A Second Life
German cinema is best known for its art cinema and its long line of outstanding individual directors. The double spotlight on these two subject has only deepened the obscurity surrounding the popular cinema. German Cinema performs a kind of archaeology on a period largely overlooked: the first two decades of German cinema. This collection of essays by established authors refocuses the terms of a debate that will develop in the years to come concerning the historical and cultural significance of popular cinema in Wilhelmine Germany.
Hitchcock Annual
Hitchcock Annual volume 28 is due out in summer 2025. Planned contents include essays on I Confess, Rear Window, and The Birds, and reviews of recent critical books on Hitchcock.
Julie Dash
This collection of interviews with Julie Dash (b. 1952) offers an in-depth exploration of the life, career, and creative processes of one of the most groundbreaking filmmakers in American cinema. Dash, whose landmark film Daughters of the Dust (1991) became the first feature by an African American woman to receive a wide theatrical release in the United States, has continuously pushed the boundaries of cinematic representation, exploring African American history, culture, and identity through a distinctly poetic and visionary lens. Dash's use of Black feminist narrative and her ability to supplant the status quo of Black women's representation in cinema aligned with the evolution of Black women's writing and visual arts that exploded in the eighties and early nineties. Starting with her debut film Illusions (1982) and touching upon other works such as Praise House (1991), the eighteen interviews collected in this volume weave together the stylistic integrity and unconventional model of storytelling that Dash thoughtfully midwives into existence. Julie Dash: Interviews will put students, scholars, and admirers of Dash's oeuvre in close proximity to her creative thought process and influences as well as make accessible an archive of conversations in which she discusses the longevity of her career, intergenerational shifts, and the reception of her work across the globe.
Ray Milland
Ray Milland (1907-1986) was the inaugural Welshman to win the Best Actor Academy Award, as well as a performer boasting a rich and varied oeuvre from the silent era in 1920s Britain to New Hollywood in the 1980s. Despite being one of the most prolific actors in cinema history who left behind a legacy of almost 180 film and television appearances across seven different decades, Milland remains a somewhat forgotten figure of cinematic history. Ray Milland: Identity, Stardom, and the Long Climb to "The Lost Weekend" fills this void in scholarship by offering a detailed examination of Milland as one of Hollywood's most durable and fascinating performers of the studio era. The volume begins by exploring Milland's unique Welsh identity in Hollywood, which was essentially erased by the studios. It then turns to his underexplored early career at MGM prior to signing with Paramount Pictures, where he remained for over two decades. Author Gillian Kelly discusses his early roles as a stereotypical "Brit" in Hollywood as well as his "stardom years" at Paramount where he often provided support for the studio's leading ladies, including Claudette Colbert, Dorothy Lamour, and Paulette Goddard. A chapter is dedicated to his Oscar-winning performance in The Lost Weekend, and important later films like Dial M for Murder and Love Story also receive detailed analysis. Overall, Ray Milland provides a reappraisal of Milland's earlier career and situates his performances within the broader tradition of star studies.
Julie Dash
This collection of interviews with Julie Dash (b. 1952) offers an in-depth exploration of the life, career, and creative processes of one of the most groundbreaking filmmakers in American cinema. Dash, whose landmark film Daughters of the Dust (1991) became the first feature by an African American woman to receive a wide theatrical release in the United States, has continuously pushed the boundaries of cinematic representation, exploring African American history, culture, and identity through a distinctly poetic and visionary lens. Dash's use of Black feminist narrative and her ability to supplant the status quo of Black women's representation in cinema aligned with the evolution of Black women's writing and visual arts that exploded in the eighties and early nineties. Starting with her debut film Illusions (1982) and touching upon other works such as Praise House (1991), the eighteen interviews collected in this volume weave together the stylistic integrity and unconventional model of storytelling that Dash thoughtfully midwives into existence. Julie Dash: Interviews will put students, scholars, and admirers of Dash's oeuvre in close proximity to her creative thought process and influences as well as make accessible an archive of conversations in which she discusses the longevity of her career, intergenerational shifts, and the reception of her work across the globe.
Ray Milland
Ray Milland (1907-1986) was the inaugural Welshman to win the Best Actor Academy Award, as well as a performer boasting a rich and varied oeuvre from the silent era in 1920s Britain to New Hollywood in the 1980s. Despite being one of the most prolific actors in cinema history who left behind a legacy of almost 180 film and television appearances across seven different decades, Milland remains a somewhat forgotten figure of cinematic history. Ray Milland: Identity, Stardom, and the Long Climb to "The Lost Weekend" fills this void in scholarship by offering a detailed examination of Milland as one of Hollywood's most durable and fascinating performers of the studio era. The volume begins by exploring Milland's unique Welsh identity in Hollywood, which was essentially erased by the studios. It then turns to his underexplored early career at MGM prior to signing with Paramount Pictures, where he remained for over two decades. Author Gillian Kelly discusses his early roles as a stereotypical "Brit" in Hollywood as well as his "stardom years" at Paramount where he often provided support for the studio's leading ladies, including Claudette Colbert, Dorothy Lamour, and Paulette Goddard. A chapter is dedicated to his Oscar-winning performance in The Lost Weekend, and important later films like Dial M for Murder and Love Story also receive detailed analysis. Overall, Ray Milland provides a reappraisal of Milland's earlier career and situates his performances within the broader tradition of star studies.
