – and badge, and her gauntlet gloves have a golden band around the cuff. Copy of a photograph in the Southside Heritage Association’s museum in the Nelson Halls.

    St Leonard’s already had workshops for supplementary classes in tinsmithing, metal working, tailoring, upholstery and masonry (for boys) and cookery, sewing and “cutting out” (for girls). Nine of its classrooms were refurbished and two new art rooms were added alongside new workshops for benchwork, a laundry, sewing and cookery rooms and a new gymnasium with changing rooms and showers. These changes allowed the conversion of such rooms in the main school into science laboratories. Work was completed for the start of the 1932-33 term after the summer holidays. An additional benefit for boys was that they could now undertake their physical education classes in the anew annexe; the smaller gymnasium in the main school had been hitherto reserved for girls and boys had instead been marched to and from a nearby drill hall for their “physical jerks“.

    St Leonard’s Public School in 1959. Adam H. Malcolm photograph, Edinburgh and Scottish Collection of Edinburgh City Libraries.

    The depopulation of the Southside didn’t have much immediate effect on the roll at Jimmy’s as it remained the only such school in the south and east of the city; all those children who had been displaced to the new housing areas had to come right back for their secondary education! Former pupil and Rangers footballing legend John Greig – a pupil in the mid-1950s – recalls in his autobiography “My Story”, how his footballing fitness was established by the daily two mile run from his home in the Prestonfield housing scheme to school, returning each way at lunch time and then the two miles home again at the end of the day. This situation would continue until 1938 when Niddrie Marischal Intermediate School opened to serve the Niddrie and Craigmillar housing areas. A third annexe was added to that year when workshops in the former Brown Square School, by then part of Heriot-Watt College, became available to train boys serving apprenticeships in the bookbinding trade on “day release” from the school. Use of this building had ceased by 1964 when it was converted into the students’ association for Heriot-Watt College.

    Former Brown Square school in 1913. This was one of the Heriot Trust day schools that were merged into the School Board after 1872, immediately identifiable by all the Jacobean decorations modelled off of Heriot’s Hospital itself. Edinburgh Photographic Society collection, via National Galleries Scotland.

    For the boys of James Clark, the facilities of its annexes meant the school developed particularly close links with the printing trade – an especially prestigious blue collar career in the city – and successful completion of the courses could lead to bursaries for the print qualifications at Heriot Watt College. These opportunities of course remained strictly off limits to girls, who were limited to clerical classes or for training in the domestic arts of cookery, dressmaking and laundrywork. A house at 17 St Leonard’s Bank had been purchased for the school and was used to teach “housewifery“, its upstairs flat accommodating one of the school’s janitors.

    A girl’s class of ’34 infront of an entrance to James Clark School.

    In 1940 the school was re-designated James Clark Junior Secondary, a Scotland-wide change to mark the shift to a broader curriculum at this level and in preparation for the school leaving age being raised to 15. At this time its roll was 861. Between 1942-48 and again between 1954-58, overspill accommodation was provided in the old Sunday School of the former St. Paul’s Free Church on St Leonards Street, where the first school in the district had been established way back in 1851. This was partly to provide a dining room, with many fathers absent and mothers out working during the day there was a huge wartime demand for school dinners. These were brought in from a central kitchen established nearby at the former Causewayside Public School and were of dubious quality. After the war the new National Health Service took responsibility for juvenile dental care off of the city and James Clark was one of a number of schools given a dental inspection and treatment room with a full-time staff.

    On April 1st 1947, the minimum school leaving age in Scotland was raised from 14 to 15, significantly increasing the number of children in secondary education and helping keep the roll at Jimmy’s healthy. There was also a bump in the city’s urban population at this time due to an acute post-war housing crisis, again benefiting the school. On January 15th 1949 a memorial was dedicated in the school to the 121 former pupils and one member of staff (Sergeant Eric Webster RAFVR, who was killed on July 28th 1942 when his aircraft collided with another near Cambridge).

    James Clark School WW2 memorial panel for former pupils who lost their lives in the conflict. Originally installed in the school, it was later relocated to the Southside Community Centre, although currently is not on display and awaiting restoration. Copy of a photograph in the Southside Heritage Association’s museum in the Nelson Halls.

    A further memorial was unveiled at the nearby Deaconess Hospital in 1956. This was provided by the School’s memorial fund to mark the service that the hospital provided to the community and of the £750 that had been raised the substantial remainder paid for comforts for the patients such as TV and radio sets, which could not be met from its own budget.

    Photograph of the plaque, now in the care of the Lothian Health Services Archive, a copy in the Edinburgh and Scottish Collection, Edinburgh City Libraries.

    When the prevailing dire national economic conditions eased enough for new housing estates to start appearing in the south of the city in the early 1950s, again there was a lag in provision of secondary schooling to the benefit of the roll at James Clark; a temporary school was provided at The Inch in 1953 but permanent schools at Liberton and Gracemount had to wait until 1958. The Education Committee anticipated the roll increasing to over 1,000 by the end of the decade and so authorised a £36,000 extension in 1957 to provide four science classrooms, a new assembly hall, library as well as improvements to the existing facilities. This allowed the ancient overspill accommodation at the old St. Paul’s Free Kirk to be finally vacated. The new block conferred an additional benefit in that it bridged the height difference between the main school and the St Leonard’s annexe, significantly shortening the distance between the two.

    The steel frame of the 1957 extension takes shape, seen between the annexe of the old St Leonard’s Public School on the left and the tenements of St Leonard’s Hill on the right. Photograph by Adam H. Malcolm c. 1957, G944A Edinburgh and Scottish Collection of Edinburgh City Libraries

    Any optimism for the school’s future in the late 1950s had been severely misplaced however. Despite the forthcoming raising of the leaving age to sixteen (then planned for 1970), the scandalous condition of housing in much of the district – culminating in the infamous collapse of the “Penny Tenement” in 1959 – saw rapid and drastic action taken by the authorities. The Corporation designated whole swathes of the neighbourhood a Comprehensive Development Area, condemning the housing stock and acquiring it through compulsory purchase (CPO) before their wrecking ball moved in. Much of St Leonard’s and almost all of Dumbiedykes would be completely obliterated in short order and by 1964 some 1,500 houses had already been demolished in the area. The population inevitably collapsed, displaced to the outlying housing schemes and new tower blocks, and those left behind were generally the elderly or young people without children. School rolls thus fell disproportionately faster; by 1963 the roll at Jimmy’s was just 500 – half of what had been predicted – and by the end of the decade would be barely 300.

    Evening News photo of the Carnegie Street CPO area, cleared after the collapse of the Penny Tenement, published 5th October 1961. The abandoned remains of Dalrymple Place can be seen on the left, running off towards the Deaconess Hospital.

    It would have been hard enough for the school to survive this seismic demographic force in isolation, but it also faced three further existential threats. Firstly, after 1966 the specialist technical education for printing and allied trades was removed from the school’s curriculum and onto those of the new Telford and Napier further education colleges. The entire Davie Street building was transferred to those institutions and quickly run-down and relocated. Secondly, the raising of the leaving age to sixteen was delayed and coincided with a move from the two tier system of Junior Secondary and selective, fee-charging High Schools to a fully comprehensive and co-educational system. The Education Committee took this juncture as an opportunity to “rid” itself of as many of its old Junior Secondaries as possible; most of which were housed in converted old elementary schools with a variety of extensions and annexes tacked on over time. Jimmy’s generally positive reputation compared to some of its peers could not protect it from this desire.

    James Clark School scarf, blazer badge and prefect’s pin. Objects in the Southside Heritage Association’s museum in the Nelson Halls.

    Thirdly, the city had a long and deeply held aspiration to run an urban motorway – the Bridges Relief Road – directly through the neighbourhood and the school itself. As such it had been land-banking for this scheme in the district and was keen to clear any remaining occupied blocks as quickly as it could. James Clark Secondary School could not, and did not, survive these combined pressures and it closed at the end of the 1971-72 term, its remaining pupils relocated to a reconstituted James Gillespie’s High School.

    Diagram of some of the central urban motorways recommended for Edinburgh in the “Buchanan Plan” in 1966 and further finessed in the 1970s. The Bridges Relief Road is marked in red on the right, running straight through the site of James Clark School.

    Thus ended the fifty-five year history of Jimmy’s. The headmaster at opening was Robert Dickson. He was replaced in 1927 by James Flett, who died just 6 months later. In turn afterwards came Michael Oldham (1927-37), Thomas Scott (1938-53); James M. L. Drummond (1953-56); Ronald. S. Gray (1956-67) and Ronald Paul (1967-closure). The noted rubber stamp artist, calligrapher and instructional author George Lawrie Thomson (1916-2001), was a Jimmy’s pupil from 1929-32. In his 1988 autobiography My Life as a Scribe he recalled scoring 92% in the Qualifying Exam (“Qually“) at age 11 thus winning entry to Boroughmuir High School, but his class friend got 94% thus won the only scholarship on offer. Unable to afford the fees at Boroughmuir, he instead went to James Clark where like most of his peers he left after three years to join the prevailing mass unemployment of the time. By sheer talent (and motherly determination) he fortunately able to win a scholarship to Edinburgh College of Art.

    Cover of The Art of Caligraphy bv George L. Thomson, one of many beautiful covers he produced for his own books.

    Another notable former pupil was John Gollan (1911-72), general secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain, who was at the school until leaving in 1924 before his fourteenth birthday. In 1931 he made the local headlines when he received six months imprisonment for handing out socialist pamphlets (“The Soldier’s Voice” and “The Organ of Communist Soldiers“) outside Redford Barracks.

    John Gollan addressing an anti-Vietnam War demonstration in Trafalgar Square, London, July 1966.

    Although there was the threat of the Bridges Relief Road hanging over it the unoccupied school was Category B listed in 1974, conferring some protection from immediate demolition. Thoughts given to relocating the Museum of Childhood to it, but instead it was brought back into educational use, briefly providing “decant” accommodation for pupils destined for the new comprehensive Castlebrae High School before becoming a junior annexe for St Thomas of Aquin’s R.C. High School. £100,000 was spent on refurbishments in 1977 but by 1983 the latter school was due to move out again at the end of the term. A potential lifeline came in the form of 1982 plans to close the remaining district primary schools at Milton House, Preston Street and South Bridge and to merge them into a new school in James Clark. These plans were vigorously resisted and instead Preston Street stayed as it was, with South Bridge closed in 1983 and merged into Milton House, which in turn was renamed Royal Mile Primary to mark the occasion. After this the sole remaining occupant was the South Side Youth Centre who used parts of the 1957 extension. The former St Leonard’s Public School annexe and (listed) St Paul’s Free Kirk were demolished the following year.

    In 1985 Lothian Regional Council sold Jimmy’s to developer Jemscot Ltd for £270,000 (c. £847k in 2025) for conversion into flats. The transaction was anything but smooth however; £40,000 of the initial agreed deal of £310,000 had to be waived on account of the council allowing the building to be heavily vandalised, including all the lead stripped from the roof, while still under its control.

    The abandoned James Clark School in 1986, still from a video image which showing the For Sale sign and internal vandalism. © South Side Youth Centre via Southside Heritage Group Youtube

    To make matters worse, early in 1986 the Historic Buildings and Monuments Directorate of the Scottish Office stepped in with a demand for £19,995 from the Council, having discovered a clause in the Royal Warrant granted in 1913 that allowed the school to encroach on the Holyrood Park boundary which meant that should the building cease to be used for its educational purpose then the original boundary and wall was to be be reinstated. This would require the demolition of the entire eastern range and so the Directorate’s financial demand had been arrived at in lieu of this. The Council’s outraged Finance Chairman, Councillor James Gilchrist, made a counter-offer of £5 from his own wallet! A direct appeal was also made to the Secretary of State, Malcolm Rifkind MP, but went unanswered. The authority found it had no legal option other than to pay the money that had otherwise been earmarked for its education budget.

    View of the entrance to some of the flats from the 1st-floor southern walkway which once gave “fresh air” access to classrooms. Estate Agents photo from Deans Properties

    The development now went ahead and was designated as a new street called St Leonard’s Crag. An initial attempt to make the marketing name of Salisbury Court stick quickly fell by the wayside. In October 1986 the 1957 extension was vacated when the Southside Youth Centre left for the new Southside Community Centre in the former Nicolson Street Church. The developer then took the building in hand for conversion into flats, resulting in a curious-looking block with third and fourth-floor balconies which try hard to reference the arched window of the old school tower but largely fail to fit in with the older building in any way.

    The 1957 extension as converted to flats, being entirely re-faced in blockwork and with a metal-clad upper storey and balconies added.

    The first flats in the development were advertised for sale in late 1986 for between £23k and 55k (69k to £165k in January 2026 by straight consumer price inflation alone), but now selling for £200k, £300k or even more in the current Edinburgh property market. It is all a far cry from the smashed up, semi-ruinous state the building found itself in forty years ago.

    You certainly get a lot of view for your money.

    View from one of the flats in the former James Clark School, looking west towards the Salisbury Crags.

    The previous chapter of this series looked at St Leonard’s Public School. The next chapter examines Lothian Road Public School.

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  21. Andy Arthur - Threadinburgh @[email protected] ·

    Remarkably Unremarkable: the thread about St Leonard’s Public School

    Preamble. The schools of the “School Board” era of public education (those built 1872-1918) hold a particular fascination for me, one most profound where they have been “deconsecrated” and are either no longer in use as schools or have disappeared entirely. This thread began as a couple of lines for my own notes about the “Lost Board Schools of Edinburgh” but soon snowballed into an alphabetical deep-dive into each.

    It’s been a few months now since we last looked at one of the “Lost Board Schools of Edinburgh”. Chapter eight of this series takes us to St Leonard’s Public School, of which you can now find no trace where it once stood, and precious little in books or online resources either. Even Forbes Street, where it once stood, is unrecognisably different these days and similar in name only.

    Parish schooling in the St Leonard’s district began in 1851 in the Sabbath School behind Free St. Paul’s Church on St. Leonard’s Street. This small building – confusingly referred to locally as St Leonard’s School – served the neighbourhood under control of the Free Kirk for twenty or so years until the passage of the Education Act (Scotland) 1872. This made education between the ages of five and thirteen compulsory in Scotland and formed new area School Boards to take over the existing provision of the various Presbyterian churches, which in Edinburgh accounted for over 40% of public schooling.

    Free St. Paul’s in 1959, seventeen years after deconsecration and a year after it was sold by the Corporation out of use by James Clark Secondary. The date stone, 1836, pre-dates The Disruption which formed the Free Church. Adam H. Malcolm photograph, Edinburgh and Scottish Collection of Edinburgh City Libraries.

    The new Edinburgh School Board thus inherited this (and many other) small, ex-church school. But with bigger priorities in other parts of the city at first it was content to just let things run as they had before. The principal change a was the introduction by the Board of “evening classes for workmen, apprentices and others“, where Mr George Robertson taught reading, dictation, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography and history from 8PM to 10PM, four nights a week at a rate of four Shillings a term. Matters changed after 1878 when the Scotch Education Department withdrew its £500-a-year grant on account of its lack of proper facilities, “awkward rooms and indifferent light” and poor ventilation (the Department was obsessed about ventilation in those days).

    The Board had already resolved to build a purpose-built school for the district and now progressed this as a matter of urgency; as an interim measure new double desks were ordered to cram in additional bums-on-seats in the old building. A small, narrow site – barely over half an acre – and just to the east of the existing building was acquired between Forbes Street and St Leonard’s Lane. The Board’s house architect, Robert Wilson, prepared plans for an elongated, three-storey building with a projecting central gable block. Like other contemporary large, tall schools in the city that were squeezed into awkward blocks surrounded by tall tenements, it suffered by design from poor natural lighting and ventilation, dark and dingy playgrounds and obtrusive noise from the parallel roads. But the Board’s number one priority was building school capacity and these such considerations were further down on their list of requirements.

    Comparison of the 1849 and 1893 OS Town Plans of Edinburgh, showing before and after Forbes Street was laid out and St Leonard’s Public School built on it. St Paul’s Free Kirk and the school behind it, which served as the parish school, are on St Leonard’s Street. James Clark School would later be built on the site occupied by Gibraltar Villas. Move the slider to compare. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

    The formal opening ceremony of the new St Leonard’s Public School took place on Friday 16th January 1880, presided over by the Rev. Dr Adamson and members of the School Board. It was the tenth new school to be completed by the board since its formation in 1873 and was “the largest, cheapest and in every sense, the most commodious“. It had cost £10,000 (including the janitor’s house and boundary walls) and could hold 1,100 pupils at the regulation 8 square feet per child. The roll at the time of opening was 956 of whom 820 attended on average on any given day. At this time it was now felt that together with Bristo and Causewayside Public Schools – both opened three years prior – that “the educational requirements on the south-east part of the city had been fully met”.

    Former St. Paul’s Free Church in 1983, prior to demolition, and St. Leonard’s Public School on the right. Via Trove.Scot SC 1508948

    Not everyone was happy with the Board’s newest creation. In 1889, when it was considering plans for the new Sciennes Public School, the Dean of Guild Court – the equivalent then of a municipal planning approval committee – retrospectively criticised the architectural appearance of St. Leonard’s. It further implied that the School Board “were not considering the health of the children“. In 1927 Robert Sterling Craig SSC, an outspoken independent member of the Edinburgh Education Authority (successor to the School Board) derided the school, its lower floors were “practically cellars, as the sun never enters them from one year’s end to another“.

    Aerial photo of the St. Leonard’s district, early 1970s, showing St Leonard’s Public School towards the middle left, below the James Clark School which is the prominent building with the tower in the upper middle of the picture. This shows to good effect just how penned in the building was, orientated in the wrong direction to get the best of the natural daylight. Via Trove.Scot DP 622460

    In 1889 an extension was approved to add six further classrooms, to meet demand until Sciennes could be built. In 1901 estimates were sought for the addition of a cookery room, workshop and gymnasium for the school. Headmaster George Yule, of Blacket Avenue, died in January 1906 after a period of illness. Described as a man of “a genial and kindly disposition, highly esteemed and respected by his colleagues, and as a teacher had an excellent record” he had been in charge of the school since 1888. He was replaced by a former assistant, James Clark, who was then head at Causewayside Public School. Clark retired in 1921 having spent 39 of his 41 years in teaching at the school.

    St. Leonard’s Public School, a class in 1921. The boy on the extreme left in the front row, with the striped tie, is Andrew Archibald, who wrote memories of the area for the Edinburgh Evening News.

    In 1913 workshops were added for “instruction of tinsmiths, metal workers, tailors, upholsterers and masons“. These were “Supplementary” courses (i.e. specialist trades education beyond the age of 11) only open to boys; Girls could go to Causewayside Public School but were restricted to taking domestic courses. In 1924, newspaper adverts record that St Leonard’s was offering evening “cutting-out classes for women”, i.e. translating patterns for clothing onto fabric for sewing into garments. The school otherwise seems to have led a life most remarkable for how unremarkable it was.

    St Leonard’s Public School in 1959, by which time it was the annexe for James Clark School. Photo taken from the south end of Forbes Street where it meets St Leonard’s Lane, showing just how penned in the building was on all sides by tenements. Adam H. Malcolm photograph, Edinburgh and Scottish Collection of Edinburgh City Libraries.

    Things continued in this fashion until 1927 when the Corporation began clearing the worst of the old and overcrowded slums in the district in earnest. There was some rebuilding in the area with new council house tenements at Richmond Place, the Pleasance, East Crosscauseway, Gifford Park and St. Leonards Street, but this was at a much lower density than what it replaced and thus much of the displaced population were rehoused a mile south in the Prestonfield Housing Scheme or much further east to Niddrie Mains. Families with children were moved out as a priority and as a result school rolls in the area began to decline sharply; it was reported to be at a rate of 10% annual decline.

    Photograph taken in advance of the St Leonard’s Improvement Scheme in 1927 by A. H. Rushbrook. It shows the rear of 33 East Crosscauseway which was condemned for demolition. Edinburgh and Scottish Collection, Edinburgh City Libraries.

    Davie Street School had already closed in 1918 to become an annexe of the James Clark School and the half-empty Causewayside Public School followed in 1924 to relocate St. Columba’s Roman Catholic School there. This reduction in capacity could not keep up with the falling demand and so St Leonard’s shut for the last time at the end of the summer term in 1931, its fiftieth year. With a brand new “Sunshine School” at Prestonfield opening after the holidays, the vast majority of its remaining pupils were set to dissapear. Those children who did not relocate were transferred to Preston Street. Bristo Public School, described by Corporation as “one of the worst” of its schools, was not far behind and shut in 1934.

    The inner courtyard of the new Prestonfield School in 1932, a “Sunshine School” that prioritised maximum amounts of natural daylight and ventilation. Note the all-round verandah and the folding glass doors to allow light and fresh air into every classroom. The dormer windows provided additional natural lighting into the classrooms from above. Its low-slung design on a large plot, arranged around a pleasant central courtyard, was the antithesis of the St Leonard’s Public School that it replaced.

    With a large, empty building on its hands, in November 1931 the Education Committee approved a recommendation to convert the it into an annexe for the neighbouring James Clark Intermediate School (no relation to headmaster James Clark of St Leonard’s). This involved refurbishing nine classrooms, providing two new art rooms, teaching spaces for benchwork, sewing, laundry and cookery, adding a new gymnasium with changing rooms and showers and a medical room. A completely new heating system and boiler house was added and new electric lighting installed throughout. These changes allowed the benchwork and art classrooms in the main “Jimmy’s” building to be converted into science laboratories. Tenders were sought for this work in April 1932 and the building was ready for the next stage of its life and the start of the 1932-33 term.

    Scotsman, 23rd November 1931

    With a new function, once again the building on Forbes Street settled down to a remarkably unremarkable life, quietly getting on with things and following the waxing and waning fortunes of its parent school. In something of a coincidence, Free St. Paul’s would return to educational use when it was temporarily used by James Clark as a further annexe and dining hall between 1942-48 and again between 1954-58. After exactly fifty years as an Elementary school, it would serve exactly forty years in Intermediate (later rebranded Junior Secondary) service. It closed along with Jimmy’s in 1972 due to the forces of a hugely declining school roll and the move from two-tier to comprehensive schooling that saw the Corporation rid itself of most of its non-purpose built old Junior Secondaries.

    Drainage plan for St Leonards School in 1932 when it was converted to an annexe for the James Clark School. Notice that the toilet block is in the playground, top left, the workshop block on the left and the new boiler block below the word “School” of “St Leonard’s School”. City of Edinburgh Council DG46-171

    Around the time of the closure of the James Clark School, six separate compulsory purchase orders issued in 1969 and 1971 would clear most of the rest of the old housing and industries in the Forbes Street, St Leonard’s Street and St Leonard’s Hill area for redevelopment. This left the former school isolated in a block of wasteground, even though it and Jimmy’s would continue to be used as a school until 1983, serving as a junior annexe to St Thomas of Aquin’s (Tam’s) R.C. High School.

    Looking towards the boarded-up school and Forbes Street from Bowmont Place, mid-1980s. Photo © Colin Inverarity, used with permission

    In 1984 Lothian Regional Council demolished the former school but whole plot remained vacant until 1986 when the remaining surrounding wasteland was purchased by Edinburgh District Council through compulsory purchase. The long-promised new housing was finally built along with a new St Leonard’s Police Station.


