We are proud to present the inaugural issue of Wide Screen. We are thankful to the academics and practitioners on our editorial and advisory board from over nine countries whose wholehearted support was without cavil. Each is an academic or a practitioner of outstanding international standing and without their support, Wide Screen should be still-born. We follow exacting standards of blind peer-review and draw from a large pool of experts who act as reviewers. In this opening issue, they have helped us to put together a collection of research papers and critical essays that propose new areas of study or re-problematise films. At the same time interviews with practitioners from different parts of the world provides a much-needed counterpoint to academic theorising. The first issue is divided into four parts: a) essays; b) interviews; c) film reviews; d) book reviews. In the essays section you will find both research and opinion essays. The essays presented here deal with the specific issues of theorising filmic practice as well as making meaning in films by placing them in the wider social, political and historical contexts. Each of the essays raises outstanding points for researcher, practitioner and lay reader alike. We welcome your critique.