Animality and Horror Cinema
Animality and Horror Cinema provides a wide-ranging overview of the role played by animals in the genre of horror cinema. Across four sections that unite affective and generic modes of horror with animals, animality, and the discourse of species, the volume demonstrates the multivalent operation of animality in transnational cinemas that look beyond the trope of monstrous adversity associated with the creature feature. With chapters focusing on the extrusion of animals from horror narratives, the multisensorial dimensions of animal horror, the intrusion of documentary violence, and the horrific contiguity of human and nonhuman flesh, it argues for the concept of creaturely fear as a lens through which to read horror's blurring of the species barrier. The collection appeals to those interested in the intersection of animal and film studies with memory studies, afropessimism and critical race theory, posthumanism, biopolitics, ecocriticism, queer theory and vegan theory.
Gangs Of Wasseypur
Running close to five hours and thirty minutes and boasting of no big stars, Gangs of Wasseypur is unlike any Hindi film you might have watched.It is also one of the most feted Hindi films of recent times in international circles. It has been spoken of as India's answer to landmark gangster films of the west, like The Godfather. In Gangs of Wasseypur: The Making of a Modern Classic, the authors go behind the scenes through its chaotic gestation to bring to life the trials and tribulations, the triumphs and ecstasies involved in following one's dream. Including the complete screenplay, the book is as much a testimony to the spirit of everyone associated with the film as it is a tribute to the intellectual honesty and indefatigable spirit of its director, Anurag Kashyap.
Manik Da
Satyajit Ray, known to his intimates as Manik-da, remains India's most respected name in international film circles. This book reveals in its simplicity the ease and camaraderie between Satyajit Ray, one of India's finest film-makers, and Nemai Ghosh, photographer extraordinaire. Manik-da is the latter's endeavour to depict the man behind the director's mask. Ghosh first worked with Ray on Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, and Ray immediately found in him a kindred spirit who intuitively understood his requirements - and whom he understood. Thus was formed a partnership that spanned over a quarter of a century. In the process, Ghosh was able to photograph Ray at work and play, capturing on film the many moods of the master director. This nuanced and lucid translation from the Bengali original, which includes a perceptive Foreword by Sharmila Tagore, presents to the English reader Ghosh's thoughts on Ray with over fifty exquisite, never-before-seen photographs.
Mughal-e-Azam
A brilliant study of one of the greatest epics of Indian cinema Mughal-e-Azam (1960) embodies grandeur in Indian cinema like no other film. The imagination and hard work of the makers is evident in every scene. The gigantic setting, the great performances, the poetic language, the brilliant technical quality and the sublime music contribute to its enduring appeal. However, Mughal-e-Azam is much more than just lavish entertainment. The movie takes a historical legend and converts it into a film epic that is enriched by several artistic and cultural traditions. The film also corresponds to the progressive ideas that defined the first decade of independent India. In Mughal-e-Azam: Legend as Epic, film-maker and scholar Anil Zankar unravels its cinematic strength through an understanding of the script, mise en scene, music and the nature of the conflict in the film.
Amar Akbar Anthony
Even forty years after it was made, Amar Akbar Anthony remains the final word in film entertainment, which many film-makers aspire to, but seldom manage to replicate. Well-known journalist and author Sidharth Bhatia goes behind the scenes of one of the most loved Hindi films of all time to unravel the story of its making and what it means to Indian cinema. Talking to various people associated with the film - cameraman Peter Pereira, scriptwriter Kader Khan, composer Pyarelal and stars Rishi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan - who fondly remember how Manmohan Desai created this magical movie, he has written a book as entertaining as the film itself, a tribute both to the iconic film and to the incredible vision of its maker.
Pakeezah
Meghnad Desai tracks the film's tortuous journey and reveals fascinating, little-known aspects of it. He foregrounds the craftsmanship, perseverance and perfectionism of its maker, Kamal Amrohi, who would wait weeks for the perfect sunset. Desai sees the film as a 'Muslim social' set in a 'Lucknow of the Muslim imagination', as a woman-centric film with a dancing heroine at a time when they were a rarity and above all, as a film that harkes back to an era of 'nawabi culture with its exquisite tehzeeb', a world that is lost forever. Pakeezah: An Ode to a Bygone World is a fitting tribute to a film that Meghnad Desai calls 'a monument to the golden age of Hindustani films'.