    Looking towards the partially demolished school on Forbes Street past the sad sight of the old Free St Paul’s church from St Leonard’s Street, mid-1980s. Photo © Colin Inverarity, used with permission

    In the process of this redevelopment of the neighbourhood, Forbes Street was truncated from a through road to a cul-de-sac accessed off of St Leonard’s Lane. This scheme controversially also demolished the listed, 150-year old St. Paul’s, which it had been intended to protect. Thus at a stroke, two generations of local educational establishments were removed permanently from the map.

    Forbes Street, 2022, now a cul-de-sac on a different alignment and home to a modern, mixed-density housing development. View from St Leonard’s Hill looking northwest across what would have been the old School.

    The previous chapter of this series looked at Gilmore Place Public School. The next chapter examines the James Clark School.

    Note to readers: unfortunately in April 2026, a third-party plug-in more than exceeded its authority and broke many of the image links on this site. No images were lost but I will have to restore them page-by-page, which may take some time. In the meantime please bear with me while I go about rectifying this issue.

    If you have found this site useful, informative or amusing then you can help contribute towards its running costs by supporting me on ko-fi. This includes my commitment to keeping it 100% advert and AI free for all time coming, and in helping to find further unusual stories to bring you by acquiring books and paying for research.
    Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends and like-minded people, sites like this thrive on being shared.

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    #Lochend #Logan #Restalrig #StMargaret
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  22. Benjamin Suchard @[email protected] ·

    Tayma Aramaic or early Nabataean?

    This month, I spent two weeks teaching an introduction to Nabataean epigraphy at a small winter school set near the Nabataean ruins of Hegra, in northwest Arabia. One of my final tasks as part of the AlUla Inscriptions Corpus Analysis Project at Ghent University, this was an extraordinary experience and one that will feature in a number of blog posts to come. In this one, I want to focus on a question that came up in preparing my final class, on early Nabataean, centering on some fascinating Aramaic material from the next oasis over: Tayma.

    Map from Healey (1993; paywalled)

    Under the editorship of Michael C.A. Macdonald and (for vol. 3) Muhammad al-Najem, a range of inscriptions from Tayma were published Open Access in 2023 and 2025. These include inscriptions in Akkadian, Taymanitic (the local, West Semitic language written in an Ancient North Arabian script), Imperial Aramaic,1 Nabataean Aramaic, and, in Macdonald’s view, a unique, local variety: Tayma Aramaic. The arguments for treating Tayma Aramaic as a distinct variety are not made explicit,2 but I think the reasoning is as follows:

    1. The Tayma Aramaic script is for the most part more archaic than the Nabataean, so it cannot descend from it.
    2. The Tayma Aramaic script is occasionally more innovative than the Nabataean, so it cannot be ancestral to it either.
    3. Therefore, Tayma Aramaic is a distinct sister of Nabataean, like square script (and not one of its ancestors, like Imperial Aramaic, or one of its descendants, like Paleo-Arabic).

    By way of illustration, here is a gorgeous triply-inscribed funerary stela (or three or four separate stelae, I guess) in Imperial Aramaic, Tayma Aramaic, and Nabataean (from vol. 2: 100):

    Imperial Aramaic: npš g{z}{y}ʾh brt rgʿl ‘the funerary monument of G{Z}{Y}ʾH daughter of RGʿL’
    Tayma Aramaic: hy npš gzylh brt wʾlh ‘this is the funerary monument of GZYLH daughter of WʾLH’
    Nabataean: npš pṣyʾl brt ʿbydw byrḥ ʾlwl šnt XXIIII l-ḥrtt […]{w} rḥm ʿm-h ‘the funerary monument of PṢYʾL daughter of ʿBYDW, in the month of Elul, year 24 of Aretas, [king of Nabatae]{a}, Lover of His People’

    Macdonald’s commentary on the second inscription (vol. 2: 103) contains this very quoteworthy passage:

    The importance of this inscription is its physical and chronological position between the Imperial Aramaic text (TA 10277 A) and the Nabataean one (TA 10277 C), a position which is reflected in the variety of its letter forms. The first two letters have their Imperial Aramaic forms, but the following letters are in a mixture of post-Imperial Aramaic shapes. Thus if one compares the first and last letters (h) one can see that the first is angular and the last is more rounded. More dramatically, comparison of the second letter with the eighth (y) shows that the stance of the letter has been reversed and that the short horizontal line half-way down the stem has disappeared. Comparison of the fifth letter (š) with the third letter in inscriptions A and C shows what looks like a steady, if purely theoretical, progression: from the Imperial Aramaic form (in A) to one local development (in B), and another (later) local development, the Nabataean form (in C). However, an indication of the complications of palaeographical ‘history’, is provided by the fourth letter (p) in TA 10277B. This letter, in a text which clearly predates the introduction of Nabataean into Taymāʾ, has a similar form to that at the end of line 2 in the Nabataean inscription of AD 203 found at Taymāʾ, see TM.N.004 in Macdonald – Al-Najem 2021 [and now also in vol. 3, BDS]. By contrast the form in the Nabataean inscription here (C, which is 188 years earlier than TM.N.004) is much closer in shape to the Imperial Aramaic p (the second letter in A); and there are other letter forms which will be discussed in the present author’s study of the development of the Aramaic script at Taymāʾ (Macdonald [in prep. a]).
    This text shows that different forms of the same letter within the Aramaic alphabet could be held in the memories of scribes, and presumably readers, and used as they pleased to achieve various effects. Such a conclusion is not particularly startling but it shows the dangers of trying to use supposed palaeographical sequences to date inscriptions.

    There’s a lot of very insightful observations here and I think the second paragraph is especially important (we’ll probably return to this point in my next post). But especially given the non-linear development of letter shapes Macdonald highlights here, I’m not fully convinced yet that Tayma Aramaic is definitely its own thing. In particular, I think it rather closely resembles the corpus of Nabataean inscriptions from the first (and maybe second) century BCE, before Nabataean had reached its classical, spidery shape.

    The closest point of comparison, in my view, is in the Tayma Aramaic inscription TA 14285+14286+13651 (vol. 2: 117-118), which could actually be classified as Nabataean based on its contents:

    bXI bʾb šnt ʿšr {w}šbʿ {l}mn{k}{w} mlk nbṭw ʾdyn qrb ʾlḥ{d/r}ym br ʿrgw {ʿ}lwʾ dnh lṣlm ʾlhʾ [l]ḥyy np{š}h wnpš […]{t}{h} {l}{ʿ}{l}{m}
    ‘On the 11th of Ab, year sevente{e}n {of} Mali{chus} king of the Nabataeans: then, ʾLḤ{D/R}YM son of ʿRGW presented this {ʿ}LH to the god Salm, {for} his o{w}n life and the life of {his} […] {forever}.’

    Macdonald (vol. 2: 118) relates this inscription to “the Nabataean king known in Classical sources as Malichus [II] … [who] reigned from AD 40–70 and so year 17 of his reign would be AD 56/57” (numeral “[II]” in original). But check out this inscription from Tell al-Shuqafiyya, Egypt:

    dʾ rbʿtʾ dy ʿbd whbʾlh[y] br ʿbdʾlgʾ br ʾwšʾlhy ldwšrʾ ʾlhʾ dy bdpnʾ mṣryt šnt XVIII lmlkt qlptrw dy šnt XXIIIIII [l-] {m}nkw mlk nbṭw dy hy šnt II lʾṭlh byrḥ nysn
    ‘This is the feasting couch which WHBʾLH[Y] son of ʿBDʾLGʾ son of ʾWŠʾLHY made for Dusares the god who is in Daphne, in Egyptian, year 18 of the reign of Cleopatra, which is year 26 of {Ma}lichus, king of the Nabataeans, which is year 2 of ʾṬLH, in the month of Nisan.’

    The synchronism of Cleopatra’s year 18 and Malichus’ year 26 shows that the date corresponds to 34 BCE, ninety years earlier than the date Macdonald suggests for the inscription from Tayma (based on the overlap, we must be dealing with Cleopatra VII and Malichus I). Yet, although there are certainly some differences in particular letter shapes, the overall script type seems highly similar to me. For instance, both inscriptions have the typical round 𐢁 ʾ, the roofless 𐢃 b, the zig-zagging non-final 𐢍 y, back-looping 𐢙 ṣ, and the vertical but not (yet) connecting 𐢝 š (but in the Tayma inscription, note the broad-tailed 𐢘 p here too). Unless there is some archeological argument I’m missing, it seems preferable to date both inscriptions to roughly the same period and interpret the date in the one from Tayma as year 17 of Malichus I, 45 BCE. In terms of script, it would be odd to call an Egyptian inscription referring to a Nabataean king “Tayma Aramaic”, and in fact the editor on DiCoNab—none other than Michael Macdonald—opts for Nabataean.3

    Several of the other Tayma Aramaic inscriptions reminded me of BCE Nabataean inscriptions. Compare TA 17431 (vol. 2: 118-120) to the Nabataean one above as well as CIS II 349 (from Petra, 69 BCE) below:

    bII bnysn šnt II lšhrw mlk lḥyn ʾd{y}[n …]mw wtbʿhn wbny ʿṣ{d/r}w rbʿtʾ dʾ […] ʾḥrhn lʿlm wʾbqy lbyt {ḥ}m{w} h[…] t{l}t wlʾ yzbnn wlʾ yrhnn wlʾ yh[wgrn …]
    ‘On the 2nd of Nisan in year 2 of ŠHRW king of Lihyan, th{e}[n …]MW and their followers and the sons of ʿṢ{D/R}W this feasting couch […] their descendants for ever and may he show mercy to the house of {Ḥ}M{W} […] th{r}ee and they may not sell nor give as a pledge nor re[nt out …]’[… ṣ]{l}{m}ʾ zy rbʾl m{l}{k} {n}[b]ṭw […t] mlk nbṭw zy hqym lh […] br ḥymnny rbʾ wḥdth […] byrḥ kslw zy hw šmrʾ … XIIIIIIII lḥrtt mlkʾ
    ‘[the st]{atu}e of Rabbel, ki{ng of the Na}[ba]taeans […as], king of the Nabataeans, that […] son of ḤYMNNY the elder erected for him, and […] renovated it in the month of Kislew, which is ŠMRʾ, […] 18 of King Aretas’

    Or TM.TAr.003 (vol. 3: 40-41) to MPNab 3 (from Petra, completed 99 BCE):

    ḥgrʾ dy qrb ʾḥbw{l}whw pny ḥṭmh lmnwh ʾlht ʾlhtʾ lḥyy npšh wn[p]š ʾḥrth lʿlm
    ‘The vessel [?] which [unclear personal name] offered to Manawah, the goddess of
    goddesses, for the preservation of his life and the li[f]e of his posterity for ever’ʾlk ṣryḥyʾ w gbʾ zy ʿbd ʾṣlḥ br ʾṣlḥ dnh ṣryḥʾ dy ʿbd ʾṣlḥ br ʾṣlḥ ldwšrʾ ʾlh mn{k}tw ʿlḥyy ʿbdt mlk nbṭw br ḥrtt mlk nbṭw šnt I
    ‘These are the halls and the well that ʾṢLḤ son of ʾṢLḤ made. This is the hall that ʾṢLḤ son of ʾṢLḤ made for Dusares, the god of MN{K}TW, for the life of Obodas, king of the Nabataeans, son of Aretas, king of the Nabataeans, year 1’

    Others are just very close to Imperial Aramaic, which is also the case for the most archaic inscriptions mentioning Nabataean kings. Like an alleged Tayma Aramaic graffito, JSNab 334, and CNIK 1 (from Elusa, 2nd or early 1st c. BCE):

    mšʿwdw mlk lḥyn ktb dnh
    ‘MŠʿWDW, king of Lihyan, wrote this’znh ʾtrʾ zy ʿbd {z}tyrw ʿl ḥywhy zy {ḥ}[r]tt mlk nbṭw
    ‘This is the site which {Z}TYRW made for the life of {A}[re]tas, king of the Nabataeans’

    Or, perhaps a better comparison, TM.TAr.004 (vol. 3: 41-44) and an Aramaic-Dadanitic bilingual from al-Ula, RCU.2023.150:

    [… šn]{t} III mšʿwdw mlk lḥyn ʾdyn bnw ʿm{y}{w} {w}{ʿ}mrw […] {r}{b}ʿthn dʾ qrbn lrṣy ṣlmw ʾlhʾ lḥyy npš[…] w{ʾ}ḥrt-h{m} lḥgthn [w]{l}{r}pyhn w lb{k}{.}hm w ly{t}bh{n} w{r}ʿ{h}n wʾḥrthn lʿl{m}
    ‘[… year] 3 of MŠʿWDW, king of Lihyan, then built ʿM{YW} {and} {ʿ}MRW […] this {feas}ting couch of theirs as an offering to please the god Salmu for the preservation of [their] life and [that of] the{ir} {p}osterity, for their festival [and] {for} their {hea}ling [?] and for their [?] and for the{ir} dwe{lli}ngs and the{ir} {neigh}bour and their descendants for ev{er}.’4[…] zy ʿbd ʿmrw br š[lmw] wntnw b{r} zbynw wʾṣ[…] ʿmyrt ldwšrʾ ʾlh nb[ṭw] bywmt ḥrtt mlk nb[ṭw]
    ‘[…] which ʿMRW, son of Š[LMW’] made with NTNW, so{n} of ZBYNW, and ʾṢ[…] ʿMYRT for Dusares, the god of the Nabataeans, in the days of Aretas, king of the Nabataeans’

    In both these last comparisons, the Tayma Aramaic text is actually a bit more developed in both spelling and letter shapes than the text mentioning the Nabataeans, but mostly in ways that are shared with later Nabataean. (The exception, again, is the lengthened 𐢘 p).

    In his commentary on TM.TAr.003, Macdonald writes: “The script of this text is remarkable for the variety of its letter forms and can be classed neither as Imperial Aramaic nor Nabataean, though it has some letter forms typical of each” (vol. 3: 40, emphasis mine). For the most part, this statement appears to me to be applicable to Tayma Aramaic as a whole. Given the apparent dating of the first entirely Tayma Aramaic inscription we considered to the middle of the first century BCE and the relative chronology where Tayma Aramaic precedes “Classical” Nabataean (see the triple funerary monument and occasional dating to kings of Lihyan, who ruled Tayma before the Nabataeans), can we just take Tayma Aramaic as a transitional, first-centuries-BCE script type between Imperial Aramaic and Nabataean? If so, that would fit nicely with the explicitly Nabataean inscriptions from this period, which similarly lack many typical features of mainstream Nabataean. I’m sympathetic to Macdonald’s implied objections against using the term Nabataean for inscriptions from Lihyanite Tayma (just like I wouldn’t want to call the ones from Egypt Tayma Aramaic).5 Maybe we could settle for Arabian Aramaic,6 or maybe Arabian square script and then explicitly contrast it with Jewish square script. Either way, I think we should include this material in discussions of the development from Imperial Aramaic to Nabataean proper, not sequester it in a niche of its own.

    “The Nabataeans called, they want their letter shapes back”
    1. At first, I was pretty confused by the Imperial Aramaic material from Tayma, which is mostly in a script that looks more archaic than the Imperial Aramaic I knew and therefore can’t directly descend from it. Thanks to Jérôme Norris for explaining that this is the usual (older) Imperial Aramaic lapidary script, which is indeed more archaic than the Imperial Aramaic cursive used in the papyri. This goes to show how readily you should accept my takes on Aramaic paleography. ↩︎
    2. In vol. 2, Macdonald refers to a forthcoming article in a journal I worked for for a little while, but which is now basically defunct. ↩︎
    3. The same goes for the other, longer-known inscription from Tell al-Shuqafiyya, which is fifteen to thirty years older (depending on which Ptolemy is meant) and written in a more archaic script than either of the inscriptions mentioning Malichus (three-legged ܐ ʾ [in the first half], roofed 𐢂 b, wavy 𐤑 ṣ, open 𐡒 q). ↩︎
    4. Translation modified more seriously than with the other incriptions. ↩︎
    5. Linguistically, it’s also interesting that at least the older Tayma Aramaic material lacks “wawation” and shifts *-at to *-ah in Arabic names, like tym and wʾlh for Nabataean tymw and wʾlt. This probably reflects a local difference in the Arabic dialect(s) the names were taken from, or maybe different spelling conventions. ↩︎
    6. Although that might be confusing, since the term has also been used for a hypothetical donor dialect of Aramaic loanwords into Old Arabic. ↩︎

    #Arabic #Aramaic #Nabataean

    #arabic #aramaic #nabataean
  23. Benjamin Suchard @[email protected] ·

    Tayma Aramaic or early Nabataean?

    This month, I spent two weeks teaching an introduction to Nabataean epigraphy at a small winter school set near the Nabataean ruins of Hegra, in northwest Arabia. One of my final tasks as part of the AlUla Inscriptions Corpus Analysis Project at Ghent University, this was an extraordinary experience and one that will feature in a number of blog posts to come. In this one, I want to focus on a question that came up in preparing my final class, on early Nabataean, centering on some fascinating Aramaic material from the next oasis over: Tayma.

    Map from Healey (1993; paywalled)

    Under the editorship of Michael C.A. Macdonald and (for vol. 3) Muhammad al-Najem, a range of inscriptions from Tayma were published Open Access in 2023 and 2025. These include inscriptions in Akkadian, Taymanitic (the local, West Semitic language written in an Ancient North Arabian script), Imperial Aramaic,1 Nabataean Aramaic, and, in Macdonald’s view, a unique, local variety: Tayma Aramaic. The arguments for treating Tayma Aramaic as a distinct variety are not made explicit,2 but I think the reasoning is as follows:

    1. The Tayma Aramaic script is for the most part more archaic than the Nabataean, so it cannot descend from it.
    2. The Tayma Aramaic script is occasionally more innovative than the Nabataean, so it cannot be ancestral to it either.
    3. Therefore, Tayma Aramaic is a distinct sister of Nabataean, like square script (and not one of its ancestors, like Imperial Aramaic, or one of its descendants, like Paleo-Arabic).

    By way of illustration, here is a gorgeous triply-inscribed funerary stela (or three or four separate stelae, I guess) in Imperial Aramaic, Tayma Aramaic, and Nabataean (from vol. 2: 100):

    Imperial Aramaic: npš g{z}{y}ʾh brt rgʿl ‘the funerary monument of G{Z}{Y}ʾH daughter of RGʿL’
    Tayma Aramaic: hy npš gzylh brt wʾlh ‘this is the funerary monument of GZYLH daughter of WʾLH’
    Nabataean: npš pṣyʾl brt ʿbydw byrḥ ʾlwl šnt XXIIII l-ḥrtt […]{w} rḥm ʿm-h ‘the funerary monument of PṢYʾL daughter of ʿBYDW, in the month of Elul, year 24 of Aretas, [king of Nabatae]{a}, Lover of His People’

    Macdonald’s commentary on the second inscription (vol. 2: 103) contains this very quoteworthy passage:

    The importance of this inscription is its physical and chronological position between the Imperial Aramaic text (TA 10277 A) and the Nabataean one (TA 10277 C), a position which is reflected in the variety of its letter forms. The first two letters have their Imperial Aramaic forms, but the following letters are in a mixture of post-Imperial Aramaic shapes. Thus if one compares the first and last letters (h) one can see that the first is angular and the last is more rounded. More dramatically, comparison of the second letter with the eighth (y) shows that the stance of the letter has been reversed and that the short horizontal line half-way down the stem has disappeared. Comparison of the fifth letter (š) with the third letter in inscriptions A and C shows what looks like a steady, if purely theoretical, progression: from the Imperial Aramaic form (in A) to one local development (in B), and another (later) local development, the Nabataean form (in C). However, an indication of the complications of palaeographical ‘history’, is provided by the fourth letter (p) in TA 10277B. This letter, in a text which clearly predates the introduction of Nabataean into Taymāʾ, has a similar form to that at the end of line 2 in the Nabataean inscription of AD 203 found at Taymāʾ, see TM.N.004 in Macdonald – Al-Najem 2021 [and now also in vol. 3, BDS]. By contrast the form in the Nabataean inscription here (C, which is 188 years earlier than TM.N.004) is much closer in shape to the Imperial Aramaic p (the second letter in A); and there are other letter forms which will be discussed in the present author’s study of the development of the Aramaic script at Taymāʾ (Macdonald [in prep. a]).
    This text shows that different forms of the same letter within the Aramaic alphabet could be held in the memories of scribes, and presumably readers, and used as they pleased to achieve various effects. Such a conclusion is not particularly startling but it shows the dangers of trying to use supposed palaeographical sequences to date inscriptions.

    There’s a lot of very insightful observations here and I think the second paragraph is especially important (we’ll probably return to this point in my next post). But especially given the non-linear development of letter shapes Macdonald highlights here, I’m not fully convinced yet that Tayma Aramaic is definitely its own thing. In particular, I think it rather closely resembles the corpus of Nabataean inscriptions from the first (and maybe second) century BCE, before Nabataean had reached its classical, spidery shape.

    The closest point of comparison, in my view, is in the Tayma Aramaic inscription TA 14285+14286+13651 (vol. 2: 117-118), which could actually be classified as Nabataean based on its contents:

    bXI bʾb šnt ʿšr {w}šbʿ {l}mn{k}{w} mlk nbṭw ʾdyn qrb ʾlḥ{d/r}ym br ʿrgw {ʿ}lwʾ dnh lṣlm ʾlhʾ [l]ḥyy np{š}h wnpš […]{t}{h} {l}{ʿ}{l}{m}
    ‘On the 11th of Ab, year sevente{e}n {of} Mali{chus} king of the Nabataeans: then, ʾLḤ{D/R}YM son of ʿRGW presented this {ʿ}LH to the god Salm, {for} his o{w}n life and the life of {his} […] {forever}.’

    Macdonald (vol. 2: 118) relates this inscription to “the Nabataean king known in Classical sources as Malichus [II] … [who] reigned from AD 40–70 and so year 17 of his reign would be AD 56/57” (numeral “[II]” in original). But check out this inscription from Tell al-Shuqafiyya, Egypt:

    dʾ rbʿtʾ dy ʿbd whbʾlh[y] br ʿbdʾlgʾ br ʾwšʾlhy ldwšrʾ ʾlhʾ dy bdpnʾ mṣryt šnt XVIII lmlkt qlptrw dy šnt XXIIIIII [l-] {m}nkw mlk nbṭw dy hy šnt II lʾṭlh byrḥ nysn
    ‘This is the feasting couch which WHBʾLH[Y] son of ʿBDʾLGʾ son of ʾWŠʾLHY made for Dusares the god who is in Daphne, in Egyptian, year 18 of the reign of Cleopatra, which is year 26 of {Ma}lichus, king of the Nabataeans, which is year 2 of ʾṬLH, in the month of Nisan.’

