Film editors as chance-seekers

This article explores an approach to film editing as an active, purposeful process of searching for authenticity. As most editing theory describes editing as narrative construction, manipulation or deliberate juxtaposition of images, this article focuses on the experiential side of the film editing process, underscoring the pivotal role of editors' intentions and their simultaneous absence thereof. Based on my own practical editing experience, I am bridging the disciplines of photography and film through Roland Barthes' punctum and refer to film editors as chance-seekers, referring to their active navigation within the pool of images, some of which are clearly, intentionally useful for the construction of the narrative, but others of which catch their attention without any obvious reason. I argue that it is the balance between intentionality and the spontaneous emergence of narratives that gives films their authenticity.