Deewar
Yash Chopra's 1975 film, Deewaar, one of the most iconic and influential works of superstar Amitabh Bachchan, has been (to borrow a line from the film itself) the 'lambi race ka ghoda', enjoying a nearly unrivalled popularity in the long history of Hindi cinema. Its remarkable plot, crisp dialogues and epic narrative structure, revolving around the familiar story of two brothers whose paths diverge and lead to a fatal collision, have endeared it to millions. And its most famous line, 'Mere paas ma hai', has been endlessly imitated, parodied and referenced in cinematic and cultural works. However, as Vinay Lal demonstrates in his study of Deewaar, the film lends itself to much more complex readings than is commonly imagined. Examining it in the context of the history of Hindi cinema, the migrations from the hinterland to the city, and the political and socio-economic climate of the early 1970s, he draws attention to Deewaar's dialectic of the footpath and skyscraper, the mesmerizing presence of the tattoo, the frequent appearance of the signature and the film's deep structuring in mythic material. In doing so, he assesses Deewaar's unique space in popular Indian culture as much as world cinema.
Deep Focus
Satyajit Ray is acknowledged to be one of the world's finest film-makers. This book brings together some of his most cerebral writings on film.With the economy and precision that marked his films, Ray writes on the art and craft of cinema, pens an ode to silent cinema, discusses the problems in adapting literary works to film, pays tribute to contemporaries like Godard and Uttam Kumar, and even gives us a peek into his experiences at film festivals, both as a jury member and as a contestant. Including fascinating photographs by and of the master, Deep Focus not only reveals Ray's engagement with cinema but also provides an invaluable insight into the mind of a genius.
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron
In the 1980s, an unheralded Hindi movie, made on a budget of less than Rs 7 lakh, went from a quiet showing at the box office to developing a reputation as India's definitive black comedy. Some of the country's finest theatre and film talents - all at key stages in their careers - participated in its creation, but the journey was anything but smooth. Among other things, it involved bumping off disco killers and talking gorillas, finding air-conditioned rooms for dead rats, persuading a respected actor to stop sulking and eat his meals, and resisting the temptation to introduce logic into a madcap script. In the end, it was worth it. Kundan Shah's Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is now a byword for the sort of absurdist, satirical humours that Hindi cinema just hasn't seen enough of. This is the story of how it came to be despite incredible odds - and what it might have been. Jai Arjun Singh's take on the making of the film and its cult following is as entertaining as the film itself.
I Swallowed the Moon
A comprehensive analysis of the work of one of India's foremost poets Gulzar is arguably the most well-known contemporary poet writing in Hindustani. As a poet he occupies a unique place being a Progressive poet in a popular culture. His poetry appeals to all strata of society, without compromising either on literary merit or on its ability to convey the most exalted thought in an accessible idiom. In 'He Swallowed the Moon', Saba Bashir attempts to analyse what makes Gulzar the poet he is. What is his signature style? What are the issues that concern his poetry and what are the recurrent images in it? She also draws a parallel between the poet's film and non-film poetry and points out how they are used interchangeably. Including the most comprehensive list of all Gulzar's poems, film and non-film songs, this is a valuable addition to the corpus of work on a great poet.
Mother Maiden Mistress
'Extraordinary ... details what makes women characters iconic in Hindi cinema and analyses them in relation to their directors and more importantly to the society at that point of time' -Rani Mukerji It's been a long hundred years since Dadasaheb Phalke had to settle for a man to play the heroine in India's first feature film, Raja Harishchandra (1913) - and women in Hindi cinema have come a long way since then. Mother Maiden Mistress documents that journey: from a time in which cinema was considered a profession beneath the dignity of 'respectable' women to an era when women actors are icons and idols. Bhawana Somaaya, Jigna Kothari and Supriya Madangarli sift through six decades of history, bringing to life the women that peopled cinema and the popular imagination, and shaped fashion and culture. Contemporary readers will also find here a nuanced historical perspective - of the social milieu of the time, of the nation and of Hindi cinema itself. Also riveting are the first-person narratives of a leading actress from each decade - Waheeda Rehman, Asha Parekh, Hema Malini, Shabana Azmi, Madhuri Dixit and Rani Mukerji - all close-up examinations of how some of the iconic characters of Hindi cinema came to be. At once a guide, an archive and a cracking good read, the book records and reviews the woman in Hindi cinema - the mythical, the Sati-Savitri, the rebel, the avant-garde and the contemporary. In a journey through six decades of cinema, seemingly, the more things have changed, the more they have remained the same.