    The synchronism of Cleopatra’s year 18 and Malichus’ year 26 shows that the date corresponds to 34 BCE, ninety years earlier than the date Macdonald suggests for the inscription from Tayma (based on the overlap, we must be dealing with Cleopatra VII and Malichus I). Yet, although there are certainly some differences in particular letter shapes, the overall script type seems highly similar to me. For instance, both inscriptions have the typical round 𐢁 ʾ, the roofless 𐢃 b, the zig-zagging non-final 𐢍 y, back-looping 𐢙 ṣ, and the vertical but not (yet) connecting 𐢝 š (but in the Tayma inscription, note the broad-tailed 𐢘 p here too). Unless there is some archeological argument I’m missing, it seems preferable to date both inscriptions to roughly the same period and interpret the date in the one from Tayma as year 17 of Malichus I, 45 BCE. In terms of script, it would be odd to call an Egyptian inscription referring to a Nabataean king “Tayma Aramaic”, and in fact the editor on DiCoNab—none other than Michael Macdonald—opts for Nabataean.3

    Several of the other Tayma Aramaic inscriptions reminded me of BCE Nabataean inscriptions. Compare TA 17431 (vol. 2: 118-120) to the Nabataean one above as well as CIS II 349 (from Petra, 69 BCE) below:

    bII bnysn šnt II lšhrw mlk lḥyn ʾd{y}[n …]mw wtbʿhn wbny ʿṣ{d/r}w rbʿtʾ dʾ […] ʾḥrhn lʿlm wʾbqy lbyt {ḥ}m{w} h[…] t{l}t wlʾ yzbnn wlʾ yrhnn wlʾ yh[wgrn …]
    ‘On the 2nd of Nisan in year 2 of ŠHRW king of Lihyan, th{e}[n …]MW and their followers and the sons of ʿṢ{D/R}W this feasting couch […] their descendants for ever and may he show mercy to the house of {Ḥ}M{W} […] th{r}ee and they may not sell nor give as a pledge nor re[nt out …]’[… ṣ]{l}{m}ʾ zy rbʾl m{l}{k} {n}[b]ṭw […t] mlk nbṭw zy hqym lh […] br ḥymnny rbʾ wḥdth […] byrḥ kslw zy hw šmrʾ … XIIIIIIII lḥrtt mlkʾ
    ‘[the st]{atu}e of Rabbel, ki{ng of the Na}[ba]taeans […as], king of the Nabataeans, that […] son of ḤYMNNY the elder erected for him, and […] renovated it in the month of Kislew, which is ŠMRʾ, […] 18 of King Aretas’

    Or TM.TAr.003 (vol. 3: 40-41) to MPNab 3 (from Petra, completed 99 BCE):

    ḥgrʾ dy qrb ʾḥbw{l}whw pny ḥṭmh lmnwh ʾlht ʾlhtʾ lḥyy npšh wn[p]š ʾḥrth lʿlm
    ‘The vessel [?] which [unclear personal name] offered to Manawah, the goddess of
    goddesses, for the preservation of his life and the li[f]e of his posterity for ever’ʾlk ṣryḥyʾ w gbʾ zy ʿbd ʾṣlḥ br ʾṣlḥ dnh ṣryḥʾ dy ʿbd ʾṣlḥ br ʾṣlḥ ldwšrʾ ʾlh mn{k}tw ʿlḥyy ʿbdt mlk nbṭw br ḥrtt mlk nbṭw šnt I
    ‘These are the halls and the well that ʾṢLḤ son of ʾṢLḤ made. This is the hall that ʾṢLḤ son of ʾṢLḤ made for Dusares, the god of MN{K}TW, for the life of Obodas, king of the Nabataeans, son of Aretas, king of the Nabataeans, year 1’

    Others are just very close to Imperial Aramaic, which is also the case for the most archaic inscriptions mentioning Nabataean kings. Like an alleged Tayma Aramaic graffito, JSNab 334, and CNIK 1 (from Elusa, 2nd or early 1st c. BCE):

    mšʿwdw mlk lḥyn ktb dnh
    ‘MŠʿWDW, king of Lihyan, wrote this’znh ʾtrʾ zy ʿbd {z}tyrw ʿl ḥywhy zy {ḥ}[r]tt mlk nbṭw
    ‘This is the site which {Z}TYRW made for the life of {A}[re]tas, king of the Nabataeans’

    Or, perhaps a better comparison, TM.TAr.004 (vol. 3: 41-44) and an Aramaic-Dadanitic bilingual from al-Ula, RCU.2023.150:

    [… šn]{t} III mšʿwdw mlk lḥyn ʾdyn bnw ʿm{y}{w} {w}{ʿ}mrw […] {r}{b}ʿthn dʾ qrbn lrṣy ṣlmw ʾlhʾ lḥyy npš[…] w{ʾ}ḥrt-h{m} lḥgthn [w]{l}{r}pyhn w lb{k}{.}hm w ly{t}bh{n} w{r}ʿ{h}n wʾḥrthn lʿl{m}
    ‘[… year] 3 of MŠʿWDW, king of Lihyan, then built ʿM{YW} {and} {ʿ}MRW […] this {feas}ting couch of theirs as an offering to please the god Salmu for the preservation of [their] life and [that of] the{ir} {p}osterity, for their festival [and] {for} their {hea}ling [?] and for their [?] and for the{ir} dwe{lli}ngs and the{ir} {neigh}bour and their descendants for ev{er}.’4[…] zy ʿbd ʿmrw br š[lmw] wntnw b{r} zbynw wʾṣ[…] ʿmyrt ldwšrʾ ʾlh nb[ṭw] bywmt ḥrtt mlk nb[ṭw]
    ‘[…] which ʿMRW, son of Š[LMW’] made with NTNW, so{n} of ZBYNW, and ʾṢ[…] ʿMYRT for Dusares, the god of the Nabataeans, in the days of Aretas, king of the Nabataeans’

    In both these last comparisons, the Tayma Aramaic text is actually a bit more developed in both spelling and letter shapes than the text mentioning the Nabataeans, but mostly in ways that are shared with later Nabataean. (The exception, again, is the lengthened 𐢘 p).

    In his commentary on TM.TAr.003, Macdonald writes: “The script of this text is remarkable for the variety of its letter forms and can be classed neither as Imperial Aramaic nor Nabataean, though it has some letter forms typical of each” (vol. 3: 40, emphasis mine). For the most part, this statement appears to me to be applicable to Tayma Aramaic as a whole. Given the apparent dating of the first entirely Tayma Aramaic inscription we considered to the middle of the first century BCE and the relative chronology where Tayma Aramaic precedes “Classical” Nabataean (see the triple funerary monument and occasional dating to kings of Lihyan, who ruled Tayma before the Nabataeans), can we just take Tayma Aramaic as a transitional, first-centuries-BCE script type between Imperial Aramaic and Nabataean? If so, that would fit nicely with the explicitly Nabataean inscriptions from this period, which similarly lack many typical features of mainstream Nabataean. I’m sympathetic to Macdonald’s implied objections against using the term Nabataean for inscriptions from Lihyanite Tayma (just like I wouldn’t want to call the ones from Egypt Tayma Aramaic).5 Maybe we could settle for Arabian Aramaic,6 or maybe Arabian square script and then explicitly contrast it with Jewish square script. Either way, I think we should include this material in discussions of the development from Imperial Aramaic to Nabataean proper, not sequester it in a niche of its own.

    “The Nabataeans called, they want their letter shapes back”
    1. At first, I was pretty confused by the Imperial Aramaic material from Tayma, which is mostly in a script that looks more archaic than the Imperial Aramaic I knew and therefore can’t directly descend from it. Thanks to Jérôme Norris for explaining that this is the usual (older) Imperial Aramaic lapidary script, which is indeed more archaic than the Imperial Aramaic cursive used in the papyri. This goes to show how readily you should accept my takes on Aramaic paleography. ↩︎
    2. In vol. 2, Macdonald refers to a forthcoming article in a journal I worked for for a little while, but which is now basically defunct. ↩︎
    3. The same goes for the other, longer-known inscription from Tell al-Shuqafiyya, which is fifteen to thirty years older (depending on which Ptolemy is meant) and written in a more archaic script than either of the inscriptions mentioning Malichus (three-legged ܐ ʾ [in the first half], roofed 𐢂 b, wavy 𐤑 ṣ, open 𐡒 q). ↩︎
    4. Translation modified more seriously than with the other incriptions. ↩︎
    5. Linguistically, it’s also interesting that at least the older Tayma Aramaic material lacks “wawation” and shifts *-at to *-ah in Arabic names, like tym and wʾlh for Nabataean tymw and wʾlt. This probably reflects a local difference in the Arabic dialect(s) the names were taken from, or maybe different spelling conventions. ↩︎
    6. Although that might be confusing, since the term has also been used for a hypothetical donor dialect of Aramaic loanwords into Old Arabic. ↩︎

    #Arabic #Aramaic #Nabataean

    #arabic #aramaic #nabataean
  24. Una Vita da Cinefilo @[email protected] ·

    Top 20 – I Miei Film del 2025

    Come ogni anno, dopo la grande corsa ai recuperi di fine dicembre, siamo giunti ad una più o meno soddisfacente decisione su quali sono o penso che siano i 20 film che più mi sono piaciuti di questo 2025. Come ribadito nel titolo, si tratta dei miei film preferiti e non dei migliori film, perché è bene ricordare che la lista in questione non si erge a verità assoluta sulle opere più belle uscite quest’anno, ma elenca semplicemente i 20 titoli più amati dal sottoscritto. Quindi non gridate allo scandalo se non trovate il vostro film preferito, può essere che, pur riconoscendone l’ottima fattura, mi sia piaciuto meno rispetto a un film magari meno perfetto ma più emozionante (oppure un altro motivo per cui manca potrebbe essere che non l’ho proprio visto, come ad esempio Father Mother Sister Brother di Jarmusch, che ho perso causa influenza: in tal caso vi invito a scrivere nei commenti ogni suggerimento atto a colmare le mie tante lacune).

    Ricordo come sempre che in classifica compaiono solo film distribuiti in Italia (al cinema o in esclusiva streaming) nel 2025, anche se sono stati presentati in qualche festival negli anni precedenti. La discriminante è sempre stata questa, dal 2008 a oggi, e non è cambiata. A presentare questa sedicesima edizione della Top 20 quest’anno troviamo Jack Nicholson, straordinario protagonista di Qualcuno Volò sul Nido del Cuculo (Milos Forman, 1975).

    Fatte le doverose premesse del caso (a- Miei film preferiti, non migliori film in assoluto e b- solo film distribuiti in Italia nel 2025), prima di lasciarvi ai titoli della Top 20 ci tengo a sottolineare che ovviamente non è stato possibile vedere tutto ciò che è uscito durante l’anno solare ma soltanto una settantina di titoli e che quindi, come sempre, è una classifica molto parziale che si fa più per gioco che per reale utilità. Apriamo le danze dunque e, mi raccomando, fatemi sapere anche le vostre scelte!

    20- Alpha (Julia Ducournau)
    Da che mondo è mondo, in una classifica di preferenze la posizione numero 20 è molto più difficile della numero 1. Alla fine però, l’ultima fatica di Julia Ducournau non poteva restare fuori: un lungo massaggio cardiaco alle emozioni dello spettatore, continuamente messo alla prova dagli sbalzi ermetici di un film molto bello, innegabilmente in grado di scavare nel profondo grazie anche a tre interpretazioni pazzesche. Un film sulle difficoltà di essere adolescenti, su quanto sia difficile essere madre di una ragazza in crisi e sorella di un uomo disperato, sopraffatto dalla tossicodipendenza, ma soprattutto, come dicevo, è un lungo massaggio cardiaco: c’è un costante bisogno di aggrapparsi alla vita, di curare, di salvare, di salvarsi.

    19- Sinners (Ryan Coogler)
    Onestamente non ero certo di voler vedere questo film. Ne avevo sentito parlare come una versione afroamericana di Dal Tramonto all’Alba, o qualcosa del genere e temevo si trattasse dell’ennesima boiata spacciata per horror. Invece il film di Ryan Coogler (già regista del meraviglioso Fruitvale Station, ma anche di quella cazzata allucinante di Black Panther) fa davvero centro. Al di là della bellissima estetica del film e dell’ottima ambientazione (per non parlare della colonna sonora), mi è piaciuto come la prima parte sia tutta dedicata alla preparazione del climax finale e come lo scontro notturno sia molto più psicologico rispetto al carrozzone splatter che uno potrebbe aspettarsi. Sorprendente, nonostante i mille finali.

    18- A House of Dynamite (Kathryn Bigelow)
    Kathryn Bigelow realizza l’incontro ideale tra il Dr Stranamore e WarGames, senza però la spassosa ironia del primo né l’avventura adolescenziale del secondo. Il film si svolge in 19 fatali minuti, dilatati però in due ore per mezzo del cosiddetto effetto Rashomon. Lo scenario, non così distopico come si può pensare, è spaventoso, e la storia regge, nonostante qualche calo di tono nella parte centrale. Appena si entra nella storia infatti, è impossibile staccare gli occhi dallo schermo, dagli sguardi confusi e spaventati dei protagonisti, da quei numeri che scorrono sui monitor. Lo trovate su Netflix e, al di là di tutto, Kathryn Bigelow sa come si gira un film: è grande cinema.

    17- L’Ultimo Turno (Heldin, Petra Volpe)
    Non sorprendetevi se, nella prossima cinquina di candidati per l’Oscar al Miglior Film Straniero, dovesse esserci anche questo bellissimo film svizzero, realizzato da Petra Volpe. Un’escalation di situazioni, allarmi, capricci, ansie, dove la mano di Leonie Benesch, ma soprattutto il cuore, può essere piuma e può essere ferro (cit). Un film ansiogeno, dove allo spettatore non viene concesso un momento di pausa, stesso destino riservato alla sua protagonista. Il messaggio che compare nel finale, prima del fade to black, chiarisce molto meglio il punto di tutto il film, ovvero la grave carenza di infermieri negli ospedali svizzeri. Bellissimo, ma che ansia.

    16- Sotto le Foglie (Quand Vient l’Automne, François Ozon)
    François Ozon, uno dei registi più attivi degli ultimi decenni, riesce sempre a sfornare bei film, ma quasi mai film davvero bellissimi (almeno secondo me). Ecco, questa potrebbe essere la volta buona in cui il regista francese tira fuori la perla, un dramma che si svela piano piano, strato dopo strato, mettendo in tavola una bella teglia di dubbi, ipotesi, che lo spettatore può abbracciare o rifiutare. Una serie di eventi in cui la risposta non è mai una sola, dove si scoprono realtà scomode, passati ingombranti, verità inconfutabili. E quando entri in questo labirinto di sospetti, non ne esci più. Grande film.

    15- Nosferatu (Robert Eggers)
    Parafrasando Nietzsche, si può dire che se tu guarderai a lungo nell’oscurità, anche l’oscurità vorrà guardare dentro di te. Ed è proprio in un buio accecante che Eggers immerge lo spettatore (e Lily-Rose Depp) sin dalla primissima inquadratura, come a volerlo rendere parte di quella stessa notte buia, la stessa oscurità nella quale il regista fa muovere le sue ombre. La grandezza di questa nuova versione è, al di là dell’indubbia potenza visiva, la capacità di reinventarsi in ogni scena, di essere coinvolgente anche di fronte a una storia che abbiamo visto in tutte le salse, che il regista statunitense però riesce a modernizzare con la metafora, neanche troppo sottile, di una donna indipendente in lotta contro una società di maschi dominanti. L’oscurità non è mai stata così “buia”: spegnete le luci.

    14- Grand Theft Hamlet (Sam Crane, Pinny Grylls)
    Durante la pandemia, due attori di teatro, rimasti improvvisamente a spasso, decidono di mettere in scena l’Amleto all’interno dell’open world del videogioco GTA, facendo casting, prove e l’intero spettacolo dentro il gioco, cercando di evitare di essere uccisi da altri gamer (per i meno pratici, GTA è uno dei videogame più violenti di sempre, dove chi gioca può rubare, uccidere e compiere qualunque attività criminale per ottenere bonus di vario genere). L’idea di Sam Crane e Pinny Grylls non è soltanto originalissima, ma è anche divertente, oltre che incredibilmente coinvolgente: dopo i primi cinque minuti sarà impossibile smettere di guardare questo assurdo documentario, se così si può definire. Anche in un periodo di grande crisi, uno splendido esempio di umanità e di come il bisogno di esprimersi artisticamente riesca ad abbattere ostacoli apparentemente insormontabili. Che bello!

    13- Aragoste a Manhattan (La Cocina, Alonso Ruizpalacios)
    Dopo il successo di The Bear, tutto ciò che si svolge dentro una cucina deve caricarsi sulle spalle vari esami del dna per definire il grado di parentela con la serie. Ciò che vediamo nel film di Ruizpalacios ha però delle vibrazioni tutte sue, che raccontano molto del mondo che viviamo oggi: individui di culture diverse si districano tra i muri dell’incomprensione, mentre il macigno del capitalismo tenta di sacrificare ogni individualità, ogni sogno, ogni speranza sull’altare del profitto e del consumo. A condire tutte queste vicende c’è tanto umorismo caustico e una regia piena di belle intuizioni, tra cui un piano sequenza da urlo: quanta fame (di vita!) in un film così piccolo.

    12- September 5 (Tim Fehlbaum)
    Quasi interamente girato all’interno della cabina di regia della ABC durante il sequestro degli atleti israeliani durante le Olimpiadi del 1972, il film lascia da parte qualunque approfondimento politico per concentrarsi esclusivamente sul lavoro giornalistico, con le sue urgenze, i suoi errori, le improvvise rivelazioni, la corsa alla notizia. Breve, dal ritmo serrato, senza dubbio coinvolgente, con alcuni volti interessanti come Peter Saarsgard, Ben Chaplin, John Magaro (il marito di Past Lives) e Leonie Benesch (protagonista de La Sala Professori e de L’Ultimo Turno, che avete già incontrato in questa classifica). La conferma che, ancora una volta, quello del giornalista è il lavoro più bello da vedere in un film.

    11- Io Sono Ancora Qui (Ainda Estou Aqui, Walter Salles)
    L’ultimo lavoro del grande Walter Salles entra di diritto nella rosa dei più importanti film brasiliani della storia. Splendido nel modo in cui divide perfettamente la leggerezza del primo atto con la brutale sofferenza del secondo, Salles racconta una storia che meritava di tornare sotto l’attenzione del grande pubblico, per farci ricordare ancora una volta, se mai ce ne fosse bisogno, una cosa che dovremmo tenere sempre bene a mente: i fascisti sono una merda. Gran film.

    10- Presence (Steven Soderbergh)
    Steven Soderbergh piazza lo spettatore a osservare una “normale” famiglia statunitense dal punto di vista grandangolare di un fantasma che vive nella loro casa, raccontando la crisi di una generazione, le aspettative, la competitività, il bisogno di vivere di apparenza pur di restare a galla, inzuppando tutta questa vita ordinaria con alcune tracce di sovrannaturale (oggetti che levitano, una medium che avverte la presenza, ecc). Il regista ci apparecchia la tavola per la prima ora, senza mai stancare, fino a spiazzarci nell’ultimo quarto d’ora, in un paio di scene che regalano brividi. Chi lo va a vedere aspettandosi un horror resterà molto deluso, è un filmone che parla di tutt’altro. Stupendo.

    9- Springsteen – Liberami dal Nulla (Deliver Me From Nowhere, Scott Cooper)
    Chi si aspetta di vedere su grande schermo il mito di Bruce Springsteen, troverà invece un’opera che gli toglie la maschera, soffoca la leggenda per alimentare però la sua umanità, il suo cuore, il suo bisogno di essere ancora una persona normale in un mondo di luci accecanti. In questo bellissimo film di Scott Cooper scoprirete finalmente il lato oscuro del mito, l’animo intimo di un artista che non è mai sceso a compromessi con il suo successo, che ha cercato di restare se stesso sempre, mentre il mondo intorno a lui continuava a girare vorticosamente. Anche perché, come ci suggerisce il film, il passato non esiste più e il futuro non si può rincorrere: possiamo vivere soltanto dentro noi stessi, ora.

    8- No Other Land (Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal)
    Un collettivo di registi israeliani e palestinesi racconta la violenza e la distruzione da parte dei coloni israeliani di una piccola comunità rurale della Cisgiordania, Masafer Yatta. Il rapporto tra un giornalista di Isreaele e un giovane attivista palestinese è uno dei tantissimi spunti di un film che, inevitabilmente, atterrisce lo spettatore con le tante crudeltà che mostra e che, al tempo stesso, commuove per l’enorme forza e la necessità di sopravvivere che mette in scena minuto dopo minuto. È complicato racchiudere in poche righe tutta l’impotenza che si prova durante la visione, ma anche la voglia di abbracciare i bambini che vengono fatti sfollare dalla scuola, prima che venga distrutta da una ruspa. Premio Oscar per il miglior documentario, una storia che fa male, ma che riesce anche a illuminare con la sua umanità.

    7- A Complete Unknown (James Mangold)
    Mangold riesce a costruire un film che contiene al suo interno mille storie diverse, che gravitano tutte intorno al grande protagonista Bob Dylan: dalla leggenda Woody Guthrie allo sfortunato Dave Van Ronk, dal sogno di Pete Seeger di cambiare il mondo attraverso la musica, all’attivista Joan Baez, regina del folk, che pochi anni dopo sarebbe diventata “l’usignolo di Woodstock”. Oppure Sylvie, personaggio fittizio chiaramente ispirato a Suze Rotolo, musa e compagna del cantautore, prima di quella metamorfosi artistica che avrebbe cambiato la sua vita e (soprattutto?) la storia della musica. Per chi la vuole cercare, c’è davvero tanta carne al fuoco: un film completo, totalmente credibile, coinvolgente, straordinario nelle interpretazioni, che racconta l’uomo dietro il genio, l’essere umano dietro il rivoluzionario, il futuro premio Nobel per la letteratura dietro i capelli spettinati di un “completo sconosciuto”. Ma soprattutto c’è tanta, tantissima, musica stupenda. I tempi cambiano, per noi comuni mortali, così come per i geni: basta viverli, una canzone per volta.

    6- Bird (Andrea Arnold)
    Tra echi di urgenza sociale che richiamano il miglior Ken Loach e una deriva favolistica alla Alice Rohrwacher, Andrea Arnold procede in equilibrio tra realismo magico e fiaba malinconica: la protagonista Nykiya Adams (che brava!) si arrangia come può in un contesto ostile, mostrando la capacità degli adolescenti di trovare luce ovunque, anche nelle condizioni peggiori. Ed è proprio lì, tra la vita aspra che mostra e l’incanto che ti regala, che questo film ti tiene stretto, facendoti pensare che è una delle cose più belle che hai visto quest’anno. Inoltre, la colonna sonora è pazzesca e va da Too Real e A Hero’s Death dei Fontaines DC a Lucky Man dei Verve, da The Universal dei Blur a Yellow dei Coldplay. Come dicono proprio i Blur, “When the days they seem to fall through you, well, just let them go”.

