World Cinema: A Critical Introduction

World Cinema: A Critical Introduction is a comprehensive yet accessible guide to film industries across the globe. From the 1980s onwards, new technologies and increased globalisation have radically altered the landscape in which films are distributed and exhibited. Films are made from the large scale of India, Hollywood, and Asia to the small productions in Bhutan and Morocco. They are seen in multiplexes, palatial art cinemas in Cannes, traveling theatres in rural India and on millions of hand-held mobile screens.

Deshpande and Mazaj have developed a method of charting this new world cinema that makes room for divergent perspectives, traditions and positions, whilst also revealing their interconnectedness and relationships of meaning. In doing so, they bring together a broad range of issues and examples—theoretical concepts, viewing and production practices, film festivals, large industries such as Nollywood and Bollywood, as well as smaller and emerging film cultures—into a systemic yet flexible map of world cinema.

The multi-layered approach of this book reflects the depth, dynamism and complexity of the phenomenon of world cinema. For students looking to films outside of their immediate context, this book offers a blueprint that will enable them to transform a casual encounter with a film into a systematic inquiry into world cinema.