50 Indian Film Classics
An eclectic collection of essays by the winner of the National Award Swarna Kamal for Best Film Critic 1997 With more than a thousand films produced annually in over fifteen languages India is acknowledged as the largest producer of motion pictures in the world.50 Indian Film Classics provides detailed critical accounts of the most important Indian films beginning with Prem Sanyas (1925) to Rang De Basanti (2006) in languages ranging from Bengali and Hindi to Manipuri and Malayalam and representing a whole gamut of themes: from the 1930s mythological Sant Tukaram to the politically radical Calcutta '71, from art-house favourites like Uski Roti and Mukhamukham to blockbusters like Sholay and Lagaan. These perceptive essays introduce the reader to the many moods that inform Indian cinema, the austerity of Pather Panchali, the lavishness of Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!, the solemnity of Samskara and the fun and frolic of Amar Akbar Anthony.Illustrated with rare posters and stills this is an invaluable guide to the most significant cinema India has ever produced.
Armies of the Night
From the New York City Subway to Coney Island--uncover the gritty legacy of The Warriors, the cult classic that stormed the streets--and shaped mainstream culture--since 1979!The Warriors opened to scathing reviews, big box office, and major controversy. Walter Hill's stylized tale of gang warfare wasn't just another action movie--it rewrote the rules of the genre. Vilified and celebrated in equal measure, it rose above its notoriety to become a cult phenomenon. Today, it stands as an influential classic, spawning cross-media spinoffs and offering a vivid snapshot of late-1970s New York City. The history of The Warriors is a complex, sometimes tumultuous one. Armies of the Night: The Warriors and Its Legacy tracks the movie's long journey, beginning with its origins as a groundbreaking Sol Yurick novel, revealing the many changes it underwent from book to script to screen, recounting a turbulent production involving real gang encounters and a lead actor dropped mid-shoot, through to a detailed chronicle of the controversy The Warriors sparked. How did the film overcome the kind of obstacles only an all-nights NYC shoot could throw in its path? And how did a movie that does not actually contain much graphic violence ignite such a firestorm of outrage? Authors Michael Gingold (Fangoria, Ad Nauseam) and Chris Poggiali (These Fists Break Bricks, Temple of Schlock) answer those questions and many more via exclusive interviews with cast and crew, a wealth of vintage reportage and dozens of photos and promotional images. It's a story as unique and dramatic as The Warriors itself. Can you dig it?
Reaching A Verdict
As The Bill entered a new decade, the programme makers once again faced the challenge of finding a new location for Sun Hill police station. But this time they had to do so without a break in the gruelling filming schedule and ensure that new episodes of ITV's bi-weekly ratings smash were in constant production...In the second of his acclaimed REACHING A VERDICT series, TV historian Edward Kellett returns to investigate how from this testing period, The Bill emerged a show better than ever, willing to experiment with longer storylines and unlock the full potential of the half-hour format.Discover how the programme's greatest writers, under the command of executive producer Michael Chapman, joined forces to create 314 episodes of drama tackling contemporary issues in Britain and ensuring The Bill took no prisoners in the 1990s. REACHING A VERDICT: REVIEWING THE BILL (1990-1992) opens with a Foreword by producer Tony Virgo and an Afterword by legendary writer J.C. Wilsher."EDWARD KELLETT IS A MASTER STORYTELLER WHO VIVIDLY CAPTURES A REMARKABLE ERA OF BRITISH TELEVISION DRAMA" - Barry Appleton, legendary The Bill writer."THE AMOUNT OF DETAIL IN EDWARD KELLETT'S ERUDITE, CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BILL IS ASTONISHING" - Christopher Russell, legendary The Bill writer.
Female Robots and AI in Science Fiction Cinema
This book is the first comprehensive overview of the history of female-presenting AI and robots in US and UK live-action, science fiction films from 1949 to 2023. It offers an original taxonomy that aids in the examination of 80 films and over 135 characters' representations, starting with The Perfect Woman (1949) and ending with Robots (2023). Using its representational taxonomy, this book analyses the evolution of these depictions, showing the continuations, revisions, and shifts in the depiction of female-presenting AI and robots from objectified, eroticised, subordinated things to being autonomous moral agents who assert their right to equality and refuse their abusive, typically sexual, use. This book shows how these fictional, gendered constructions are products of a heterosexual, cisgender, male fantasy of an idealised, subordinated form of femininity. These artificial characters, along with their real-world counterparts, highlight a desire for a subordinated femininity, but also show how that subordination is a social construction often reinforced and countered in onscreen depictions. By examining the trends within its asserted Galatea, Girlfriend, Mother, and Deadly Seductress types, this book presents an exploration of what our female-presenting artificial creations could be, while addressing their contemporary, and our current, AI technologies, and how science fiction is influencing real life, while our reality seeks to mirror science fiction.