    5- The Brutalist (Brady Corbet)
    La cosa più difficile da fare con quest’opera immensa di Brady Corbet è scegliere di cominciare a vederla. Poi tutto va in discesa perché l’attenzione che gli dedichi, il film te la restituisce sottoforma di splendido cinema: è davvero tanta roba. Potete facilmente immaginare che, in oltre 3 ore di film, di cose ne succedono parecchie e ci sarebbe tantissimo da dire: è una di quelle storie che ti porti appresso fuori dalla sala, che ti si arrampica dentro durante la notte, a cui inevitabilmente ripensi al mattino. Adrien Brody è magnifico e quello di Guy Pearce è un piacevolissimo ritorno sulle scene di un film importante. Girato con un budget ridotto, è uno dei più ambiziosi ed enormi film indipendenti mai realizzati. Clamoroso.

    4- La Voce di Hind Rajab (Ṣawt al-Hind Rajab, Kaouther Ben Hania)
    Sono andato al cinema senza sapere neanche di cosa parlasse. Sapevo solo che dovevo vederlo. Il film di Kaouther Ben Hania mescola realtà e finzione, ricostruendo il tentativo da parte della Mezzaluna Rossa (il corrispettivo mediorientale della nostra Croce Rossa) di ottenere i permessi necessari per salvare una bambina palestinese chiusa dentro un’automobile, appena assaltata dai soldati israeliani che hanno sterminato la famiglia della piccola Hind Rajab. Solo questo basterebbe a renderlo un film potentissimo, ma il punto di forza (nonché elemento straziante) è che la voce al telefono che sentiamo per tutto il film è la voce reale della bambina, ovvero la registrazione delle conversazioni telefoniche avvenute tra lei e i soccorritori (che invece sono interpretati da attori e attrici). Un’opera di rara potenza ed emozione, commovente, agghiacciante, spaventosa. Se il Cinema con la C maiuscola ha il dovere di raccontare il tempo che vive, questo film è destinato a essere ricordato in eterno.

    3- Emilia Perez (Jacques Audiard)
    Vincitore del premio della Giuria a Cannes, è una sorta di musical incentrato su un boss del cartello messicano che decide di cambiare sesso (!). Da un’idea assurda, quasi grottesca a pensarci, nasce un’opera meravigliosa su genere, identità, violenza, redenzione, senza mai perdere un grammo di credibilità. Un film che ha dentro di sé mille film diversi: musical, gangster, dramma sociale, sentimento. Girato con un gusto estetico superiore (parliamo sempre di Jacques Audiard, uno dei più grandi registi europei della sua generazione), una fotografia meravigliosa e un trio di attrici fuori dall’ordinario: Zoe Saldana, in particolare, è incredibile e il film è stu-pen-do.

    2- Una Battaglia Dopo l’Altra (One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson)
    Quasi un decennio dopo il fortunato Vizio di Forma, il regista di Los Angeles torna a pescare idee dalla narrativa di Thomas Pynchon, il cui romanzo Vineland ha fornito il materiale di base sul quale modellare poi la storia, molto diversa, di questo nuovo film. Ci sono momenti che sembrano uscire fuori dal cinema dei fratelli Coen, ma soprattutto c’è l’enorme talento di PTA nel raccontare storie, nel prendere per mano lo spettatore e coinvolgerlo in un caleidoscopio di ironia, azione, calore umano e battute fulminanti, fino a una bellissima scena di inseguimento nel deserto, tra dossi, salite e discese, in una sorta di “labirinto rettilineo” che tiene con il fiato sospeso. Il mondo forse si può davvero cambiare, una battaglia dopo l’altra. Nel frattempo, godiamoci film stupendi come questo: “ocean waves“, amici e amiche, “ocean waves“.

    1- Un Semplice Incidente (Yak Taṣādof-e Sāde, Jafar Panahi)
    Anche stavolta il regista iraniano gira il film in totale segreto, senza permessi, e anche stavolta realizza qualcosa di stupendo, una riflessione profonda sul ruolo di vittima e carnefice, sull’umanità, sulle conseguenze che ha ogni azione. Il film si apre sull’interno di un’automobile di notte: al volante c’è il padre di una famiglia composta da moglie incinta e una bambina vispa e solare. Improvvisamente l’uomo investe un cane e questo piccolo incidente procurerà un piccolo danno all’auto, che dovrà fermarsi per una riparazione improvvisa. Da qui comincia una serie di eventi che porterà l’uomo ad essere rapito e a circondarsi di aguzzini pronti ad eliminarlo: ma perché? Chi è quest’uomo? Cosa è successo anni prima? Il suono di quella protesi alla gamba e, soprattutto, quel finale incredibile, me li porterò appresso ancora per molto tempo. Un capolavoro.

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    #2025 #bestOf2025 #Cinema #classifica #daVedere #film #filmDel2025 #filmDellAnno #filmPiùBelli #fineAnno #lista #listaFilm #miglioriFilm #top10 #top20

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  25. Una Vita da Cinefilo @[email protected] ·

    Top 20 – I Miei Film del 2025

    Come ogni anno, dopo la grande corsa ai recuperi di fine dicembre, siamo giunti ad una più o meno soddisfacente decisione su quali sono o penso che siano i 20 film che più mi sono piaciuti di questo 2025. Come ribadito nel titolo, si tratta dei miei film preferiti e non dei migliori film, perché è bene ricordare che la lista in questione non si erge a verità assoluta sulle opere più belle uscite quest’anno, ma elenca semplicemente i 20 titoli più amati dal sottoscritto. Quindi non gridate allo scandalo se non trovate il vostro film preferito, può essere che, pur riconoscendone l’ottima fattura, mi sia piaciuto meno rispetto a un film magari meno perfetto ma più emozionante (oppure un altro motivo per cui manca potrebbe essere che non l’ho proprio visto, come ad esempio Father Mother Sister Brother di Jarmusch, che ho perso causa influenza: in tal caso vi invito a scrivere nei commenti ogni suggerimento atto a colmare le mie tante lacune).

    Ricordo come sempre che in classifica compaiono solo film distribuiti in Italia (al cinema o in esclusiva streaming) nel 2025, anche se sono stati presentati in qualche festival negli anni precedenti. La discriminante è sempre stata questa, dal 2008 a oggi, e non è cambiata. A presentare questa sedicesima edizione della Top 20 quest’anno troviamo Jack Nicholson, straordinario protagonista di Qualcuno Volò sul Nido del Cuculo (Milos Forman, 1975).

    Fatte le doverose premesse del caso (a- Miei film preferiti, non migliori film in assoluto e b- solo film distribuiti in Italia nel 2025), prima di lasciarvi ai titoli della Top 20 ci tengo a sottolineare che ovviamente non è stato possibile vedere tutto ciò che è uscito durante l’anno solare ma soltanto una settantina di titoli e che quindi, come sempre, è una classifica molto parziale che si fa più per gioco che per reale utilità. Apriamo le danze dunque e, mi raccomando, fatemi sapere anche le vostre scelte!

    20- Alpha (Julia Ducournau)
    Da che mondo è mondo, in una classifica di preferenze la posizione numero 20 è molto più difficile della numero 1. Alla fine però, l’ultima fatica di Julia Ducournau non poteva restare fuori: un lungo massaggio cardiaco alle emozioni dello spettatore, continuamente messo alla prova dagli sbalzi ermetici di un film molto bello, innegabilmente in grado di scavare nel profondo grazie anche a tre interpretazioni pazzesche. Un film sulle difficoltà di essere adolescenti, su quanto sia difficile essere madre di una ragazza in crisi e sorella di un uomo disperato, sopraffatto dalla tossicodipendenza, ma soprattutto, come dicevo, è un lungo massaggio cardiaco: c’è un costante bisogno di aggrapparsi alla vita, di curare, di salvare, di salvarsi.

    19- Sinners (Ryan Coogler)
    Onestamente non ero certo di voler vedere questo film. Ne avevo sentito parlare come una versione afroamericana di Dal Tramonto all’Alba, o qualcosa del genere e temevo si trattasse dell’ennesima boiata spacciata per horror. Invece il film di Ryan Coogler (già regista del meraviglioso Fruitvale Station, ma anche di quella cazzata allucinante di Black Panther) fa davvero centro. Al di là della bellissima estetica del film e dell’ottima ambientazione (per non parlare della colonna sonora), mi è piaciuto come la prima parte sia tutta dedicata alla preparazione del climax finale e come lo scontro notturno sia molto più psicologico rispetto al carrozzone splatter che uno potrebbe aspettarsi. Sorprendente, nonostante i mille finali.

    18- A House of Dynamite (Kathryn Bigelow)
    Kathryn Bigelow realizza l’incontro ideale tra il Dr Stranamore e WarGames, senza però la spassosa ironia del primo né l’avventura adolescenziale del secondo. Il film si svolge in 19 fatali minuti, dilatati però in due ore per mezzo del cosiddetto effetto Rashomon. Lo scenario, non così distopico come si può pensare, è spaventoso, e la storia regge, nonostante qualche calo di tono nella parte centrale. Appena si entra nella storia infatti, è impossibile staccare gli occhi dallo schermo, dagli sguardi confusi e spaventati dei protagonisti, da quei numeri che scorrono sui monitor. Lo trovate su Netflix e, al di là di tutto, Kathryn Bigelow sa come si gira un film: è grande cinema.

    17- L’Ultimo Turno (Heldin, Petra Volpe)
    Non sorprendetevi se, nella prossima cinquina di candidati per l’Oscar al Miglior Film Straniero, dovesse esserci anche questo bellissimo film svizzero, realizzato da Petra Volpe. Un’escalation di situazioni, allarmi, capricci, ansie, dove la mano di Leonie Benesch, ma soprattutto il cuore, può essere piuma e può essere ferro (cit). Un film ansiogeno, dove allo spettatore non viene concesso un momento di pausa, stesso destino riservato alla sua protagonista. Il messaggio che compare nel finale, prima del fade to black, chiarisce molto meglio il punto di tutto il film, ovvero la grave carenza di infermieri negli ospedali svizzeri. Bellissimo, ma che ansia.

    16- Sotto le Foglie (Quand Vient l’Automne, François Ozon)
    François Ozon, uno dei registi più attivi degli ultimi decenni, riesce sempre a sfornare bei film, ma quasi mai film davvero bellissimi (almeno secondo me). Ecco, questa potrebbe essere la volta buona in cui il regista francese tira fuori la perla, un dramma che si svela piano piano, strato dopo strato, mettendo in tavola una bella teglia di dubbi, ipotesi, che lo spettatore può abbracciare o rifiutare. Una serie di eventi in cui la risposta non è mai una sola, dove si scoprono realtà scomode, passati ingombranti, verità inconfutabili. E quando entri in questo labirinto di sospetti, non ne esci più. Grande film.

    15- Nosferatu (Robert Eggers)
    Parafrasando Nietzsche, si può dire che se tu guarderai a lungo nell’oscurità, anche l’oscurità vorrà guardare dentro di te. Ed è proprio in un buio accecante che Eggers immerge lo spettatore (e Lily-Rose Depp) sin dalla primissima inquadratura, come a volerlo rendere parte di quella stessa notte buia, la stessa oscurità nella quale il regista fa muovere le sue ombre. La grandezza di questa nuova versione è, al di là dell’indubbia potenza visiva, la capacità di reinventarsi in ogni scena, di essere coinvolgente anche di fronte a una storia che abbiamo visto in tutte le salse, che il regista statunitense però riesce a modernizzare con la metafora, neanche troppo sottile, di una donna indipendente in lotta contro una società di maschi dominanti. L’oscurità non è mai stata così “buia”: spegnete le luci.

    14- Grand Theft Hamlet (Sam Crane, Pinny Grylls)
    Durante la pandemia, due attori di teatro, rimasti improvvisamente a spasso, decidono di mettere in scena l’Amleto all’interno dell’open world del videogioco GTA, facendo casting, prove e l’intero spettacolo dentro il gioco, cercando di evitare di essere uccisi da altri gamer (per i meno pratici, GTA è uno dei videogame più violenti di sempre, dove chi gioca può rubare, uccidere e compiere qualunque attività criminale per ottenere bonus di vario genere). L’idea di Sam Crane e Pinny Grylls non è soltanto originalissima, ma è anche divertente, oltre che incredibilmente coinvolgente: dopo i primi cinque minuti sarà impossibile smettere di guardare questo assurdo documentario, se così si può definire. Anche in un periodo di grande crisi, uno splendido esempio di umanità e di come il bisogno di esprimersi artisticamente riesca ad abbattere ostacoli apparentemente insormontabili. Che bello!

    13- Aragoste a Manhattan (La Cocina, Alonso Ruizpalacios)
    Dopo il successo di The Bear, tutto ciò che si svolge dentro una cucina deve caricarsi sulle spalle vari esami del dna per definire il grado di parentela con la serie. Ciò che vediamo nel film di Ruizpalacios ha però delle vibrazioni tutte sue, che raccontano molto del mondo che viviamo oggi: individui di culture diverse si districano tra i muri dell’incomprensione, mentre il macigno del capitalismo tenta di sacrificare ogni individualità, ogni sogno, ogni speranza sull’altare del profitto e del consumo. A condire tutte queste vicende c’è tanto umorismo caustico e una regia piena di belle intuizioni, tra cui un piano sequenza da urlo: quanta fame (di vita!) in un film così piccolo.

    12- September 5 (Tim Fehlbaum)
    Quasi interamente girato all’interno della cabina di regia della ABC durante il sequestro degli atleti israeliani durante le Olimpiadi del 1972, il film lascia da parte qualunque approfondimento politico per concentrarsi esclusivamente sul lavoro giornalistico, con le sue urgenze, i suoi errori, le improvvise rivelazioni, la corsa alla notizia. Breve, dal ritmo serrato, senza dubbio coinvolgente, con alcuni volti interessanti come Peter Saarsgard, Ben Chaplin, John Magaro (il marito di Past Lives) e Leonie Benesch (protagonista de La Sala Professori e de L’Ultimo Turno, che avete già incontrato in questa classifica). La conferma che, ancora una volta, quello del giornalista è il lavoro più bello da vedere in un film.

    11- Io Sono Ancora Qui (Ainda Estou Aqui, Walter Salles)
    L’ultimo lavoro del grande Walter Salles entra di diritto nella rosa dei più importanti film brasiliani della storia. Splendido nel modo in cui divide perfettamente la leggerezza del primo atto con la brutale sofferenza del secondo, Salles racconta una storia che meritava di tornare sotto l’attenzione del grande pubblico, per farci ricordare ancora una volta, se mai ce ne fosse bisogno, una cosa che dovremmo tenere sempre bene a mente: i fascisti sono una merda. Gran film.

    10- Presence (Steven Soderbergh)
    Steven Soderbergh piazza lo spettatore a osservare una “normale” famiglia statunitense dal punto di vista grandangolare di un fantasma che vive nella loro casa, raccontando la crisi di una generazione, le aspettative, la competitività, il bisogno di vivere di apparenza pur di restare a galla, inzuppando tutta questa vita ordinaria con alcune tracce di sovrannaturale (oggetti che levitano, una medium che avverte la presenza, ecc). Il regista ci apparecchia la tavola per la prima ora, senza mai stancare, fino a spiazzarci nell’ultimo quarto d’ora, in un paio di scene che regalano brividi. Chi lo va a vedere aspettandosi un horror resterà molto deluso, è un filmone che parla di tutt’altro. Stupendo.

    9- Springsteen – Liberami dal Nulla (Deliver Me From Nowhere, Scott Cooper)
    Chi si aspetta di vedere su grande schermo il mito di Bruce Springsteen, troverà invece un’opera che gli toglie la maschera, soffoca la leggenda per alimentare però la sua umanità, il suo cuore, il suo bisogno di essere ancora una persona normale in un mondo di luci accecanti. In questo bellissimo film di Scott Cooper scoprirete finalmente il lato oscuro del mito, l’animo intimo di un artista che non è mai sceso a compromessi con il suo successo, che ha cercato di restare se stesso sempre, mentre il mondo intorno a lui continuava a girare vorticosamente. Anche perché, come ci suggerisce il film, il passato non esiste più e il futuro non si può rincorrere: possiamo vivere soltanto dentro noi stessi, ora.

    8- No Other Land (Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal)
    Un collettivo di registi israeliani e palestinesi racconta la violenza e la distruzione da parte dei coloni israeliani di una piccola comunità rurale della Cisgiordania, Masafer Yatta. Il rapporto tra un giornalista di Isreaele e un giovane attivista palestinese è uno dei tantissimi spunti di un film che, inevitabilmente, atterrisce lo spettatore con le tante crudeltà che mostra e che, al tempo stesso, commuove per l’enorme forza e la necessità di sopravvivere che mette in scena minuto dopo minuto. È complicato racchiudere in poche righe tutta l’impotenza che si prova durante la visione, ma anche la voglia di abbracciare i bambini che vengono fatti sfollare dalla scuola, prima che venga distrutta da una ruspa. Premio Oscar per il miglior documentario, una storia che fa male, ma che riesce anche a illuminare con la sua umanità.

    7- A Complete Unknown (James Mangold)
    Mangold riesce a costruire un film che contiene al suo interno mille storie diverse, che gravitano tutte intorno al grande protagonista Bob Dylan: dalla leggenda Woody Guthrie allo sfortunato Dave Van Ronk, dal sogno di Pete Seeger di cambiare il mondo attraverso la musica, all’attivista Joan Baez, regina del folk, che pochi anni dopo sarebbe diventata “l’usignolo di Woodstock”. Oppure Sylvie, personaggio fittizio chiaramente ispirato a Suze Rotolo, musa e compagna del cantautore, prima di quella metamorfosi artistica che avrebbe cambiato la sua vita e (soprattutto?) la storia della musica. Per chi la vuole cercare, c’è davvero tanta carne al fuoco: un film completo, totalmente credibile, coinvolgente, straordinario nelle interpretazioni, che racconta l’uomo dietro il genio, l’essere umano dietro il rivoluzionario, il futuro premio Nobel per la letteratura dietro i capelli spettinati di un “completo sconosciuto”. Ma soprattutto c’è tanta, tantissima, musica stupenda. I tempi cambiano, per noi comuni mortali, così come per i geni: basta viverli, una canzone per volta.

    6- Bird (Andrea Arnold)
    Tra echi di urgenza sociale che richiamano il miglior Ken Loach e una deriva favolistica alla Alice Rohrwacher, Andrea Arnold procede in equilibrio tra realismo magico e fiaba malinconica: la protagonista Nykiya Adams (che brava!) si arrangia come può in un contesto ostile, mostrando la capacità degli adolescenti di trovare luce ovunque, anche nelle condizioni peggiori. Ed è proprio lì, tra la vita aspra che mostra e l’incanto che ti regala, che questo film ti tiene stretto, facendoti pensare che è una delle cose più belle che hai visto quest’anno. Inoltre, la colonna sonora è pazzesca e va da Too Real e A Hero’s Death dei Fontaines DC a Lucky Man dei Verve, da The Universal dei Blur a Yellow dei Coldplay. Come dicono proprio i Blur, “When the days they seem to fall through you, well, just let them go”.

    5- The Brutalist (Brady Corbet)
    La cosa più difficile da fare con quest’opera immensa di Brady Corbet è scegliere di cominciare a vederla. Poi tutto va in discesa perché l’attenzione che gli dedichi, il film te la restituisce sottoforma di splendido cinema: è davvero tanta roba. Potete facilmente immaginare che, in oltre 3 ore di film, di cose ne succedono parecchie e ci sarebbe tantissimo da dire: è una di quelle storie che ti porti appresso fuori dalla sala, che ti si arrampica dentro durante la notte, a cui inevitabilmente ripensi al mattino. Adrien Brody è magnifico e quello di Guy Pearce è un piacevolissimo ritorno sulle scene di un film importante. Girato con un budget ridotto, è uno dei più ambiziosi ed enormi film indipendenti mai realizzati. Clamoroso.

    4- La Voce di Hind Rajab (Ṣawt al-Hind Rajab, Kaouther Ben Hania)
    Sono andato al cinema senza sapere neanche di cosa parlasse. Sapevo solo che dovevo vederlo. Il film di Kaouther Ben Hania mescola realtà e finzione, ricostruendo il tentativo da parte della Mezzaluna Rossa (il corrispettivo mediorientale della nostra Croce Rossa) di ottenere i permessi necessari per salvare una bambina palestinese chiusa dentro un’automobile, appena assaltata dai soldati israeliani che hanno sterminato la famiglia della piccola Hind Rajab. Solo questo basterebbe a renderlo un film potentissimo, ma il punto di forza (nonché elemento straziante) è che la voce al telefono che sentiamo per tutto il film è la voce reale della bambina, ovvero la registrazione delle conversazioni telefoniche avvenute tra lei e i soccorritori (che invece sono interpretati da attori e attrici). Un’opera di rara potenza ed emozione, commovente, agghiacciante, spaventosa. Se il Cinema con la C maiuscola ha il dovere di raccontare il tempo che vive, questo film è destinato a essere ricordato in eterno.

    3- Emilia Perez (Jacques Audiard)
    Vincitore del premio della Giuria a Cannes, è una sorta di musical incentrato su un boss del cartello messicano che decide di cambiare sesso (!). Da un’idea assurda, quasi grottesca a pensarci, nasce un’opera meravigliosa su genere, identità, violenza, redenzione, senza mai perdere un grammo di credibilità. Un film che ha dentro di sé mille film diversi: musical, gangster, dramma sociale, sentimento. Girato con un gusto estetico superiore (parliamo sempre di Jacques Audiard, uno dei più grandi registi europei della sua generazione), una fotografia meravigliosa e un trio di attrici fuori dall’ordinario: Zoe Saldana, in particolare, è incredibile e il film è stu-pen-do.

    2- Una Battaglia Dopo l’Altra (One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson)
    Quasi un decennio dopo il fortunato Vizio di Forma, il regista di Los Angeles torna a pescare idee dalla narrativa di Thomas Pynchon, il cui romanzo Vineland ha fornito il materiale di base sul quale modellare poi la storia, molto diversa, di questo nuovo film. Ci sono momenti che sembrano uscire fuori dal cinema dei fratelli Coen, ma soprattutto c’è l’enorme talento di PTA nel raccontare storie, nel prendere per mano lo spettatore e coinvolgerlo in un caleidoscopio di ironia, azione, calore umano e battute fulminanti, fino a una bellissima scena di inseguimento nel deserto, tra dossi, salite e discese, in una sorta di “labirinto rettilineo” che tiene con il fiato sospeso. Il mondo forse si può davvero cambiare, una battaglia dopo l’altra. Nel frattempo, godiamoci film stupendi come questo: “ocean waves“, amici e amiche, “ocean waves“.

    1- Un Semplice Incidente (Yak Taṣādof-e Sāde, Jafar Panahi)
    Anche stavolta il regista iraniano gira il film in totale segreto, senza permessi, e anche stavolta realizza qualcosa di stupendo, una riflessione profonda sul ruolo di vittima e carnefice, sull’umanità, sulle conseguenze che ha ogni azione. Il film si apre sull’interno di un’automobile di notte: al volante c’è il padre di una famiglia composta da moglie incinta e una bambina vispa e solare. Improvvisamente l’uomo investe un cane e questo piccolo incidente procurerà un piccolo danno all’auto, che dovrà fermarsi per una riparazione improvvisa. Da qui comincia una serie di eventi che porterà l’uomo ad essere rapito e a circondarsi di aguzzini pronti ad eliminarlo: ma perché? Chi è quest’uomo? Cosa è successo anni prima? Il suono di quella protesi alla gamba e, soprattutto, quel finale incredibile, me li porterò appresso ancora per molto tempo. Un capolavoro.