Film Critics and British Film Culture
For decades, cinema audiences have turned to the film reviews featured in national and local newspapers, listened to commentators via radio, television and, latterly, the internet, and read fan magazines to learn about the latest releases. These critics helped shape the responses of generations of film fans, creating success and failure, as well as controversy. This wide-ranging collection brings together some of the leading academics on British film history to consider the role of these commentators. It covers the work of influential critics like Dilys Powell and Raymond Durgnat and key magazines such as Time Out, Monthly Film Bulletin and Radio Times. Contributors include leading scholars such as James Chapman, Pamela Hutchinson and Julian Petley, along with the screenwriter and filmmaker David McGillivray and others who have worked as film journalists themselves. For film students or cinema enthusiasts anywhere, this volume provides an insightful analysis of the British film critic.
The Cinema of Kinoshita Keisuke
Kinoshita Keisuke was once thought of as the equal in importance and popularity to his colleague Ozu Yasujiro and friend Kurosawa Akira. In many ways, he was even more popular with audiences than they were, as well as being a critical favorite. He had built an overseas following with prestigious festival play and was considered an innovator for his use of color and widescreen. In addition, he was known for his cinematic depictions of the plight of women under rigid social restrictions along with his often-rebellious heroines who endured and sometimes triumphed. Yet he is much less known than his fellow filmmakers. Leading scholars from the US, Australia, the UK and Japan, relying on close analysis and numerous Japanese sources come together to redress this gap and demonstrate why Kinoshita deserves to be returned to the pantheon Japanese and world cinema.
Infinite Ontologies of the Chthulustream
Brown and Fleming employ the twin discourses of critical race theory and posthumanism in order to expose how multinational platforms like Netflix play a role in both problematising and perpetuating deeply entrenched violences lurking within the intersections of racism, capitalism, and technology. The authors dive into the racialised world-building of shows like Stranger Things, Watchmen, Lovecraft Country, Sense8, The Twilight Zone, The O.A., Ad Vitam and DEVS, and through their groundbreaking media philosophy diagnose and confront the oppressive and racialising nature of streaming media at the end of the world, in the so-called Chthulucene (or 'Chthulustream'). As Brown and Fleming demonstrate, streaming media can, at their best, liberate thought to confront overlapping infinite ontologies (∞O) that themselves offer a timely panacea and corrective to Object-Oriented-Ontology (OOO).
Nahid Persson Sarvestani
This monograph offers a critical study of Nahid Persson Sarvestani's documentary practice across three decades. Highlighting the filmmaker's at times limited opportunities to record visible evidence in situ, the book frames her involvement with new documentary film technology and its influence on her practice. From a discursive point of view, Boel Ulfsdotter introduces the concept liquid authorship to position Persson Sarvestani's work by sparring the films' production history against different iterations of post-millennium documentary theory. In a bid to move the boundaries of traditional documentary forward, the author also studies how Persson Sarvestani applies first-person filmmaking in relation to the subject of documentary, including the relationship between director and enunciator. The filmmaker's documentary output is reflected against the tenets of feminist theory. To establish their discursive urgency, Boel Ulfsdotter unpicks the films' fabric to comment on their aesthetic merits, narrative composition, including the impact of voice-over, vis-?-vis contemporary documentary practice.
The Oxford Handbook of American Film History
The Oxford Handbook of American Film History offers a series of newly-commissioned chapters on the current intellectual and topical diversity of the study of American film history. It provides a thorough look at the complex history of American cinema, and showcases a variety of historiographic practices and methods. Within each of the five chronological sections, readers will find discourse on technology, reception, exemplary films and filmmakers, the culture of celebrity, and industry policy, procedure, and regulation -- on political economy, textual representation (form, style, diversity), scientific/technological innovation, and the cultural (and subcultural) resonance of movies with their time and place. The Oxford Handbook of American Film explores the delicate and imperfect balance between art and commerce, between entertainment and commercial enterprise. Approaching the history of American film from a dialectical perspective that allows for a close look at not only the important films and filmmakers, but also the complex and fascinating business conducted behind the scenes. Movies are complicated products of a complicated industry. Consequently, the history of film defies a simple formula, a unilateral methodology. It is a history shaped by multiple theses and voices and interests.
Action Heroines in the 21st Century
Action Heroines in the Twenty-First Century highlights the changing representation of female protagonists in recent action-led genres. It responds to an upturn in women-centred narratives over the past two decades, specifically, those that involve groups of women in action. The work demonstrates how this collective agency reflects an increasingly global rejection of violence towards women (illustrated through initiatives such as the #MeToo movement, and the united reactions to the deaths of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa and the deaths of young Iranian women detained by security forces in Iran in 2022). It is against this backdrop that an escalating number of action films released over recent years counter contemporaneous perceptions of women as victims in the face of threat and enable progressive media representations of women. ​​​​​​​This book charts such representations from a diverse range of national cinemas and genres, moving from remakes of Charlie's Angels through to the Western, eco-activism, action-comedy and Marvel's superheroines, thus providing a broad platform for its argument and highlighting the growing significance of action heroines operating collectively.
Film as an Art of Society
The volume deals with the concept of art in relation to film, covering both aesthetic theory and concrete works. The spectrum includes feature films and documentaries. The focus is on the aesthetic innovations of the medium throughout its history and in the present. The development of visual ideas is related to the historical and social context of their creation and reception. The focus is on film authors, film artists and film movements that can be found not only in independent film but also in the mainstream.
Refocus: The Films of John Singleton
In 1992, John Singleton became the first Black filmmaker, as well as the youngest, to be nominated for the Best Director award at the Oscars. In the following decade, Singleton cemented his reputation as a Hollywood auteur who could move across genres while making critically acclaimed films that share a preoccupation with the triumphs and tribulations of Black life in America. And yet, Singleton's films have received relatively little academic attention. ReFocus: The Films of John Singleton fills this scholarly vacuum. This collection of original chapters addresses Singleton's treatment of gender and racial difference, the family, urban space, and traumatic histories; it also identifies sources of inspiration in both Hollywood and world cinema, as well as draws connections between his films and the work of Black American literary figures. This collection is an invaluable resource for the future of Singleton studies.
Nahid Persson Sarvestani
This monograph offers a critical study of Nahid Persson Sarvestani's documentary practice across three decades. Highlighting the filmmaker's at times limited opportunities to record visible evidence in situ, the book frames her involvement with new documentary film technology and its influence on her practice. From a discursive point of view, Boel Ulfsdotter introduces the concept liquid authorship to position Persson Sarvestani's work by sparring the films' production history against different iterations of post-millennium documentary theory. In a bid to move the boundaries of traditional documentary forward, the author also studies how Persson Sarvestani applies first-person filmmaking in relation to the subject of documentary, including the relationship between director and enunciator. The filmmaker's documentary output is reflected against the tenets of feminist theory. To establish their discursive urgency, Boel Ulfsdotter unpicks the films' fabric to comment on their aesthetic merits, narrative composition, including the impact of voice-over, vis-?-vis contemporary documentary practice.
Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland is one of the most prolific actors in the history of cinema, and has starred in some of the greatest movies of our time. In a series of essays, Chris Wade explores Sutherland's performances on screen, from his early breakthrough roles in such films as MASH, Klute, and Don't Look Now, through classics like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Ordinary People, underrated gems like A Dry White Season, and modern hits including the Hunger Games movies. Still working today, Sutherland's body of work deserves to be celebrated and studied by all film lovers. Chris Wade is a UK based writer, musician and filmmaker. He writes fiction and non fiction books, makes documentaries on the arts, and runs the acclaimed music project, Dodson and Fogg.
The Photodrama
Dive into the pioneering era of filmmaking with "The Photodrama" by Henry Albert Phillips, a comprehensive exploration of the philosophical underpinnings and practical techniques of early cinema. This treatise delves into the very essence of the photodrama, meticulously examining its principles, plot structures, and dramatic construction. Phillips illuminates his teachings with copious examples, offering readers a deep understanding of the art form. Included is a complete photoplay, providing a tangible illustration of the concepts discussed, alongside a detailed glossary to navigate the technical jargon of the time. This book serves as an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the origins of screenwriting and the evolution of cinematic storytelling. A must-read for film historians, students of screenwriting, and enthusiasts of silent film, "The Photodrama" offers a unique window into the creative and technical landscape of early 20th-century filmmaking. Discover the foundations upon which modern cinema was built and gain a new appreciation for the artistry of the photoplay.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Reaching A Verdict
In 1983, Geoff McQueen created a pilot for a series that would become a phenomenon. The first volume of REACHING A VERDICT presents an insightful, thorough and fascinating analysis of The Bill; the groundbreaking police programme that held a mirror up to society in 1980s London and changed the landscape of British television forever.By revisiting all 188 episodes of that ratings smash that were broadcast in the 1980s, TV historian Edward Kellett has gained new appreciation for the qualities of The Bill, which he considers to be "the single best storytelling format in the history of television"This 260-page academic investigation assesses the scripts, themes, characters, performances, settings and direction of the series and will leave the reader wanting to rewatch all these episodes again to appreciate them in a completely new way.REACHING A VERDICT: REVIEWING THE BILL (1983-1989) features a Foreword by production scheduler Nigel J. Wilson and an Afterword by script editor Tim Vaughan."AN EXCELLENT COMPANION... A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF THE PROGRAMME" - Archive TV Musings"KELLETT'S FASCINATING COMMENTARY WILL CAPTIVATE FANS OF THE BILL" - The Billaton"AN ESSENTIAL COMPANION FOR THE MOST AVID AND KNOWLEDGEABLE THE BILL FAN" - Nigel J. Wilson - "The Bill" Production Scheduler (1984-2002)
Orgy Plus Massacre 4
Post-war cinema saw a rapid rise in the production of B-movies - low-budget genre films dealing with such subjects as horror, science fiction, juvenile delinquency and beatniks, bad girls and women in prison, bikers, gangsters, jungle terror, mondo, drug culture, and finally sexploitation, which eventually flourished due to a constant push-back against censorship. By the end of the 1960s, explicit sex and graphic violence had both become accepted in the mainstream. This new liberalism peaked in the mid-70s, when pretty much anything could be legally seen on commercially available film in one form or another, from picture houses to backstreet projection booths. ORGY PLUS MASSACRE is a book series which examines the three decades from 1950 to 1979, when film-makers were increasingly free to express their most expansive, exploratory, and often excessive visions on celluloid.ORGY PLUS MASSACRE 4 includes over 150 rare and unusual photographs, with accompanying informational texts, from the years 1963 to 1964. The book is divided into five sections: Horror, Science Fiction, Mayhem, Myth, and Sex.