    [Se l’articolo ti è piaciuto, offrimi un caffè o magari una colazione,
    una piccola mancia per aiutarmi a sostenere il sito!]

    #2025 #bestOf2025 #Cinema #classifica #daVedere #film #filmDel2025 #filmDellAnno #filmPiùBelli #fineAnno #lista #listaFilm #miglioriFilm #top10 #top20

    #bestof2025 #cinema #classifica #davedere #film #filmdel2025
  26. Una Vita da Cinefilo @[email protected] ·

    Top 20 – I Miei Film del 2025

    Come ogni anno, dopo la grande corsa ai recuperi di fine dicembre, siamo giunti ad una più o meno soddisfacente decisione su quali sono o penso che siano i 20 film che più mi sono piaciuti di questo 2025. Come ribadito nel titolo, si tratta dei miei film preferiti e non dei migliori film, perché è bene ricordare che la lista in questione non si erge a verità assoluta sulle opere più belle uscite quest’anno, ma elenca semplicemente i 20 titoli più amati dal sottoscritto. Quindi non gridate allo scandalo se non trovate il vostro film preferito, può essere che, pur riconoscendone l’ottima fattura, mi sia piaciuto meno rispetto a un film magari meno perfetto ma più emozionante (oppure un altro motivo per cui manca potrebbe essere che non l’ho proprio visto, come ad esempio Father Mother Sister Brother di Jarmusch, che ho perso causa influenza: in tal caso vi invito a scrivere nei commenti ogni suggerimento atto a colmare le mie tante lacune).

    Ricordo come sempre che in classifica compaiono solo film distribuiti in Italia (al cinema o in esclusiva streaming) nel 2025, anche se sono stati presentati in qualche festival negli anni precedenti. La discriminante è sempre stata questa, dal 2008 a oggi, e non è cambiata. A presentare questa sedicesima edizione della Top 20 quest’anno troviamo Jack Nicholson, straordinario protagonista di Qualcuno Volò sul Nido del Cuculo (Milos Forman, 1975).

    Fatte le doverose premesse del caso (a- Miei film preferiti, non migliori film in assoluto e b- solo film distribuiti in Italia nel 2025), prima di lasciarvi ai titoli della Top 20 ci tengo a sottolineare che ovviamente non è stato possibile vedere tutto ciò che è uscito durante l’anno solare ma soltanto una settantina di titoli e che quindi, come sempre, è una classifica molto parziale che si fa più per gioco che per reale utilità. Apriamo le danze dunque e, mi raccomando, fatemi sapere anche le vostre scelte!

    20- Alpha (Julia Ducournau)
    Da che mondo è mondo, in una classifica di preferenze la posizione numero 20 è molto più difficile della numero 1. Alla fine però, l’ultima fatica di Julia Ducournau non poteva restare fuori: un lungo massaggio cardiaco alle emozioni dello spettatore, continuamente messo alla prova dagli sbalzi ermetici di un film molto bello, innegabilmente in grado di scavare nel profondo grazie anche a tre interpretazioni pazzesche. Un film sulle difficoltà di essere adolescenti, su quanto sia difficile essere madre di una ragazza in crisi e sorella di un uomo disperato, sopraffatto dalla tossicodipendenza, ma soprattutto, come dicevo, è un lungo massaggio cardiaco: c’è un costante bisogno di aggrapparsi alla vita, di curare, di salvare, di salvarsi.

    19- Sinners (Ryan Coogler)
    Onestamente non ero certo di voler vedere questo film. Ne avevo sentito parlare come una versione afroamericana di Dal Tramonto all’Alba, o qualcosa del genere e temevo si trattasse dell’ennesima boiata spacciata per horror. Invece il film di Ryan Coogler (già regista del meraviglioso Fruitvale Station, ma anche di quella cazzata allucinante di Black Panther) fa davvero centro. Al di là della bellissima estetica del film e dell’ottima ambientazione (per non parlare della colonna sonora), mi è piaciuto come la prima parte sia tutta dedicata alla preparazione del climax finale e come lo scontro notturno sia molto più psicologico rispetto al carrozzone splatter che uno potrebbe aspettarsi. Sorprendente, nonostante i mille finali.

    18- A House of Dynamite (Kathryn Bigelow)
    Kathryn Bigelow realizza l’incontro ideale tra il Dr Stranamore e WarGames, senza però la spassosa ironia del primo né l’avventura adolescenziale del secondo. Il film si svolge in 19 fatali minuti, dilatati però in due ore per mezzo del cosiddetto effetto Rashomon. Lo scenario, non così distopico come si può pensare, è spaventoso, e la storia regge, nonostante qualche calo di tono nella parte centrale. Appena si entra nella storia infatti, è impossibile staccare gli occhi dallo schermo, dagli sguardi confusi e spaventati dei protagonisti, da quei numeri che scorrono sui monitor. Lo trovate su Netflix e, al di là di tutto, Kathryn Bigelow sa come si gira un film: è grande cinema.

    17- L’Ultimo Turno (Heldin, Petra Volpe)
    Non sorprendetevi se, nella prossima cinquina di candidati per l’Oscar al Miglior Film Straniero, dovesse esserci anche questo bellissimo film svizzero, realizzato da Petra Volpe. Un’escalation di situazioni, allarmi, capricci, ansie, dove la mano di Leonie Benesch, ma soprattutto il cuore, può essere piuma e può essere ferro (cit). Un film ansiogeno, dove allo spettatore non viene concesso un momento di pausa, stesso destino riservato alla sua protagonista. Il messaggio che compare nel finale, prima del fade to black, chiarisce molto meglio il punto di tutto il film, ovvero la grave carenza di infermieri negli ospedali svizzeri. Bellissimo, ma che ansia.

    16- Sotto le Foglie (Quand Vient l’Automne, François Ozon)
    François Ozon, uno dei registi più attivi degli ultimi decenni, riesce sempre a sfornare bei film, ma quasi mai film davvero bellissimi (almeno secondo me). Ecco, questa potrebbe essere la volta buona in cui il regista francese tira fuori la perla, un dramma che si svela piano piano, strato dopo strato, mettendo in tavola una bella teglia di dubbi, ipotesi, che lo spettatore può abbracciare o rifiutare. Una serie di eventi in cui la risposta non è mai una sola, dove si scoprono realtà scomode, passati ingombranti, verità inconfutabili. E quando entri in questo labirinto di sospetti, non ne esci più. Grande film.

    15- Nosferatu (Robert Eggers)
    Parafrasando Nietzsche, si può dire che se tu guarderai a lungo nell’oscurità, anche l’oscurità vorrà guardare dentro di te. Ed è proprio in un buio accecante che Eggers immerge lo spettatore (e Lily-Rose Depp) sin dalla primissima inquadratura, come a volerlo rendere parte di quella stessa notte buia, la stessa oscurità nella quale il regista fa muovere le sue ombre. La grandezza di questa nuova versione è, al di là dell’indubbia potenza visiva, la capacità di reinventarsi in ogni scena, di essere coinvolgente anche di fronte a una storia che abbiamo visto in tutte le salse, che il regista statunitense però riesce a modernizzare con la metafora, neanche troppo sottile, di una donna indipendente in lotta contro una società di maschi dominanti. L’oscurità non è mai stata così “buia”: spegnete le luci.

    14- Grand Theft Hamlet (Sam Crane, Pinny Grylls)
    Durante la pandemia, due attori di teatro, rimasti improvvisamente a spasso, decidono di mettere in scena l’Amleto all’interno dell’open world del videogioco GTA, facendo casting, prove e l’intero spettacolo dentro il gioco, cercando di evitare di essere uccisi da altri gamer (per i meno pratici, GTA è uno dei videogame più violenti di sempre, dove chi gioca può rubare, uccidere e compiere qualunque attività criminale per ottenere bonus di vario genere). L’idea di Sam Crane e Pinny Grylls non è soltanto originalissima, ma è anche divertente, oltre che incredibilmente coinvolgente: dopo i primi cinque minuti sarà impossibile smettere di guardare questo assurdo documentario, se così si può definire. Anche in un periodo di grande crisi, uno splendido esempio di umanità e di come il bisogno di esprimersi artisticamente riesca ad abbattere ostacoli apparentemente insormontabili. Che bello!

    13- Aragoste a Manhattan (La Cocina, Alonso Ruizpalacios)
    Dopo il successo di The Bear, tutto ciò che si svolge dentro una cucina deve caricarsi sulle spalle vari esami del dna per definire il grado di parentela con la serie. Ciò che vediamo nel film di Ruizpalacios ha però delle vibrazioni tutte sue, che raccontano molto del mondo che viviamo oggi: individui di culture diverse si districano tra i muri dell’incomprensione, mentre il macigno del capitalismo tenta di sacrificare ogni individualità, ogni sogno, ogni speranza sull’altare del profitto e del consumo. A condire tutte queste vicende c’è tanto umorismo caustico e una regia piena di belle intuizioni, tra cui un piano sequenza da urlo: quanta fame (di vita!) in un film così piccolo.

    12- September 5 (Tim Fehlbaum)
    Quasi interamente girato all’interno della cabina di regia della ABC durante il sequestro degli atleti israeliani durante le Olimpiadi del 1972, il film lascia da parte qualunque approfondimento politico per concentrarsi esclusivamente sul lavoro giornalistico, con le sue urgenze, i suoi errori, le improvvise rivelazioni, la corsa alla notizia. Breve, dal ritmo serrato, senza dubbio coinvolgente, con alcuni volti interessanti come Peter Saarsgard, Ben Chaplin, John Magaro (il marito di Past Lives) e Leonie Benesch (protagonista de La Sala Professori e de L’Ultimo Turno, che avete già incontrato in questa classifica). La conferma che, ancora una volta, quello del giornalista è il lavoro più bello da vedere in un film.

    11- Io Sono Ancora Qui (Ainda Estou Aqui, Walter Salles)
    L’ultimo lavoro del grande Walter Salles entra di diritto nella rosa dei più importanti film brasiliani della storia. Splendido nel modo in cui divide perfettamente la leggerezza del primo atto con la brutale sofferenza del secondo, Salles racconta una storia che meritava di tornare sotto l’attenzione del grande pubblico, per farci ricordare ancora una volta, se mai ce ne fosse bisogno, una cosa che dovremmo tenere sempre bene a mente: i fascisti sono una merda. Gran film.

    10- Presence (Steven Soderbergh)
    Steven Soderbergh piazza lo spettatore a osservare una “normale” famiglia statunitense dal punto di vista grandangolare di un fantasma che vive nella loro casa, raccontando la crisi di una generazione, le aspettative, la competitività, il bisogno di vivere di apparenza pur di restare a galla, inzuppando tutta questa vita ordinaria con alcune tracce di sovrannaturale (oggetti che levitano, una medium che avverte la presenza, ecc). Il regista ci apparecchia la tavola per la prima ora, senza mai stancare, fino a spiazzarci nell’ultimo quarto d’ora, in un paio di scene che regalano brividi. Chi lo va a vedere aspettandosi un horror resterà molto deluso, è un filmone che parla di tutt’altro. Stupendo.

    9- Springsteen – Liberami dal Nulla (Deliver Me From Nowhere, Scott Cooper)
    Chi si aspetta di vedere su grande schermo il mito di Bruce Springsteen, troverà invece un’opera che gli toglie la maschera, soffoca la leggenda per alimentare però la sua umanità, il suo cuore, il suo bisogno di essere ancora una persona normale in un mondo di luci accecanti. In questo bellissimo film di Scott Cooper scoprirete finalmente il lato oscuro del mito, l’animo intimo di un artista che non è mai sceso a compromessi con il suo successo, che ha cercato di restare se stesso sempre, mentre il mondo intorno a lui continuava a girare vorticosamente. Anche perché, come ci suggerisce il film, il passato non esiste più e il futuro non si può rincorrere: possiamo vivere soltanto dentro noi stessi, ora.

    8- No Other Land (Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal)
    Un collettivo di registi israeliani e palestinesi racconta la violenza e la distruzione da parte dei coloni israeliani di una piccola comunità rurale della Cisgiordania, Masafer Yatta. Il rapporto tra un giornalista di Isreaele e un giovane attivista palestinese è uno dei tantissimi spunti di un film che, inevitabilmente, atterrisce lo spettatore con le tante crudeltà che mostra e che, al tempo stesso, commuove per l’enorme forza e la necessità di sopravvivere che mette in scena minuto dopo minuto. È complicato racchiudere in poche righe tutta l’impotenza che si prova durante la visione, ma anche la voglia di abbracciare i bambini che vengono fatti sfollare dalla scuola, prima che venga distrutta da una ruspa. Premio Oscar per il miglior documentario, una storia che fa male, ma che riesce anche a illuminare con la sua umanità.

    7- A Complete Unknown (James Mangold)
    Mangold riesce a costruire un film che contiene al suo interno mille storie diverse, che gravitano tutte intorno al grande protagonista Bob Dylan: dalla leggenda Woody Guthrie allo sfortunato Dave Van Ronk, dal sogno di Pete Seeger di cambiare il mondo attraverso la musica, all’attivista Joan Baez, regina del folk, che pochi anni dopo sarebbe diventata “l’usignolo di Woodstock”. Oppure Sylvie, personaggio fittizio chiaramente ispirato a Suze Rotolo, musa e compagna del cantautore, prima di quella metamorfosi artistica che avrebbe cambiato la sua vita e (soprattutto?) la storia della musica. Per chi la vuole cercare, c’è davvero tanta carne al fuoco: un film completo, totalmente credibile, coinvolgente, straordinario nelle interpretazioni, che racconta l’uomo dietro il genio, l’essere umano dietro il rivoluzionario, il futuro premio Nobel per la letteratura dietro i capelli spettinati di un “completo sconosciuto”. Ma soprattutto c’è tanta, tantissima, musica stupenda. I tempi cambiano, per noi comuni mortali, così come per i geni: basta viverli, una canzone per volta.

    6- Bird (Andrea Arnold)
    Tra echi di urgenza sociale che richiamano il miglior Ken Loach e una deriva favolistica alla Alice Rohrwacher, Andrea Arnold procede in equilibrio tra realismo magico e fiaba malinconica: la protagonista Nykiya Adams (che brava!) si arrangia come può in un contesto ostile, mostrando la capacità degli adolescenti di trovare luce ovunque, anche nelle condizioni peggiori. Ed è proprio lì, tra la vita aspra che mostra e l’incanto che ti regala, che questo film ti tiene stretto, facendoti pensare che è una delle cose più belle che hai visto quest’anno. Inoltre, la colonna sonora è pazzesca e va da Too Real e A Hero’s Death dei Fontaines DC a Lucky Man dei Verve, da The Universal dei Blur a Yellow dei Coldplay. Come dicono proprio i Blur, “When the days they seem to fall through you, well, just let them go”.

    5- The Brutalist (Brady Corbet)
    La cosa più difficile da fare con quest’opera immensa di Brady Corbet è scegliere di cominciare a vederla. Poi tutto va in discesa perché l’attenzione che gli dedichi, il film te la restituisce sottoforma di splendido cinema: è davvero tanta roba. Potete facilmente immaginare che, in oltre 3 ore di film, di cose ne succedono parecchie e ci sarebbe tantissimo da dire: è una di quelle storie che ti porti appresso fuori dalla sala, che ti si arrampica dentro durante la notte, a cui inevitabilmente ripensi al mattino. Adrien Brody è magnifico e quello di Guy Pearce è un piacevolissimo ritorno sulle scene di un film importante. Girato con un budget ridotto, è uno dei più ambiziosi ed enormi film indipendenti mai realizzati. Clamoroso.

    4- La Voce di Hind Rajab (Ṣawt al-Hind Rajab, Kaouther Ben Hania)
    Sono andato al cinema senza sapere neanche di cosa parlasse. Sapevo solo che dovevo vederlo. Il film di Kaouther Ben Hania mescola realtà e finzione, ricostruendo il tentativo da parte della Mezzaluna Rossa (il corrispettivo mediorientale della nostra Croce Rossa) di ottenere i permessi necessari per salvare una bambina palestinese chiusa dentro un’automobile, appena assaltata dai soldati israeliani che hanno sterminato la famiglia della piccola Hind Rajab. Solo questo basterebbe a renderlo un film potentissimo, ma il punto di forza (nonché elemento straziante) è che la voce al telefono che sentiamo per tutto il film è la voce reale della bambina, ovvero la registrazione delle conversazioni telefoniche avvenute tra lei e i soccorritori (che invece sono interpretati da attori e attrici). Un’opera di rara potenza ed emozione, commovente, agghiacciante, spaventosa. Se il Cinema con la C maiuscola ha il dovere di raccontare il tempo che vive, questo film è destinato a essere ricordato in eterno.

    3- Emilia Perez (Jacques Audiard)
    Vincitore del premio della Giuria a Cannes, è una sorta di musical incentrato su un boss del cartello messicano che decide di cambiare sesso (!). Da un’idea assurda, quasi grottesca a pensarci, nasce un’opera meravigliosa su genere, identità, violenza, redenzione, senza mai perdere un grammo di credibilità. Un film che ha dentro di sé mille film diversi: musical, gangster, dramma sociale, sentimento. Girato con un gusto estetico superiore (parliamo sempre di Jacques Audiard, uno dei più grandi registi europei della sua generazione), una fotografia meravigliosa e un trio di attrici fuori dall’ordinario: Zoe Saldana, in particolare, è incredibile e il film è stu-pen-do.

    2- Una Battaglia Dopo l’Altra (One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson)
    Quasi un decennio dopo il fortunato Vizio di Forma, il regista di Los Angeles torna a pescare idee dalla narrativa di Thomas Pynchon, il cui romanzo Vineland ha fornito il materiale di base sul quale modellare poi la storia, molto diversa, di questo nuovo film. Ci sono momenti che sembrano uscire fuori dal cinema dei fratelli Coen, ma soprattutto c’è l’enorme talento di PTA nel raccontare storie, nel prendere per mano lo spettatore e coinvolgerlo in un caleidoscopio di ironia, azione, calore umano e battute fulminanti, fino a una bellissima scena di inseguimento nel deserto, tra dossi, salite e discese, in una sorta di “labirinto rettilineo” che tiene con il fiato sospeso. Il mondo forse si può davvero cambiare, una battaglia dopo l’altra. Nel frattempo, godiamoci film stupendi come questo: “ocean waves“, amici e amiche, “ocean waves“.

    1- Un Semplice Incidente (Yak Taṣādof-e Sāde, Jafar Panahi)
    Anche stavolta il regista iraniano gira il film in totale segreto, senza permessi, e anche stavolta realizza qualcosa di stupendo, una riflessione profonda sul ruolo di vittima e carnefice, sull’umanità, sulle conseguenze che ha ogni azione. Il film si apre sull’interno di un’automobile di notte: al volante c’è il padre di una famiglia composta da moglie incinta e una bambina vispa e solare. Improvvisamente l’uomo investe un cane e questo piccolo incidente procurerà un piccolo danno all’auto, che dovrà fermarsi per una riparazione improvvisa. Da qui comincia una serie di eventi che porterà l’uomo ad essere rapito e a circondarsi di aguzzini pronti ad eliminarlo: ma perché? Chi è quest’uomo? Cosa è successo anni prima? Il suono di quella protesi alla gamba e, soprattutto, quel finale incredibile, me li porterò appresso ancora per molto tempo. Un capolavoro.

    [Se l’articolo ti è piaciuto, offrimi un caffè o magari una colazione,
    una piccola mancia per aiutarmi a sostenere il sito!]

    #2025 #bestOf2025 #Cinema #classifica #daVedere #film #filmDel2025 #filmDellAnno #filmPiùBelli #fineAnno #lista #listaFilm #miglioriFilm #top10 #top20

    #bestof2025 #cinema #classifica #davedere #film #filmdel2025
  27. Una Vita da Cinefilo @[email protected] ·

    Top 20 – I Miei Film del 2025

    Come ogni anno, dopo la grande corsa ai recuperi di fine dicembre, siamo giunti ad una più o meno soddisfacente decisione su quali sono o penso che siano i 20 film che più mi sono piaciuti di questo 2025. Come ribadito nel titolo, si tratta dei miei film preferiti e non dei migliori film, perché è bene ricordare che la lista in questione non si erge a verità assoluta sulle opere più belle uscite quest’anno, ma elenca semplicemente i 20 titoli più amati dal sottoscritto. Quindi non gridate allo scandalo se non trovate il vostro film preferito, può essere che, pur riconoscendone l’ottima fattura, mi sia piaciuto meno rispetto a un film magari meno perfetto ma più emozionante (oppure un altro motivo per cui manca potrebbe essere che non l’ho proprio visto, come ad esempio Father Mother Sister Brother di Jarmusch, che ho perso causa influenza: in tal caso vi invito a scrivere nei commenti ogni suggerimento atto a colmare le mie tante lacune).

    Ricordo come sempre che in classifica compaiono solo film distribuiti in Italia (al cinema o in esclusiva streaming) nel 2025, anche se sono stati presentati in qualche festival negli anni precedenti. La discriminante è sempre stata questa, dal 2008 a oggi, e non è cambiata. A presentare questa sedicesima edizione della Top 20 quest’anno troviamo Jack Nicholson, straordinario protagonista di Qualcuno Volò sul Nido del Cuculo (Milos Forman, 1975).

    Fatte le doverose premesse del caso (a- Miei film preferiti, non migliori film in assoluto e b- solo film distribuiti in Italia nel 2025), prima di lasciarvi ai titoli della Top 20 ci tengo a sottolineare che ovviamente non è stato possibile vedere tutto ciò che è uscito durante l’anno solare ma soltanto una settantina di titoli e che quindi, come sempre, è una classifica molto parziale che si fa più per gioco che per reale utilità. Apriamo le danze dunque e, mi raccomando, fatemi sapere anche le vostre scelte!

    20- Alpha (Julia Ducournau)
    Da che mondo è mondo, in una classifica di preferenze la posizione numero 20 è molto più difficile della numero 1. Alla fine però, l’ultima fatica di Julia Ducournau non poteva restare fuori: un lungo massaggio cardiaco alle emozioni dello spettatore, continuamente messo alla prova dagli sbalzi ermetici di un film molto bello, innegabilmente in grado di scavare nel profondo grazie anche a tre interpretazioni pazzesche. Un film sulle difficoltà di essere adolescenti, su quanto sia difficile essere madre di una ragazza in crisi e sorella di un uomo disperato, sopraffatto dalla tossicodipendenza, ma soprattutto, come dicevo, è un lungo massaggio cardiaco: c’è un costante bisogno di aggrapparsi alla vita, di curare, di salvare, di salvarsi.