Film/Music Analysis
The field of Film-Music Studies has been increasingly dominated by musicologists; this book brings the discipline back squarely into the domain of Film Studies, offering an approach in which music and visuals are seen as equal players in the game. Blending Neoformalism with Gestalt psychology and Leonard B. Meyer's musicology, this study treats music as a cinematic element, offering scholars and students of both music and film a set of tools to help them analyse the wide-ranging impact that music has in films. This second edition provides an updated survey of the field and a new chapter featuring additional case studies, including a novel analytical category for studying the contemporary 'sound-design style' film music.
George Smiley on Film & TV
This is a reference book on the character George Smiley, a character created by novelist John Le Carre. The book contains the film and TV adaptations including Smiley, along with complete cast lists, numerous photographs, directorial credits, and a story synopsis for each entry. George Smiley is a career intelligence officer with The Circus, the British overseas intelligence agency. He is a central character in several novels written by Le Carre.
Theology in Avatar
The beloved Uncle Iroh once told Prince Zuko, "It's time to start asking the big questions." This statement is as true for us as viewers of Avatar: The Last Airbender as it is for the banished prince. This collection invites fans of one of the most popular animated shows in America to contemplate how the Avatar Universe prompts big questions about meaning. Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel series, The Legend of Korra, combine philosophical thoughts from both Eastern and Western perspectives, and this collection of twelve essays helps readers to recognize and consider those influences more deeply, from ideas as grand as the soul's relationship to the universe to the role tea can have in making a Zen master. Contributors consider the show from perspectives such as Buddhism, Taoism, the Hero's Journey, the theory of the elements, and many more.
Absolute Pleasure
Queer writers reflect on the complicated legacy of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Since its earliest midnight showings at the Waverly Theater in New York City, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been an underground sensation. For five decades, people around the world have dressed up and gathered in dark theaters to dance, yell, mime obscene acts, and forge connections with other queer people and weirdos. The film shattered expectations and social norms at the time of its release. But how does its presentation of queerness--not to mention its portrayals of murder, manipulation, consent violation, and cannibalism--hold up today? The essays in Absolute Pleasure--by queer writers including Sarah Gailey, Grace Lavery, and Magdalene Visaggio--explore the film's complicated legacy, along with queer and trans joy, sexuality, family, generational understandings of queerness, and what we do with our problematic faves.
The Tao of Twin Peaks
Is Twin Peaks a cult-like phenomenon...or a mystery that needs to be solved...or simply the fever dream of its eccentric co-creator? No other show in the history of television has sparked so many questions and The Tao of Twin Peaks proposes answers to those who seek to understand this surreal, multilayered, and metafictional story. Much has been written about Twin Peaks, but this book is markedly different. It is not just for the most ardent fans who love decoding clues in the series. It also explores the show's cinematic techniques, its cultural references, and its mythological, psychological, and religious influences. Just some of the topics explored: The significance of the Red RoomLaura Palmer as both angel and centerfoldThe answer to "Who is Judy?"The connection between Agent Cooper and Mr. CThe relationship of the plot to electricity and the atomic bombTwin Peaks as a working philosophy"What year is this?" Making sense of the end of the seriesIn Taoism, the goal is to achieve balance in our ever-changing reality. The Tao of Twin Peaks illustrates how David Lynch accomplishes this feat in this classic show. It examines the entire Twin Peaks canon, including Fire Walk with Me, with a particular focus on Twin Peaks: The Return. For filmmaker and author, William Dickerson, the search for significance in Twin Peaks is analogous to the search for meaning in both his and his readers' lives. As strange as the characters and plots may be, they echo our own traumas, growth, and experience. Featuring artwork by Gilbert Leiker, The Tao of Twin Peaks will set you on the road to solving the show's enigmas and, as a result, deepen your appreciation of future viewings along the way. Uncover the details of David Lynch's cinematic craft as he creates the off-kilter world of Twin Peaks and turns the mirror on us.