    19- Sinners (Ryan Coogler)
    Onestamente non ero certo di voler vedere questo film. Ne avevo sentito parlare come una versione afroamericana di Dal Tramonto all’Alba, o qualcosa del genere e temevo si trattasse dell’ennesima boiata spacciata per horror. Invece il film di Ryan Coogler (già regista del meraviglioso Fruitvale Station, ma anche di quella cazzata allucinante di Black Panther) fa davvero centro. Al di là della bellissima estetica del film e dell’ottima ambientazione (per non parlare della colonna sonora), mi è piaciuto come la prima parte sia tutta dedicata alla preparazione del climax finale e come lo scontro notturno sia molto più psicologico rispetto al carrozzone splatter che uno potrebbe aspettarsi. Sorprendente, nonostante i mille finali.

    18- A House of Dynamite (Kathryn Bigelow)
    Kathryn Bigelow realizza l’incontro ideale tra il Dr Stranamore e WarGames, senza però la spassosa ironia del primo né l’avventura adolescenziale del secondo. Il film si svolge in 19 fatali minuti, dilatati però in due ore per mezzo del cosiddetto effetto Rashomon. Lo scenario, non così distopico come si può pensare, è spaventoso, e la storia regge, nonostante qualche calo di tono nella parte centrale. Appena si entra nella storia infatti, è impossibile staccare gli occhi dallo schermo, dagli sguardi confusi e spaventati dei protagonisti, da quei numeri che scorrono sui monitor. Lo trovate su Netflix e, al di là di tutto, Kathryn Bigelow sa come si gira un film: è grande cinema.

    17- L’Ultimo Turno (Heldin, Petra Volpe)
    Non sorprendetevi se, nella prossima cinquina di candidati per l’Oscar al Miglior Film Straniero, dovesse esserci anche questo bellissimo film svizzero, realizzato da Petra Volpe. Un’escalation di situazioni, allarmi, capricci, ansie, dove la mano di Leonie Benesch, ma soprattutto il cuore, può essere piuma e può essere ferro (cit). Un film ansiogeno, dove allo spettatore non viene concesso un momento di pausa, stesso destino riservato alla sua protagonista. Il messaggio che compare nel finale, prima del fade to black, chiarisce molto meglio il punto di tutto il film, ovvero la grave carenza di infermieri negli ospedali svizzeri. Bellissimo, ma che ansia.

    16- Sotto le Foglie (Quand Vient l’Automne, François Ozon)
    François Ozon, uno dei registi più attivi degli ultimi decenni, riesce sempre a sfornare bei film, ma quasi mai film davvero bellissimi (almeno secondo me). Ecco, questa potrebbe essere la volta buona in cui il regista francese tira fuori la perla, un dramma che si svela piano piano, strato dopo strato, mettendo in tavola una bella teglia di dubbi, ipotesi, che lo spettatore può abbracciare o rifiutare. Una serie di eventi in cui la risposta non è mai una sola, dove si scoprono realtà scomode, passati ingombranti, verità inconfutabili. E quando entri in questo labirinto di sospetti, non ne esci più. Grande film.

    15- Nosferatu (Robert Eggers)
    Parafrasando Nietzsche, si può dire che se tu guarderai a lungo nell’oscurità, anche l’oscurità vorrà guardare dentro di te. Ed è proprio in un buio accecante che Eggers immerge lo spettatore (e Lily-Rose Depp) sin dalla primissima inquadratura, come a volerlo rendere parte di quella stessa notte buia, la stessa oscurità nella quale il regista fa muovere le sue ombre. La grandezza di questa nuova versione è, al di là dell’indubbia potenza visiva, la capacità di reinventarsi in ogni scena, di essere coinvolgente anche di fronte a una storia che abbiamo visto in tutte le salse, che il regista statunitense però riesce a modernizzare con la metafora, neanche troppo sottile, di una donna indipendente in lotta contro una società di maschi dominanti. L’oscurità non è mai stata così “buia”: spegnete le luci.

    14- Grand Theft Hamlet (Sam Crane, Pinny Grylls)
    Durante la pandemia, due attori di teatro, rimasti improvvisamente a spasso, decidono di mettere in scena l’Amleto all’interno dell’open world del videogioco GTA, facendo casting, prove e l’intero spettacolo dentro il gioco, cercando di evitare di essere uccisi da altri gamer (per i meno pratici, GTA è uno dei videogame più violenti di sempre, dove chi gioca può rubare, uccidere e compiere qualunque attività criminale per ottenere bonus di vario genere). L’idea di Sam Crane e Pinny Grylls non è soltanto originalissima, ma è anche divertente, oltre che incredibilmente coinvolgente: dopo i primi cinque minuti sarà impossibile smettere di guardare questo assurdo documentario, se così si può definire. Anche in un periodo di grande crisi, uno splendido esempio di umanità e di come il bisogno di esprimersi artisticamente riesca ad abbattere ostacoli apparentemente insormontabili. Che bello!

    13- Aragoste a Manhattan (La Cocina, Alonso Ruizpalacios)
    Dopo il successo di The Bear, tutto ciò che si svolge dentro una cucina deve caricarsi sulle spalle vari esami del dna per definire il grado di parentela con la serie. Ciò che vediamo nel film di Ruizpalacios ha però delle vibrazioni tutte sue, che raccontano molto del mondo che viviamo oggi: individui di culture diverse si districano tra i muri dell’incomprensione, mentre il macigno del capitalismo tenta di sacrificare ogni individualità, ogni sogno, ogni speranza sull’altare del profitto e del consumo. A condire tutte queste vicende c’è tanto umorismo caustico e una regia piena di belle intuizioni, tra cui un piano sequenza da urlo: quanta fame (di vita!) in un film così piccolo.

    12- September 5 (Tim Fehlbaum)
    Quasi interamente girato all’interno della cabina di regia della ABC durante il sequestro degli atleti israeliani durante le Olimpiadi del 1972, il film lascia da parte qualunque approfondimento politico per concentrarsi esclusivamente sul lavoro giornalistico, con le sue urgenze, i suoi errori, le improvvise rivelazioni, la corsa alla notizia. Breve, dal ritmo serrato, senza dubbio coinvolgente, con alcuni volti interessanti come Peter Saarsgard, Ben Chaplin, John Magaro (il marito di Past Lives) e Leonie Benesch (protagonista de La Sala Professori e de L’Ultimo Turno, che avete già incontrato in questa classifica). La conferma che, ancora una volta, quello del giornalista è il lavoro più bello da vedere in un film.

    11- Io Sono Ancora Qui (Ainda Estou Aqui, Walter Salles)
    L’ultimo lavoro del grande Walter Salles entra di diritto nella rosa dei più importanti film brasiliani della storia. Splendido nel modo in cui divide perfettamente la leggerezza del primo atto con la brutale sofferenza del secondo, Salles racconta una storia che meritava di tornare sotto l’attenzione del grande pubblico, per farci ricordare ancora una volta, se mai ce ne fosse bisogno, una cosa che dovremmo tenere sempre bene a mente: i fascisti sono una merda. Gran film.

    10- Presence (Steven Soderbergh)
    Steven Soderbergh piazza lo spettatore a osservare una “normale” famiglia statunitense dal punto di vista grandangolare di un fantasma che vive nella loro casa, raccontando la crisi di una generazione, le aspettative, la competitività, il bisogno di vivere di apparenza pur di restare a galla, inzuppando tutta questa vita ordinaria con alcune tracce di sovrannaturale (oggetti che levitano, una medium che avverte la presenza, ecc). Il regista ci apparecchia la tavola per la prima ora, senza mai stancare, fino a spiazzarci nell’ultimo quarto d’ora, in un paio di scene che regalano brividi. Chi lo va a vedere aspettandosi un horror resterà molto deluso, è un filmone che parla di tutt’altro. Stupendo.

    9- Springsteen – Liberami dal Nulla (Deliver Me From Nowhere, Scott Cooper)
    Chi si aspetta di vedere su grande schermo il mito di Bruce Springsteen, troverà invece un’opera che gli toglie la maschera, soffoca la leggenda per alimentare però la sua umanità, il suo cuore, il suo bisogno di essere ancora una persona normale in un mondo di luci accecanti. In questo bellissimo film di Scott Cooper scoprirete finalmente il lato oscuro del mito, l’animo intimo di un artista che non è mai sceso a compromessi con il suo successo, che ha cercato di restare se stesso sempre, mentre il mondo intorno a lui continuava a girare vorticosamente. Anche perché, come ci suggerisce il film, il passato non esiste più e il futuro non si può rincorrere: possiamo vivere soltanto dentro noi stessi, ora.

    8- No Other Land (Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal)
    Un collettivo di registi israeliani e palestinesi racconta la violenza e la distruzione da parte dei coloni israeliani di una piccola comunità rurale della Cisgiordania, Masafer Yatta. Il rapporto tra un giornalista di Isreaele e un giovane attivista palestinese è uno dei tantissimi spunti di un film che, inevitabilmente, atterrisce lo spettatore con le tante crudeltà che mostra e che, al tempo stesso, commuove per l’enorme forza e la necessità di sopravvivere che mette in scena minuto dopo minuto. È complicato racchiudere in poche righe tutta l’impotenza che si prova durante la visione, ma anche la voglia di abbracciare i bambini che vengono fatti sfollare dalla scuola, prima che venga distrutta da una ruspa. Premio Oscar per il miglior documentario, una storia che fa male, ma che riesce anche a illuminare con la sua umanità.

    7- A Complete Unknown (James Mangold)
    Mangold riesce a costruire un film che contiene al suo interno mille storie diverse, che gravitano tutte intorno al grande protagonista Bob Dylan: dalla leggenda Woody Guthrie allo sfortunato Dave Van Ronk, dal sogno di Pete Seeger di cambiare il mondo attraverso la musica, all’attivista Joan Baez, regina del folk, che pochi anni dopo sarebbe diventata “l’usignolo di Woodstock”. Oppure Sylvie, personaggio fittizio chiaramente ispirato a Suze Rotolo, musa e compagna del cantautore, prima di quella metamorfosi artistica che avrebbe cambiato la sua vita e (soprattutto?) la storia della musica. Per chi la vuole cercare, c’è davvero tanta carne al fuoco: un film completo, totalmente credibile, coinvolgente, straordinario nelle interpretazioni, che racconta l’uomo dietro il genio, l’essere umano dietro il rivoluzionario, il futuro premio Nobel per la letteratura dietro i capelli spettinati di un “completo sconosciuto”. Ma soprattutto c’è tanta, tantissima, musica stupenda. I tempi cambiano, per noi comuni mortali, così come per i geni: basta viverli, una canzone per volta.

    6- Bird (Andrea Arnold)
    Tra echi di urgenza sociale che richiamano il miglior Ken Loach e una deriva favolistica alla Alice Rohrwacher, Andrea Arnold procede in equilibrio tra realismo magico e fiaba malinconica: la protagonista Nykiya Adams (che brava!) si arrangia come può in un contesto ostile, mostrando la capacità degli adolescenti di trovare luce ovunque, anche nelle condizioni peggiori. Ed è proprio lì, tra la vita aspra che mostra e l’incanto che ti regala, che questo film ti tiene stretto, facendoti pensare che è una delle cose più belle che hai visto quest’anno. Inoltre, la colonna sonora è pazzesca e va da Too Real e A Hero’s Death dei Fontaines DC a Lucky Man dei Verve, da The Universal dei Blur a Yellow dei Coldplay. Come dicono proprio i Blur, “When the days they seem to fall through you, well, just let them go”.

    5- The Brutalist (Brady Corbet)
    La cosa più difficile da fare con quest’opera immensa di Brady Corbet è scegliere di cominciare a vederla. Poi tutto va in discesa perché l’attenzione che gli dedichi, il film te la restituisce sottoforma di splendido cinema: è davvero tanta roba. Potete facilmente immaginare che, in oltre 3 ore di film, di cose ne succedono parecchie e ci sarebbe tantissimo da dire: è una di quelle storie che ti porti appresso fuori dalla sala, che ti si arrampica dentro durante la notte, a cui inevitabilmente ripensi al mattino. Adrien Brody è magnifico e quello di Guy Pearce è un piacevolissimo ritorno sulle scene di un film importante. Girato con un budget ridotto, è uno dei più ambiziosi ed enormi film indipendenti mai realizzati. Clamoroso.

    4- La Voce di Hind Rajab (Ṣawt al-Hind Rajab, Kaouther Ben Hania)
    Sono andato al cinema senza sapere neanche di cosa parlasse. Sapevo solo che dovevo vederlo. Il film di Kaouther Ben Hania mescola realtà e finzione, ricostruendo il tentativo da parte della Mezzaluna Rossa (il corrispettivo mediorientale della nostra Croce Rossa) di ottenere i permessi necessari per salvare una bambina palestinese chiusa dentro un’automobile, appena assaltata dai soldati israeliani che hanno sterminato la famiglia della piccola Hind Rajab. Solo questo basterebbe a renderlo un film potentissimo, ma il punto di forza (nonché elemento straziante) è che la voce al telefono che sentiamo per tutto il film è la voce reale della bambina, ovvero la registrazione delle conversazioni telefoniche avvenute tra lei e i soccorritori (che invece sono interpretati da attori e attrici). Un’opera di rara potenza ed emozione, commovente, agghiacciante, spaventosa. Se il Cinema con la C maiuscola ha il dovere di raccontare il tempo che vive, questo film è destinato a essere ricordato in eterno.

    3- Emilia Perez (Jacques Audiard)
    Vincitore del premio della Giuria a Cannes, è una sorta di musical incentrato su un boss del cartello messicano che decide di cambiare sesso (!). Da un’idea assurda, quasi grottesca a pensarci, nasce un’opera meravigliosa su genere, identità, violenza, redenzione, senza mai perdere un grammo di credibilità. Un film che ha dentro di sé mille film diversi: musical, gangster, dramma sociale, sentimento. Girato con un gusto estetico superiore (parliamo sempre di Jacques Audiard, uno dei più grandi registi europei della sua generazione), una fotografia meravigliosa e un trio di attrici fuori dall’ordinario: Zoe Saldana, in particolare, è incredibile e il film è stu-pen-do.

    2- Una Battaglia Dopo l’Altra (One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson)
    Quasi un decennio dopo il fortunato Vizio di Forma, il regista di Los Angeles torna a pescare idee dalla narrativa di Thomas Pynchon, il cui romanzo Vineland ha fornito il materiale di base sul quale modellare poi la storia, molto diversa, di questo nuovo film. Ci sono momenti che sembrano uscire fuori dal cinema dei fratelli Coen, ma soprattutto c’è l’enorme talento di PTA nel raccontare storie, nel prendere per mano lo spettatore e coinvolgerlo in un caleidoscopio di ironia, azione, calore umano e battute fulminanti, fino a una bellissima scena di inseguimento nel deserto, tra dossi, salite e discese, in una sorta di “labirinto rettilineo” che tiene con il fiato sospeso. Il mondo forse si può davvero cambiare, una battaglia dopo l’altra. Nel frattempo, godiamoci film stupendi come questo: “ocean waves“, amici e amiche, “ocean waves“.

    1- Un Semplice Incidente (Yak Taṣādof-e Sāde, Jafar Panahi)
    Anche stavolta il regista iraniano gira il film in totale segreto, senza permessi, e anche stavolta realizza qualcosa di stupendo, una riflessione profonda sul ruolo di vittima e carnefice, sull’umanità, sulle conseguenze che ha ogni azione. Il film si apre sull’interno di un’automobile di notte: al volante c’è il padre di una famiglia composta da moglie incinta e una bambina vispa e solare. Improvvisamente l’uomo investe un cane e questo piccolo incidente procurerà un piccolo danno all’auto, che dovrà fermarsi per una riparazione improvvisa. Da qui comincia una serie di eventi che porterà l’uomo ad essere rapito e a circondarsi di aguzzini pronti ad eliminarlo: ma perché? Chi è quest’uomo? Cosa è successo anni prima? Il suono di quella protesi alla gamba e, soprattutto, quel finale incredibile, me li porterò appresso ancora per molto tempo. Un capolavoro.

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  28. Una Vita da Cinefilo @[email protected] ·

    Top 20 – I Miei Film del 2025

    Come ogni anno, dopo la grande corsa ai recuperi di fine dicembre, siamo giunti ad una più o meno soddisfacente decisione su quali sono o penso che siano i 20 film che più mi sono piaciuti di questo 2025. Come ribadito nel titolo, si tratta dei miei film preferiti e non dei migliori film, perché è bene ricordare che la lista in questione non si erge a verità assoluta sulle opere più belle uscite quest’anno, ma elenca semplicemente i 20 titoli più amati dal sottoscritto. Quindi non gridate allo scandalo se non trovate il vostro film preferito, può essere che, pur riconoscendone l’ottima fattura, mi sia piaciuto meno rispetto a un film magari meno perfetto ma più emozionante (oppure un altro motivo per cui manca potrebbe essere che non l’ho proprio visto, come ad esempio Father Mother Sister Brother di Jarmusch, che ho perso causa influenza: in tal caso vi invito a scrivere nei commenti ogni suggerimento atto a colmare le mie tante lacune).

    Ricordo come sempre che in classifica compaiono solo film distribuiti in Italia (al cinema o in esclusiva streaming) nel 2025, anche se sono stati presentati in qualche festival negli anni precedenti. La discriminante è sempre stata questa, dal 2008 a oggi, e non è cambiata. A presentare questa sedicesima edizione della Top 20 quest’anno troviamo Jack Nicholson, straordinario protagonista di Qualcuno Volò sul Nido del Cuculo (Milos Forman, 1975).

    Fatte le doverose premesse del caso (a- Miei film preferiti, non migliori film in assoluto e b- solo film distribuiti in Italia nel 2025), prima di lasciarvi ai titoli della Top 20 ci tengo a sottolineare che ovviamente non è stato possibile vedere tutto ciò che è uscito durante l’anno solare ma soltanto una settantina di titoli e che quindi, come sempre, è una classifica molto parziale che si fa più per gioco che per reale utilità. Apriamo le danze dunque e, mi raccomando, fatemi sapere anche le vostre scelte!

    20- Alpha (Julia Ducournau)
    Da che mondo è mondo, in una classifica di preferenze la posizione numero 20 è molto più difficile della numero 1. Alla fine però, l’ultima fatica di Julia Ducournau non poteva restare fuori: un lungo massaggio cardiaco alle emozioni dello spettatore, continuamente messo alla prova dagli sbalzi ermetici di un film molto bello, innegabilmente in grado di scavare nel profondo grazie anche a tre interpretazioni pazzesche. Un film sulle difficoltà di essere adolescenti, su quanto sia difficile essere madre di una ragazza in crisi e sorella di un uomo disperato, sopraffatto dalla tossicodipendenza, ma soprattutto, come dicevo, è un lungo massaggio cardiaco: c’è un costante bisogno di aggrapparsi alla vita, di curare, di salvare, di salvarsi.

    19- Sinners (Ryan Coogler)
    Onestamente non ero certo di voler vedere questo film. Ne avevo sentito parlare come una versione afroamericana di Dal Tramonto all’Alba, o qualcosa del genere e temevo si trattasse dell’ennesima boiata spacciata per horror. Invece il film di Ryan Coogler (già regista del meraviglioso Fruitvale Station, ma anche di quella cazzata allucinante di Black Panther) fa davvero centro. Al di là della bellissima estetica del film e dell’ottima ambientazione (per non parlare della colonna sonora), mi è piaciuto come la prima parte sia tutta dedicata alla preparazione del climax finale e come lo scontro notturno sia molto più psicologico rispetto al carrozzone splatter che uno potrebbe aspettarsi. Sorprendente, nonostante i mille finali.

    18- A House of Dynamite (Kathryn Bigelow)
    Kathryn Bigelow realizza l’incontro ideale tra il Dr Stranamore e WarGames, senza però la spassosa ironia del primo né l’avventura adolescenziale del secondo. Il film si svolge in 19 fatali minuti, dilatati però in due ore per mezzo del cosiddetto effetto Rashomon. Lo scenario, non così distopico come si può pensare, è spaventoso, e la storia regge, nonostante qualche calo di tono nella parte centrale. Appena si entra nella storia infatti, è impossibile staccare gli occhi dallo schermo, dagli sguardi confusi e spaventati dei protagonisti, da quei numeri che scorrono sui monitor. Lo trovate su Netflix e, al di là di tutto, Kathryn Bigelow sa come si gira un film: è grande cinema.

    17- L’Ultimo Turno (Heldin, Petra Volpe)
    Non sorprendetevi se, nella prossima cinquina di candidati per l’Oscar al Miglior Film Straniero, dovesse esserci anche questo bellissimo film svizzero, realizzato da Petra Volpe. Un’escalation di situazioni, allarmi, capricci, ansie, dove la mano di Leonie Benesch, ma soprattutto il cuore, può essere piuma e può essere ferro (cit). Un film ansiogeno, dove allo spettatore non viene concesso un momento di pausa, stesso destino riservato alla sua protagonista. Il messaggio che compare nel finale, prima del fade to black, chiarisce molto meglio il punto di tutto il film, ovvero la grave carenza di infermieri negli ospedali svizzeri. Bellissimo, ma che ansia.

    16- Sotto le Foglie (Quand Vient l’Automne, François Ozon)
    François Ozon, uno dei registi più attivi degli ultimi decenni, riesce sempre a sfornare bei film, ma quasi mai film davvero bellissimi (almeno secondo me). Ecco, questa potrebbe essere la volta buona in cui il regista francese tira fuori la perla, un dramma che si svela piano piano, strato dopo strato, mettendo in tavola una bella teglia di dubbi, ipotesi, che lo spettatore può abbracciare o rifiutare. Una serie di eventi in cui la risposta non è mai una sola, dove si scoprono realtà scomode, passati ingombranti, verità inconfutabili. E quando entri in questo labirinto di sospetti, non ne esci più. Grande film.

    15- Nosferatu (Robert Eggers)
    Parafrasando Nietzsche, si può dire che se tu guarderai a lungo nell’oscurità, anche l’oscurità vorrà guardare dentro di te. Ed è proprio in un buio accecante che Eggers immerge lo spettatore (e Lily-Rose Depp) sin dalla primissima inquadratura, come a volerlo rendere parte di quella stessa notte buia, la stessa oscurità nella quale il regista fa muovere le sue ombre. La grandezza di questa nuova versione è, al di là dell’indubbia potenza visiva, la capacità di reinventarsi in ogni scena, di essere coinvolgente anche di fronte a una storia che abbiamo visto in tutte le salse, che il regista statunitense però riesce a modernizzare con la metafora, neanche troppo sottile, di una donna indipendente in lotta contro una società di maschi dominanti. L’oscurità non è mai stata così “buia”: spegnete le luci.

    14- Grand Theft Hamlet (Sam Crane, Pinny Grylls)
    Durante la pandemia, due attori di teatro, rimasti improvvisamente a spasso, decidono di mettere in scena l’Amleto all’interno dell’open world del videogioco GTA, facendo casting, prove e l’intero spettacolo dentro il gioco, cercando di evitare di essere uccisi da altri gamer (per i meno pratici, GTA è uno dei videogame più violenti di sempre, dove chi gioca può rubare, uccidere e compiere qualunque attività criminale per ottenere bonus di vario genere). L’idea di Sam Crane e Pinny Grylls non è soltanto originalissima, ma è anche divertente, oltre che incredibilmente coinvolgente: dopo i primi cinque minuti sarà impossibile smettere di guardare questo assurdo documentario, se così si può definire. Anche in un periodo di grande crisi, uno splendido esempio di umanità e di come il bisogno di esprimersi artisticamente riesca ad abbattere ostacoli apparentemente insormontabili. Che bello!

    13- Aragoste a Manhattan (La Cocina, Alonso Ruizpalacios)
    Dopo il successo di The Bear, tutto ciò che si svolge dentro una cucina deve caricarsi sulle spalle vari esami del dna per definire il grado di parentela con la serie. Ciò che vediamo nel film di Ruizpalacios ha però delle vibrazioni tutte sue, che raccontano molto del mondo che viviamo oggi: individui di culture diverse si districano tra i muri dell’incomprensione, mentre il macigno del capitalismo tenta di sacrificare ogni individualità, ogni sogno, ogni speranza sull’altare del profitto e del consumo. A condire tutte queste vicende c’è tanto umorismo caustico e una regia piena di belle intuizioni, tra cui un piano sequenza da urlo: quanta fame (di vita!) in un film così piccolo.

    12- September 5 (Tim Fehlbaum)
    Quasi interamente girato all’interno della cabina di regia della ABC durante il sequestro degli atleti israeliani durante le Olimpiadi del 1972, il film lascia da parte qualunque approfondimento politico per concentrarsi esclusivamente sul lavoro giornalistico, con le sue urgenze, i suoi errori, le improvvise rivelazioni, la corsa alla notizia. Breve, dal ritmo serrato, senza dubbio coinvolgente, con alcuni volti interessanti come Peter Saarsgard, Ben Chaplin, John Magaro (il marito di Past Lives) e Leonie Benesch (protagonista de La Sala Professori e de L’Ultimo Turno, che avete già incontrato in questa classifica). La conferma che, ancora una volta, quello del giornalista è il lavoro più bello da vedere in un film.

    11- Io Sono Ancora Qui (Ainda Estou Aqui, Walter Salles)
    L’ultimo lavoro del grande Walter Salles entra di diritto nella rosa dei più importanti film brasiliani della storia. Splendido nel modo in cui divide perfettamente la leggerezza del primo atto con la brutale sofferenza del secondo, Salles racconta una storia che meritava di tornare sotto l’attenzione del grande pubblico, per farci ricordare ancora una volta, se mai ce ne fosse bisogno, una cosa che dovremmo tenere sempre bene a mente: i fascisti sono una merda. Gran film.

    10- Presence (Steven Soderbergh)
    Steven Soderbergh piazza lo spettatore a osservare una “normale” famiglia statunitense dal punto di vista grandangolare di un fantasma che vive nella loro casa, raccontando la crisi di una generazione, le aspettative, la competitività, il bisogno di vivere di apparenza pur di restare a galla, inzuppando tutta questa vita ordinaria con alcune tracce di sovrannaturale (oggetti che levitano, una medium che avverte la presenza, ecc). Il regista ci apparecchia la tavola per la prima ora, senza mai stancare, fino a spiazzarci nell’ultimo quarto d’ora, in un paio di scene che regalano brividi. Chi lo va a vedere aspettandosi un horror resterà molto deluso, è un filmone che parla di tutt’altro. Stupendo.

    9- Springsteen – Liberami dal Nulla (Deliver Me From Nowhere, Scott Cooper)
    Chi si aspetta di vedere su grande schermo il mito di Bruce Springsteen, troverà invece un’opera che gli toglie la maschera, soffoca la leggenda per alimentare però la sua umanità, il suo cuore, il suo bisogno di essere ancora una persona normale in un mondo di luci accecanti. In questo bellissimo film di Scott Cooper scoprirete finalmente il lato oscuro del mito, l’animo intimo di un artista che non è mai sceso a compromessi con il suo successo, che ha cercato di restare se stesso sempre, mentre il mondo intorno a lui continuava a girare vorticosamente. Anche perché, come ci suggerisce il film, il passato non esiste più e il futuro non si può rincorrere: possiamo vivere soltanto dentro noi stessi, ora.

    8- No Other Land (Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal)
    Un collettivo di registi israeliani e palestinesi racconta la violenza e la distruzione da parte dei coloni israeliani di una piccola comunità rurale della Cisgiordania, Masafer Yatta. Il rapporto tra un giornalista di Isreaele e un giovane attivista palestinese è uno dei tantissimi spunti di un film che, inevitabilmente, atterrisce lo spettatore con le tante crudeltà che mostra e che, al tempo stesso, commuove per l’enorme forza e la necessità di sopravvivere che mette in scena minuto dopo minuto. È complicato racchiudere in poche righe tutta l’impotenza che si prova durante la visione, ma anche la voglia di abbracciare i bambini che vengono fatti sfollare dalla scuola, prima che venga distrutta da una ruspa. Premio Oscar per il miglior documentario, una storia che fa male, ma che riesce anche a illuminare con la sua umanità.

    7- A Complete Unknown (James Mangold)
    Mangold riesce a costruire un film che contiene al suo interno mille storie diverse, che gravitano tutte intorno al grande protagonista Bob Dylan: dalla leggenda Woody Guthrie allo sfortunato Dave Van Ronk, dal sogno di Pete Seeger di cambiare il mondo attraverso la musica, all’attivista Joan Baez, regina del folk, che pochi anni dopo sarebbe diventata “l’usignolo di Woodstock”. Oppure Sylvie, personaggio fittizio chiaramente ispirato a Suze Rotolo, musa e compagna del cantautore, prima di quella metamorfosi artistica che avrebbe cambiato la sua vita e (soprattutto?) la storia della musica. Per chi la vuole cercare, c’è davvero tanta carne al fuoco: un film completo, totalmente credibile, coinvolgente, straordinario nelle interpretazioni, che racconta l’uomo dietro il genio, l’essere umano dietro il rivoluzionario, il futuro premio Nobel per la letteratura dietro i capelli spettinati di un “completo sconosciuto”. Ma soprattutto c’è tanta, tantissima, musica stupenda. I tempi cambiano, per noi comuni mortali, così come per i geni: basta viverli, una canzone per volta.

    6- Bird (Andrea Arnold)
    Tra echi di urgenza sociale che richiamano il miglior Ken Loach e una deriva favolistica alla Alice Rohrwacher, Andrea Arnold procede in equilibrio tra realismo magico e fiaba malinconica: la protagonista Nykiya Adams (che brava!) si arrangia come può in un contesto ostile, mostrando la capacità degli adolescenti di trovare luce ovunque, anche nelle condizioni peggiori. Ed è proprio lì, tra la vita aspra che mostra e l’incanto che ti regala, che questo film ti tiene stretto, facendoti pensare che è una delle cose più belle che hai visto quest’anno. Inoltre, la colonna sonora è pazzesca e va da Too Real e A Hero’s Death dei Fontaines DC a Lucky Man dei Verve, da The Universal dei Blur a Yellow dei Coldplay. Come dicono proprio i Blur, “When the days they seem to fall through you, well, just let them go”.

    5- The Brutalist (Brady Corbet)
    La cosa più difficile da fare con quest’opera immensa di Brady Corbet è scegliere di cominciare a vederla. Poi tutto va in discesa perché l’attenzione che gli dedichi, il film te la restituisce sottoforma di splendido cinema: è davvero tanta roba. Potete facilmente immaginare che, in oltre 3 ore di film, di cose ne succedono parecchie e ci sarebbe tantissimo da dire: è una di quelle storie che ti porti appresso fuori dalla sala, che ti si arrampica dentro durante la notte, a cui inevitabilmente ripensi al mattino. Adrien Brody è magnifico e quello di Guy Pearce è un piacevolissimo ritorno sulle scene di un film importante. Girato con un budget ridotto, è uno dei più ambiziosi ed enormi film indipendenti mai realizzati. Clamoroso.

    4- La Voce di Hind Rajab (Ṣawt al-Hind Rajab, Kaouther Ben Hania)
    Sono andato al cinema senza sapere neanche di cosa parlasse. Sapevo solo che dovevo vederlo. Il film di Kaouther Ben Hania mescola realtà e finzione, ricostruendo il tentativo da parte della Mezzaluna Rossa (il corrispettivo mediorientale della nostra Croce Rossa) di ottenere i permessi necessari per salvare una bambina palestinese chiusa dentro un’automobile, appena assaltata dai soldati israeliani che hanno sterminato la famiglia della piccola Hind Rajab. Solo questo basterebbe a renderlo un film potentissimo, ma il punto di forza (nonché elemento straziante) è che la voce al telefono che sentiamo per tutto il film è la voce reale della bambina, ovvero la registrazione delle conversazioni telefoniche avvenute tra lei e i soccorritori (che invece sono interpretati da attori e attrici). Un’opera di rara potenza ed emozione, commovente, agghiacciante, spaventosa. Se il Cinema con la C maiuscola ha il dovere di raccontare il tempo che vive, questo film è destinato a essere ricordato in eterno.

    3- Emilia Perez (Jacques Audiard)
    Vincitore del premio della Giuria a Cannes, è una sorta di musical incentrato su un boss del cartello messicano che decide di cambiare sesso (!). Da un’idea assurda, quasi grottesca a pensarci, nasce un’opera meravigliosa su genere, identità, violenza, redenzione, senza mai perdere un grammo di credibilità. Un film che ha dentro di sé mille film diversi: musical, gangster, dramma sociale, sentimento. Girato con un gusto estetico superiore (parliamo sempre di Jacques Audiard, uno dei più grandi registi europei della sua generazione), una fotografia meravigliosa e un trio di attrici fuori dall’ordinario: Zoe Saldana, in particolare, è incredibile e il film è stu-pen-do.

    2- Una Battaglia Dopo l’Altra (One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson)
    Quasi un decennio dopo il fortunato Vizio di Forma, il regista di Los Angeles torna a pescare idee dalla narrativa di Thomas Pynchon, il cui romanzo Vineland ha fornito il materiale di base sul quale modellare poi la storia, molto diversa, di questo nuovo film. Ci sono momenti che sembrano uscire fuori dal cinema dei fratelli Coen, ma soprattutto c’è l’enorme talento di PTA nel raccontare storie, nel prendere per mano lo spettatore e coinvolgerlo in un caleidoscopio di ironia, azione, calore umano e battute fulminanti, fino a una bellissima scena di inseguimento nel deserto, tra dossi, salite e discese, in una sorta di “labirinto rettilineo” che tiene con il fiato sospeso. Il mondo forse si può davvero cambiare, una battaglia dopo l’altra. Nel frattempo, godiamoci film stupendi come questo: “ocean waves“, amici e amiche, “ocean waves“.

    1- Un Semplice Incidente (Yak Taṣādof-e Sāde, Jafar Panahi)
    Anche stavolta il regista iraniano gira il film in totale segreto, senza permessi, e anche stavolta realizza qualcosa di stupendo, una riflessione profonda sul ruolo di vittima e carnefice, sull’umanità, sulle conseguenze che ha ogni azione. Il film si apre sull’interno di un’automobile di notte: al volante c’è il padre di una famiglia composta da moglie incinta e una bambina vispa e solare. Improvvisamente l’uomo investe un cane e questo piccolo incidente procurerà un piccolo danno all’auto, che dovrà fermarsi per una riparazione improvvisa. Da qui comincia una serie di eventi che porterà l’uomo ad essere rapito e a circondarsi di aguzzini pronti ad eliminarlo: ma perché? Chi è quest’uomo? Cosa è successo anni prima? Il suono di quella protesi alla gamba e, soprattutto, quel finale incredibile, me li porterò appresso ancora per molto tempo. Un capolavoro.

    [Se l’articolo ti è piaciuto, offrimi un caffè o magari una colazione,
    una piccola mancia per aiutarmi a sostenere il sito!]

    #2025 #bestOf2025 #Cinema #classifica #daVedere #film #filmDel2025 #filmDellAnno #filmPiùBelli #fineAnno #lista #listaFilm #miglioriFilm #top10 #top20

    #bestof2025 #cinema #classifica #davedere #film #filmdel2025
  29. Esther Tobschall @[email protected] ·

    Ein Quanten-Preis zum Quantenjahr

    Im letzten Jahr hat die Entscheidung des Preiskomitees, den Physik-Nobelpreis 2024 an John J. Hopfield und Geoffrey E. Hinton für ihre wegweisenden Entdeckungen und Entwicklungen, die maschinelles Lernen mit künstlichen neuronalen Netzen ermöglichen, zu verleihen, die Bandbreite der Physik und ihrer interdisziplinären Bedeutung für Fortschritt und Gesellschaft verdeutlicht: Physik ist mehr.

    In diesem Jahr scheint das Komitee zu den Wurzeln der Physik zurückzukehren, ohne dabei die Zukunft aus den Augen zu verlieren: Am 10. Dezember 2025 wird John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret und John M. Martinis der Nobelpreis für Physik 2025 „for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit“ verliehen werden, also letztlich für die sehr konkrete Erforschung und Anwendung physikalischer Grundkonzepte, die dann auch zur Entstehung der Quantentechnologie als neues Fachgebiet beigetragen haben. Selten habe ich beim Lesen des wissenschaftlichen Hintergrunds zum Preis so viel verstanden wie in diesem Jahr. Selten ist so deutlich geworden, wie diese Grundlagen und Konzepte in die Arbeit der Preisträger eingeflossen sind, in Teilen auch eine Reise durch die Geschichte des Nobelpreises und seiner Träger (und viel zu wenigen Trägerinnen).

    Die Physik-Nobelpreisträger 2025: John Clarke, Michel Devoret und John Martinis. // Illustration: Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach

    In ihren Experimenten, die die drei Preisträger gemeinsam an der University of California durchführten und deren Ergebnisse sie unter anderem in

    veröffentlichten, zeigten sie, wie Quantentunneln auf makroskopischer Skala in einem elektrischen Schaltkreis mit zwei Josephson-Kontakten messbar wird.

    Basis für diese Experimente war das Wissen um

    • den Tunneleffekt als solchen, wie ihn George Gamow 1928 als quantenmechanischen Prozess beim Alpha-Zerfall eines Atomkerns beschrieben hatte,
    • die Erklärung des Phänomens der Supraleiter durch Cooper-Paare in der B(ardeen)C(ooper)S(chrieffer)-Theorie (Nobelpreis für Physik 1972),
    • die Arbeiten von Leo Esaki und Ivar Giaeve zu Tunneleffekten in Halb- und Supraleitern, sowie von Brian David Josephson zur theoretischen Vorhersage des inzwischen nach ihm benannten Josephson-Effektes (Nobelpreis für Physik 1973 und
    • die Beiträge von Alexei A. Abrikosov, Vitaly L. Ginzburg and Anthony J. Leggett zur Theorie der Supraleitung und Suprafluidität (Nobelpreis für Physik 2003).

    Insbesondere die theoretischen Arbeiten von Anthony Legget über makroskopisches Quantentunneln in Josephson-Kontakten gaben den Anstoß zu den von Clarke, Devoret und Martinis durchgeführten Experimenten. Last but not least wurde und wird das von den Preisträgern experimentell geschaffene makroskopische Quantensystem gerne mit dem von Erwin Schrödinger (Nobelpreis für Physik 1933) in einem Artikel von 1935 ersonnenen Gedankenexperiment zur Übertragung quantenmechanischer Begriffe auf die makroskopische Welt, Schrödingers Katze, verglichen.

    Soweit die geschichtlichen Aspekte des Preises, letztlich haben die Arbeiten der diesjährigen Preisträger aber Tür und Tor für neuere und zukünftige (quantentechnologische) Entwicklungen geöffnet:

    • Künstlichen „Atome“ auf makroskopischer Skala, durch die weitere Quantensysteme simuliert werden konnten und können, was zu einem tieferen Verständnis quantenphysikalischer (mikroskopischer) Effekte führt.
    • Qubits (Quantum Bits) in Supraleiter-Schaltungen sowie die cQED (circuit Quantum Elektrodynamics) als Bauelemente von Quantencomputern.

    Fachgebiete, wie z.B. die Quantenoptik, konnten ihr Forschungsspektrum auf Bereiche ausdehnen, die atomphysikalisch nicht zugänglich sind, was sehr schön in der Arbeit des Exzellenzclusters PhoenixD am Beispiel konkreter Demonstratoren zu sehen ist.

    Eine eigene Zusammenfassung ihrer Arbeiten geben Clarke, Devoret und Martinis mit einem 2020 erschienenen Artikel in Nature Physics: Quantum Josephson junction circuits and the dawn of artificial atoms.

    Wer darüber hinaus weitere Fachliteratur zu den Forschungsthemen des Physik-Nobelpreises 2025 erkunden will, wird selbstverständlich im TIB-Portal fündig, z.B. mit Suchanfragen nach den Schlagworten

    Auch die freie Suche nach Qubit Josephson liefert viele interessante Treffer und zeigt mit der hohen Zahl an Patentinformationen die Relevanz dieser Themen für industrielle Anwendungen.

    Wie in jedem Jahr teste ich die arXiv-Affinität der Preisträger und bin 2025 erfreut: Sowohl John Clarke als auch Michel H. Devoret und John M. Martinis sind mit einer großen Zahl an Papern auf arXiv vertreten.

    Umfangreiche Publikationslisten der drei Autoren lassen sich selbstverständlich in kostenpflichtigen Literaturdatenbanken, wie zum Beispiel Web of Science oder Scopus erfragen, eine „offene“ Variante ist die Nutzung von OpenAlex. Hier sind von John Clarke über 700, von Michel H. Devoret mehr als 500 und von John M. Martinis über 600 Veröffentlichungen nachgewiesen. Dass es sich mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit um die richtigen Autoren handelt, lässt sich über die ausgezeichneten Filterfunktionen in OpenAlex feststellen.

    Die 2025 Nobel Prize Lectures in Physics können wir am 8. Dezember 2025 ab 9 Uhr live verfolgen.

    Für eine funktionierende Wissenschafts- und Publikationskultur

    Auf eine weitere wichtige Aktivität der den Nobelpreis für Physik zu verantwortenden Organisation, der Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, möchte ich an dieser Stelle hinweisen: Im Sommer 2025 hat diese einen Workshop veranstaltet, der sich mit dem zunehmenden Problem von Fake Science in Publikationen befasst hat. Entstanden ist dabei die Stockholm Declaration, die neben einer guten Übersicht bisheriger Deklarationen für Reformen im wissenschaftlichen Publikationswesen kurz und prägnant wesentlichen Punkte zur Sicherstellung einer auch in Zukunft (und in Zeiten Generativer AI) funktionierenden Wissenschafts- und Publikationskultur aufführt. Mögen sie in den Communities Gehör finden!

    Wer die Stockholm Declaration unterschreiben möchte, kann das hier tun: https://sciii-it.org/stockholm-declaration/

    #Recherchetipps #LizenzCCBY40INT #Fachdatenbanken #Physik #Nobelpreis #Fachreferat #TIBPortal #Quantenphysik #Quantenjahr2025 #Literaturrecherche
    #recherchetipps #physik #nobelpreis #fachreferat #tibportal #quantenphysik
  30. Andy Arthur - Threadinburgh @[email protected] ·

    Gilmore Place Public School: the thread about the Rise, Fall and Renaissance of Darroch

    Preamble. The schools of the “School Board” era of public education (those built 1872-1918) hold a particular fascination for me, one most profound where they have been “deconsecrated” and are either no longer in use as schools or have disappeared entirely. This thread began as a couple of lines for my own notes about the “Lost Board Schools of Edinburgh” but soon snowballed into an alphabetical deep-dive into each.

    Instalment seven of the series looking at “Lost Board Schools of Edinburgh” takes us to Gilmore Place Public School; a name likely to draw blank looks from most. That’s not unsurprising as it’s a building well hidden from passing view and a moniker that lasted but twenty years. But mention Darroch School and – despite the passage of over half a century since it last closed its doors as a standalone educational institution – you will get a flicker of recognition from a certain generation of Edinburgher. Darroch’s story is not a simple one, indeed it was never just a single school and in its time has housed more than ten different schools and any number of other council functions. But if we take the time to understand its travails it offers us a neatly encapsulated case study of the ebb and flow of secondary education in the city. It is also a happy story as it has bucked the trend of “Lost Board Schools of Edinburgh” and despite repeatedly being deemed surplus to requirements it has avoided the fate of many of its contemporaries – conversion into private flats – and is now enjoying an educational and cultural renaissance.

    The former Gilmore Place Public School in its new guise as Ath-Thaigh Darroch – Darroch Annexe – after a refurbishment completed in 2022 to become the GME annexe of James Gillespie’s High School. Photo via Prime Joinery Solutions.

    Our subject came to be as the solution to two urgent problems facing the Edinburgh School Board at the dawn of the 20th century. Firstly in 1903 West Fountainbridge Public School had been condemned as unfit by the Scotch Education Department for the third year running and it had been found impossible to bring it up to standard. Secondly all other schools in the locality, especially Bruntsfield, were over their capacities and there were 246 children in the district on a waiting list for places. The Board decided they could kill these two birds with a single stone and set upon building a large new school for the area.

    Bruntsfield Public School in 1895, the year of its opening. Note that the styling is slightly less restrained than Gilmore Place, with more use of mouldings and carved details. Photograph by Bedford Lemere. Edinburgh and Scottish Collection, Edinburgh City Libraries.

    It was settled on to purchase a one acre site at the end of Gillespie Street off Gilmore Place then occupied by an engineering works whose lease was approaching expiry. The owners however demanded “an extravagant price” due to complex servitudes1 upon the land. Undeterred, the Board petitioned for a compulsory purchase order in November 1903. This was the first occasion they had taken this drastic step to acquire a site but it would take over two years of legal wrangling and two rulings at the Court of Session to conclude it. The plot ended up costing £9,000, the majority of which was compensation and legal fees for neighbours, with a further £20,000 spent on the building, fittings and furnishings.

    1. In Scots property law, a Servitude is a right befitting adjacent properties over their neighbour, e.g. a use of a path, a prohibition on building a certain distance from a boundary etc. ↩︎
    Ordnance Survey town plans, 1893 compared to 1944, showing the location of Gilmore Place School. Note the school is pushed well back from the street after which it was named, making it easy to miss if you are passing. In the 1944 map it can be seen that there are four large “temporary” huts claiming most of the playground space. Move the slider to compare. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

    The plans for a large, three-storey, T-plan building in a “simple adaptation of the English Renaissance style” were completed by the the Board’s architect, John A. Carfrae. The designed capacity was 1,500 pupils but it was planned that the two-storey side wings could easily be raised to three if an increase was required. There were twenty-six classrooms with an average capacity of 56 pupils. The infant department occupied the ground floor with juveniles on the first, each being arranged around a large central hall of 49 by 40 feet in size. There were mezzanine-level galleries around the halls so that children moving between classrooms did not disturb those in the hall (a common problem in earlier schools). The second floor contained practical teaching spaces for cookery and laundry and a workshop for manual crafts.