Textiles on Film
The imagined worlds of the cinematic mise-en-sc癡ne are rich with textiles: fabrics drape over sets, serve as props, and develop mood and character as dress and d矇cor. A much-needed examination of the cultural and emotional impact of textiles as mediated through cinematic technology, Textiles on Film broadens our understanding of the dynamic relationship between fabric and film. Drawing on scholarship across multiple disciplines and exploring a wide range of films-from lesser-known avant-garde films to big-budget Hollywood productions-this book will inspire scholars and students of film, fashion, and textiles. Close readings of on-screen textiles redirect meaning to that which is often overlooked, including depictions of gender expression, behind-the-scenes labor, and architectural and bodily ornamentation. Attentive to the social nuances of fabrics from polyester to velvet, and to the physical qualities of the textiles themselves, Becky Peterson unearths new possibilities for reading media and textile cultures.
So, You're A Creative Genius... Now What? (Second Edition)
You're talented, ambitious, and full of dreams. So why can't you get anything done? This book isn't about inspiration - you already have that. It's about turning your mess of ideas into a creative factory that works. With surreal humor, brutal honesty, and plenty of useful heuristics, Carl King shows you how to become your own producer. Learn to focus your energy, finish what you start, and bootstrap a creative career. Until now there hasn't been a comprehensive, philosophical guide to prepare you for the strange, beautiful, and downright dangerous lifestyle known as a Creative Career. So, You're A Creative Genius... Now What? is here to help you take control of your destiny, follow your own path, and open your own creative studio anywhere. Divided into two parts, YOU and THEM, this fun book teaches you how creative freelancing can bankroll your own artistic dreams. Whether you're an artist, writer, filmmaker, or musician, So, You're A Creative Genius... Now What? will help you activate that Creative Genius within.
The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: Volume II
Featuring exclusive concept art, character and costume sketches, and vehicle and creature designs by Lucasfilm Publishing and its partners, this official companion to Star Wars: The High Republic (Phases II and III) offers fans a definitive, behind-the-scenes look at the continuing adventures within this ambitious era of Star Wars storytelling The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic (Volume II) takes fans behind the scenes of Phases II and III of Lucasfilm Publishing's massive crossover event. Collecting the latest concept art of the new characters, worlds, ships, and creatures of The High Republic--designed jointly by the Lucasfilm visualists and a team of legendary comic book and Star Wars artists, including Phil Noto, Iain McCaig, and Ario Anindito, among many others--and presented alongside development materials and interviews with The High Republic architects, this is an essential guide to the creation, design, and realization of a new era of Star Wars storytelling. The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic (Volume II) is the only book to explore all facets of the design and artistic direction of a story that spans comic books, novels, and young adult books, taking Star Wars fans of all ages on a deep dive into the development of the New York Times bestselling series.
Making Thought Visible
For viewers who experience autism, bipolar disorder, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder or other cognitive variations, television storytelling offers opportunities to empathize with characters portraying neurodiversity. In this first collection of its kind, contributors analyze television's increasing attempts to make thought--how individuals process the world around them--visible. Examined themes include the muting of neurodiverse voices, madness as power, diagnosis vs. lived experience, dual diagnosis, reactions to "atypical" behaviors, the cultivation of attitudes towards autistic individuals, and translanguaging across global series. Programs include Young Sheldon, The Good Doctor, Legion, the Star Trek universe, Euphoria, True Detective, Girls, Bungo Stray Dogs, and Love on the Spectrum. Varied theoretical and methodological approaches and attention to the quality and verisimilitude of neurodiverse representations result in an appropriately complex analysis.
Rediscovered Classics of Japanese Animation
Rediscovered Classics of Japanese Animationis the first academic work to examine World Masterpiece Theater(Sekai Meisaku Gekij繫, 1969-2009), which popularized the practice of adapting foreign children's books into long-running animated series and laid the groundwork for powerhouses like Studio Ghibli.World Masterpiece Theater (Sekai Meisaku Gekij繫, 1969-2009) is a TV staple created by the Japanese studio Nippon Animation, which popularized the practice of adapting foreign children's books into long-running animated series. Once generally dismissed by critics, the series is now frequently investigated as a key early work of legendary animators Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. In the first book-length examination of the series, Maria Chiara Oltolini analyzes cultural significance of World Masterpiece Theater, and the ways in which the series pioneered the importance of children's fiction for Japanese animation studios and laid the groundwork for powerhouses like Studio Ghibli.Adapting a novel for animation also means decoding (and re-coding) socio-cultural patterns embedded in a narrative. World Masterpiece Theater stands as a unique example of this linguistic, medial, and cultural hybridisation. Popular children's classics such as Little Women, Peter Pan, and Anne of Green Gables became the starting point of a full-fledged negotiation process in which Japanese animators retold a whole range of narratives that have one basic formula in common: archetypal stories with an educational purpose. In particular, the series played a role in shaping the pop culture image of a young girl (sh繫jo).Examining the series through the lens of animation studies as well as adaptation studies, Oltolini sheds new light on this long-neglected staple of Japanese animation history.