    Artists impression of the “New Edinburgh Board School in Gillespie Street”. The ventilation cupola in the centre of the roof was lost at some point after the 1970s. Evening News, 22nd March 1905

    The school opened for business on Tuesday 3rd September 1907 with the staff and roll of the closed West Fountainbridge transferring here. The formal ceremony did not take place until Saturday 30th November with the Chairman of the School Board, W. H. Mill, presiding and the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Right Hon. John Sinclair MP, as guest of honour. After various self-congratulatory speeches the assembled dignitaries retreated to the Caledonian Hotel for a celebratory and well-oiled luncheon with numerous toasts.

    The roundel of the Edinburgh School Board on the facade of Gilmore Place Public School. “The female figure of education” dispensing knowledge to the young, surrounded by books and a globe. © Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, via Trove.Scot SC 1229693

    From the very beginning, Gilmore Place was not one but actually two different schools. During the day the Public School provided elementary education for children up to the leaving age of fourteen. But the Board was keen to maximise the return on the “large amount of educational plant” that they had built at great expense and thought it wasteful to have buildings sitting idle after pupils emptied out their gates at three o’clock. Therefore by night it became Gilmore Place Continuation School, providing evening classes for adults. Evening classes were not new, but this was the first time the Board had opted to run a large, centralised school offering a full curriculum. For the first session, 1907-08, expectations were greatly surpassed with 750 students enrolling. Such was the demand – “so great as almost to be embarrassing” in the words of the Chairman of the Board – that additional courses had to be put on over the summer. Two of the courses, millinery and cookery, were reserved for those already working in those trades and accounted for almost half the intake. These were the first explicitly vocational further education courses run by the Board in Edinburgh and the Evening News reported the confectionery course “will be of an advanced nature, and it is expected that in a year or two it will be possible for Scotsmen to do high-class work now almost exclusively done by Frenchmen“.

    An additional roundel on the façade of Gilmore Place Public School, representing Industry. A bearded master teaches his young apprentice, surrounded by symbols of industry; an anvil, workbench, tools and gear wheel. © Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, via Trove.Scot SC 1229692

    Life as an elementary school was short and just two decades after opening it closed in 1928 in preparation for a metamorphosis into the city’s fourth Intermediate School. Such institutions were defined by the Scotch Education Department as providing “at least a three years’ course of instruction in languages, mathematics, science and such other subjects as may from time to time be deemed suitable for pupils who, on entering, have reached the stage of attainment in elementary subjects.” The purpose of this new class of school was to centralise teaching of post-elementary age pupils (from twelve to fifteen) in dedicated schools with a higher quality of staff and teaching. These were the children who had not passed the Qually – the qualification exam sat at the age of eleven which streamed their educational future – and would otherwise have remained in elementary schools in the Advanced Divisions, working towards a fairly generic leaving certificate. As well as the general curriculum the Intermediate schools would also offer dedicated Commercial or Technical courses aimed at improving the vocational skills of children fully expected to enter the blue-collar workforce as soon as they hit leaving age.

    Class photo of the short-lived Gilmore Place Public School, 1919-20 session. Picture via Darroch FPA

    Edinburgh opened the first of this new class of school in 1912 at Tynecastle Technical School. The First World War delayed proceedings and so the next – the James Clark School – did not follow until 1918 at which juncture the School Board was merged with that of Leith and other surrounding parishes to create the Edinburgh Education Authority. Bellevue Intermediate (now Drummond Community High School) followed in 1926 but demand far outstripped supply and another was soon needed. The school at Gilmore Place was a perfect candidate; it was large, fairly central, relatively new and at that time relatively under-subscribed. It was altered at a cost of £6,000 with the number of classrooms reduced to eighteen and the capacity reduced to 720 children. A range of new facilities were provided, including dedicated classrooms for the specialist teaching of cookery, laundry, dressmaking, science, art and manual crafts. The nucleus of the new school was made by transferring the entire Advanced Division of Bruntsfield School as well as sending children coming of age from South Morningside, Tollcross, North Merchiston and Torphicen Street schools.

    Boys at work in the machine shop, 1952. Picture via Darroch FPA

    While the Evening News wanted the new school to be called Merchiston Intermediate the Authority instead renamed it the Darroch Intermediate and Technical School in honour of their late chair Professor Alexander Darroch (1862-1924). Darroch had held the Bell Chair of Education at the University for over twenty years and as chair of the Edinburgh Provincial Committee for the Training of Teachers he reorganised and modernised the training of educators. He believed his contemporaries “placed too much stress in examinations and on the acquisition of knowledge for its own sake” and was a champion of offering children instead the sort of practical skills that would prepare them for their working lives and taking their place in society.

    Professor Alexander Darroch (1862-1924), 1908 by Robert Helnry Alison Ross. University of Edinburgh EU0318 via ArtUK

    In 1939 under a further reorganisation of education in Scotland a new name was given; Darroch Junior Secondary. This was in preparation for the leaving age being raised to fifteen and the “sentence” of students being extended as a result from three to four years. At this time a flat at 5 Leamington Terrace was purchased by the Education Committee for practical use of the girls taking the Domestic Studies courses which became known as the School Flat. This remained the exclusive domain of the girls until 1969 when – in a bold experiment which was a sign of changing times – groups of six boys at a time were sent for a fortnight course in bed-making, housekeeping, shopping, cooking and sewing.

    The “School Flat”, where girls were taught housewifery. Picture via Darroch FPA

    Back in 1928 when the Intermediate School was formed, the Continuation School was reconstituted into the Darroch Institute for Adults to benefit from the new facilities on offer. This had 1,300 students aged from twenty to eighty-two on its roll and as well as a full curriculum of courses offered novel subjects such as lip reading for the deaf, speech therapy for stammerers and “Everyday Law and the Home” which taught the students the legal basics of topics such as marriage, parenting, pet-owning, pensions and renting. The Evening News praised the Institute as ranking “second to none among the modern schools devoted to adult education.” In 1967 there was a major reorganisation in further education in the city in preparation for the new colleges of Napier, Stevenson and Telford opening and it was rebranded as the Darroch Adult Education Centre with its courses pivoted to being largely recreational.

    One course offered by the Institute was unique in the city; the Gaelic language. It was a subject that had been taught at the Supplementary School since way back in 1908 with Gilmore Place being home to the first public tuition in the language in the city. This class had its roots in 1901 when the Celtic Union had begun offering tuition on a private basis. In 1906 they had gotten permission from the Board to use a classroom at Lothian Road Public School with a tacit agreement that should they prove successful they would become part of the Evening School offering in the city.

    Lothian Road Public School in 1910, immediately prior to demolition to make way for the Usher Hall. Picture by the Edinburgh Photographic Society, Edinburgh and Scottish Collection, Edinburgh City Libraries.

    The tutors were the Rev. G. R. Maclennan of St Oran’s Gaelic Church, Peter Thomson and J. White Maclean, secretary of the Gaelic Union in Edinburgh. In addition, specific classes in Gaelic singing and the theory of Gaelic music were given by Neil Orr, conductor of the Edinburgh Gaelic Choir. The Oban Times would write:

    “It is to be hoped… that as many pupils will enrol as possible to ensure a continuation of Gaelic being recognised as worthy of a place in the curriculum of the Edinburgh evenings schools.”

    Oban Times and Argyllshire Advertiser, 2nd October 1909

    These classes were intended for the “interest of the Lowland Gaels in their mother tongue” and would later come under the tutilage of Calum Johnston. Johnston had come to Edinburgh aged 16 to train as a draughtsman with the firm of Bruce Peebles & Co. and for twenty-seven years would also teach his native language to the city. A lauded singer and piper he retired to his native Barra in 1956, the Stornoway Gazette writing that they were “sure that if any mortal is privileged in this Atomic Age to see the fabled isle of Roca Barraidh towards the setting sun, then Calum will be that one.” (In Gaelic mythology, Roca Barraidh is an island that will be visible to the west of the Hebrides only three times, the third and final heralding the end of the world.) In 1972, then aged eighty-two, Calum stood on the beach in his kilt in the December wind and rain to pipe ashore the body of Compton Mackenzie, author of Whisky Galore, which was being brought to the island where he lived for a decade for burial. He piped the procession up the 200 yard hill to the burial ground, stood to attention during the short ceremony before collapsing at the graveside and dying minutes afterwards.

    Calum Johnston piping on the beach on Barra in 1967. Photo via Calum Maclean Project, University of Edinburgh

    On leaving Edinburgh, Johnston was replaced by Bh-uas Murdag Nic Choinnich (Miss Murdina Mackenzie) who became the only Gaelic teacher on the payroll of the city. The classes were in peril however and were withdrawn in 1958 following dwindling attendance; indeed they were suspended each session after Johnston retired due to a lack of students, thus ending a half-century association between the school at Gillespie Street and the Gaelic Language. (For now…)

    Darroch remained open throughout World War two and a noted pupil at this time was one Thomas (Sean) Connery, who completed his time in education there between 1942-44. A reluctant pupil, his teachers branded him “very average – not at all brilliant” and he was apparently voted by his classmates as the boy “most unlikely to succeed“. Post-war it continued as a Junior Secondary with an average roll in 1945 of 550. Despite a long-term decline in Edinburgh’s urban population at this time its roll actually climbed beyond 600 due to the leaving age being raised to fifteen in 1947.

    The School Captains are cheered on by their fellow pupils after their election. Edinburgh Evening News, October 3rd 1947

    In 1960 it became one of the pilot schools ahead of the introduction of the new Modern Studies subject to Scottish secondary education in 1962. This gave pupils the opportunity to learn about TV, advertising, the press, citizenship and politics to equip them with “some knowledge of the complexities of the ever-changing contemporary world“. On Monday 22nd June 1970, the boys of Darroch set a world record for non-stop five-a-side football at the ground of North Merchiston Boy’s Club: they had passed the previous record of 13 hours and 7 minutes and at the time the story went to print were still playing.

    But, new courses and football achievements aside, all was not well at Darroch. A letter to the Evening News in 1968 outlined the situation:

    This conglomeration of old buildings is a disgrace to the town; and, to all appearance, a death-trap should an outbreak of fire take place on the ground floor.

    The teachers are to be admired for their tolerance and consideration in taking a post in such a place because the pupils are not and cannot be expected to be proud of such a school

    J.M. Morningside. A letter to the Evening News, 4th July 1968

    In 1969 the school was publicly criticised by Councillor Robert Knox, chairman of the Education Committee, who acknowledged that its facilities were outdated and inadequate and that it required replacement. Knox, a Progressive, was criticised by his Labour Party opposite number for having presided over new schools for the fee paying all-boys Royal High School and James Gillespie’s School for Girls despite “in neither case was the need as great as Darroch“. The Scotsman printed a large investigative spread on the subject under the banner headline “The trouble with Darroch“.

    The Trouble with Darroch, Scotsman, 8th March 1969

    Adjectives spring to mind – all derogatory. Bleak, barrack-like, looming. Inside, the school is no better: the corridors are furnished like a public lavatory, all white tiles and nasty green paint; the classrooms are unappealing, dingy and dark, with windows placed high up on the walls so that no pupil can be distracted by what is going on outside… Darroch Secondary School was built in the early 19000s and still has to suffer the educational norms of that time.

    “The Trouble with Darroch”. Lindsay Mackie, investigation for the Scotsman, 8th march 1969

    A teacher at this time at the school was the former Green MSP Robin Harper, who recalls his spell there from 1970 to 1972 in his autobiography “Dear Mr Harper: Britain’s First Green Parliamentarian.”

    On my first day at Darroch a spokesman for a group of young teachers warned me: ‘Robin, this place is sheer hell. The kids never stop fighting. Any of them who show any academic ability are creamed off to Boroughmuir. Those who remain are an aggressive mix of children rejected by the system.

    One school parent was the lawyer and author of contemporary history John G. Gray (seen alongside the headline of the Scotsman article). On learning his daughter was to be sent to Darroch due to a lack of capacity at nearby Boroughmuir, he was so taken aback by the state of the place that he wrote a pamphlet denouncing the condition of the place and the socially segregated state of secondary education in the capital in general.

    As Edinburgh Citizens, we have allowed ourselves to become subject to a particularly vicious type of blackmail. Either our children secure a place at a top state school like Boroughmuir or we are offered a secondary course in such appalling conditions that sensitive parents prefer to educate their children privately at fees which many of them can ill afford.

    John G. Gray, Focus on Darroch

    Rather than simply pull his child out of the school and join his social peers in privately educating her, Gray instead took the Corporation to task; they did not care or “to put it vulgarly but accurately, give a damn“. He contended that they were happy with this state of affairs in the city whereby 45 percent of children went to a fee-paying secondary school. He noted that the conditions at school’s like Darroch were largely ignored by the authorities and the press until middle-class parents like himself began to complain. He publicly challenged the city’s Director of Education to produce a signed statement that the facilities at such Junior Secondaries were adequate: a call that did not elicit a response.

    “Focus on Darroch”, the pamphlet issued by John G. Gray outlining the problems facing the school, and secondary education in the city in general

    The list of charges against the school went on. Despite being built for 1,500 and having a declining roll of only around a third of that, it was cramped by modern standards, with numerous “temporary” wooden huts in the playground to provide additional teaching spaces. Its toilets were outside and “so revolting that children refuse to use them“, the gymnasium was tiny and had no changing or showering facilities, the playground was “minute” and it had no playing fields; children had to travel half an hour to Meggetland for games and sports. Its students tolerate a lot, but for them the straw that broke the camel’s back was the state of their school dinners. Matters came to a head in 1971 when the Head Boy, Andrew Ewing, wrote an angry letter to the editor of the Scotsman complaining about the state of affairs. As the school had no cooking facilities of its own, its meals had to be brought in by a lorry and were cold by the time they were served. It also had no dining facilities, instead students had to collect their lunch trays from a corridor floor and eat the unpalatable, cabbagey contents in classrooms. One such space was a science laboratory where the would pushed around escaped droplets of liquid mercury on the worktops with their cutlery in-between mouthfuls of cold custard.

    With the increase in dining charges I hoped that the standard of dinners would improve. But the custard is cold. It is also watery, lumpy, lukewarm or inedible

    Andrew Ewing, Letter to the Scotsman, May 1971

    But rather than reprimand him for stepping out of line, Darroch’s headmaster – Dr William Gray – praised his student for putting into practice what he had learned in the new subject of Modern Studies. He confirmed to the Scotsman that the school had been serving dinner in this manner since 1946 but that a temporary dining hall would finally be opened later in the year to put an end to the practice. As John G. Gray put it, Darroch had “an excellent headmaster” in William Gray (no relation), one that did not believe that it was just the buildings that made a school “good” or “bad”. Writing in defence of his students, he cited a first year boy who when asked to write an essay on what he thought of his school wrote: “Darroch may be a slum, but when you are inside it is not half bad; I admit it is not fur-lined, but it is the teachers that count… Maybe it is a bit ragged, but it is the best school in Scotland“.

    Headmaster Gray knew that the facilities at his school were badly lacking and that the authorities imagined his job was largely one of babysitting reluctant teenagers before they could enter “humdrum jobs” in the workforce as soon as they hit aged fifteen. But he was not content to accept this and made strenuous and praiseworthy efforts to provide better outcomes for his students. After taking up his position in 1964 he pushed for an early introduction of the new Ordinary Grade qualification into Darroch – something not all Junior Secondaries were afforded. He made sure the most successful students were allowed to stay on for a fifth year beyond the leaving age to sit the Higher Certificate – a privilege usually reserved for those streamed into the High Schools, which in Edinburgh charged fees. This gave students the chance to escape their planned futures in the rapidly disappearing “humdrum jobs” by opening up a wide range of employment and educational opportunities to them and also meant that students showing academic potential were not simply “creamed off” to other schools. His faith in his charges was well placed and by 1971 three-quarters of students of the age wanted to sit the O-Grade and there were 101 staying on beyond the age of fourteen, up 246% since Gray took charge.

    Given the height of the building and its restricted site down a narrow street, it can be hard to fit Darroch into a single picture frame and not make it look oppressive! Photo by Kim Traynor via BritishListedBuildings.co.uk

    Despite all these efforts, after 1970 the school’s roll began to sharply decline; dropping by almost 100 in a year. The Corporation saw an opportunity to dispose of the troublesome school on the cheap and made a proposal to merge Darroch with the James Clark School in St Leonard’s, which faced a similar issue of demographic pressures, a poor reputation and ageing facilities. But rather than spend any money on new facilities, they intended to simply move the combined school into an even older building, that of “Old” James Gillespie’s School, which had first been built in 1904. This rightly provoked anger amongst parents; if old Gillespie’s had superior facilities to Darroch then why had they prioritised a new building for the fee-paying, selective Gillespie’s High School for Girls to allow them to leave it. They knew their question was rhetorical.

    “Old James Gillespie’s”, was built in 1904 as Boroughmuir Higher Grade School, which left after just six years on account of the building being inadequate to secondary teaching needs.

    These merger plans were put on hold until the outcome of the General Election that year was known and instead on December 14th 1970, the Education Committee voted to re-organise secondary education in Edinburgh to a fully comprehensive system “to end the unhappy segregation of children at the age of 12 into two distinct ability classes” and in preparation for the school leaving age being raised to sixteen in 1972. The end came swiftly for most of the old Junior Secondaries, dubbed as “dull, dingy, semi-slum schools” by the editor of the Scotsman, and in 1972 it was not just Darroch and James Clark but also Norton Park and David Kilpatrick in Leith that were unceremoniously closed. Darroch’s pupils merged into the newly co-educational, comprehensive James Gillespie’s High School at Marchmont in its brand new campus. Both the newly vacant Darroch building and – ironically Old Gillespie’s – became overspill annexes for Boroughmuir High which had rapidly expanded beyond the capacity of its building with the comprehensive move.

    “New” James Gillespie’s in 1974, which incorporates the 17th century Bruntsfield House (left of image) within its campus. Edinburgh and Scottish Collection, Edinburgh City Libraries.

    Concurrent with this the school’s adult education role was rapidly run down and by 1973 it was offering only ballroom dancing, dressmaking, embroidery and flower arranging. The deckchairs of secondary schooling in central Edinburgh continued to be shuffled around over the next few years as the comprehensive schools established themselves and the population continued to decline. By 1976 things had changed again and Darroch now become an annexe for James Gillespie’s, the school to which its former pupils had been moved to just 4 years previously!

    Aerial photo showing three of the schools frequently referred to in this post. Darroch is in the middle left, with the gleaming roof. Boroughmuir is the large building middle right with a tower at each end. “Old” James Gillespie’s is middle top, again its roof shining brightly, the building which was built as the original Boroughmuir Higher School. “New Gillespies” was built in the top right of the image, where the old building of Bruntsfield House can be seen.

    Darroch remained occupied by Gillespie’s until 1989 after which a building programme at the main campus allowed it to be consolidated there and close its annexes. Once again it became a school without a purpose but this situation did not last long. In 1990 Lothain Regional Council sold the Dean Education Centre (previously the Dean Orphanage and later Dean College) and former St Bernard’s School in Stockbridge which made their Advisory Service – training for in-service teachers – homeless. They were therefore transferred to Darroch but couldn’t hope to fill such a large building and so it would become something of a dumping ground for various council departments including a base for teaching English as a second language, administrative offices for the city’s adult and vocational education programmes, storing excess classroom furniture and serving as a mail-order warehouse for souvenir merchandise for the centennial celebrations of the Forth Bridge!

    Darroch School in Lothian Regional Council days when it served any number of educational functions beyond being a school. Note how the tall central block dominates the narrow approach street and the inadequate pavements and entranceway. One of the multitude of “temporary” hut units can be seen jammed hard up against the gate on the left. Photo via Darroch Secondary School Pupils Group on Facebook.

    The Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 saw Lothian Region replaced by a new unitary authority – the City of Edinburgh Council – in 1996 and with the transfer of education functions from the old authority to its new successors, once again a big question mark was placed over Darroch’s purpose and future. Perhaps it too may have ended up being converted to expensive flats had a pressing need for its services not arisen just a few years later. In 1998 the collapse of a staircase at nearby St Thomas of Aquin’s R. C. High School at Lauriston highlighted the perilous state of repair of that school. It was quickly condemned and hurriedly decanted to Darroch until 2002 while it was demolished and completely rebuilt. Once again Darroch was the right building in the right place at the right time and once again its corridors resounded to the sound of children’s feet and its classrooms to the refrains of teaching. After another spell of vacancy, between 2013 and 2016 it was James Gillespie’s turn to decant back to Darroch while the “New Gillespie’s” school on Lauderdale Street in Marchmont was itself demolished and rebuilt.

    Once again quiet and vacant, in an effort to save money the council then turned the heating off, leading to a rapid decline in the fabric of the building but typical of the short-sighted, disjointed thinking of local authorities they had also left the place partially furnished and so were paying over £40,000 per annum in Non-Domestic Rates! Fortunately positive plans were afoot for Darroch’s future as a second dedicated Gaelic Medium Education (GME) school for the city. This would follow on from the success of Bun-sgoil Taobh na Pàirce which had opened at the former Bonnington Road Public School in Leith in 2013 and which had quickly grown to capacity. Fittingly, in the early 1990s the office of the small team who brought the city’s first GME unit at Tollcross Primary to fruition had been based in Darroch. These plans would both return primary education to the school after a break of almost a century and also the teaching of the Gaelic language after a break of sixty years.

    Bun-sgoil Taobh na Pàirce, Edinburgh and Leith’s first (and so far, only) dedicated GME school, housed in the former Bonnington Road Public School. Photo via Edinburgh Reporter

    These plans fell through due to a combination of factors including the difficulty in recruiting and retaining sufficient Gaelic-fluent teachers to meet demand and the complete inability of the council to provide a satisfactory solution for GME secondary education – which was being delivered from Àrd-sgoil Sheumais Ghilleasbuig; James Gillespie’s. This setback however was perhaps a blessing in disguise as it allowed a quiet reset of the council’s GME secondary plans which were at the time being driven by a lack of capacity at Gillespie’s, the new showpiece school that completed in 2016 having been built too small. A ten million pound investment brought the schools facilities and accessibility into the 21st century – many of these changes directly addressed the shortcoming first highlighted back in the late 1960s, such as an accessible new entrance, bright and modern interiors and a dedicated dining hall.

    Ath-Thaigh Darroch. 21st century facilities in what is fundamentally a 19th century school. This shows one of the two “central halls” of the original design and the mezzanine-level corridors that provided access through it without disturbing those learning in it. Photo via Future Schools Edinburgh

    The school re-opened in 2022 as Ath-Thaigh Darroch – Darroch Annexe – housing much of Gillespie’s GME teaching as well as providing dedicated study spaces for older students preparing for exams. The building also houses a number of Gaelic language cultural institutions in the city and has “has quickly become the heart of the Gaelic-speaking community in the city.”

    TimeOccupant1908-1928Gilmore Place Public School / Continuation School1928-1939Darroch Intermediate School1928-1967Darroch Institute for Adults1939-1972Darroch Junior Secondary School1967-1998Darroch Education Centre1973-1976Darroch Annexe, Boroughmuir High School1976-1989Darroch Annexe, James Gillespie’s High School1998-2002St Thomas of Aquin’s R.C. High School (decant)2013-2016James Gillespie’s High School (decant)2022-presentAth-Thaigh Darroch, James Gillespie’s High SchoolTimeline of educational occupants of Gilmore Place / Darroch School

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