This study examines, contextualizes, and evaluates the significance of contemporary Mexican filmmaking, focusing on the so-called 'cine nuevo' of 1989-1999. Accordingly, the study is divided into three sections, representing the key generic discourses that frame the films' narratives and underlying aims: The first analyzes contemporary Mexican cinema's re-presentation of history on the cinematic screen; and the second part of the book examines the rise in the number of women directors, comparing it with the previous lack of female participation within the filmmaking arena; the last section explores the re-location of cinematic geographies in contemporary cinema.

Revolution and Rebellion in Mexican Film examines Mexican films of political conflict from the early studio Revolutionary films of the 1930-50s up to the campaigning Zapatista films of the 2000s. Mapping this evolution out for the first time, the author takes three key events under consideration: the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920); the student movement and massacre in 1968; and, finally, the more recent Zapatista Rebellion (1994-present). Analyzing films such as Vamanos con Pancho Villa (1936), El Grito (1968), and Corazon del Tiempo (2008), the author uses the term 'political conflict' to refer to those violent disturbances, dramatic periods of confrontation, injury and death, which characterize particular historical events involving state and non-state actors that may have a finite duration, but have a long-lasting legacy on the nation. These conflicts have been an important component of Mexican film since its inception and include studio productions, documentaries, and independent films.

Traditionally women have found recourse in artistic means to interrogate change and upheaval. This volume explores the experiences of women from Spain, Portugal and Latin America in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries who themselves have crossed cultural boundaries or have described this experience in their literature and film. Areas investigated in this collection of essays include the experience of the exiled or the immigrant and their personal or collective response to displacement and adaptation: the transcultural potential of cyberspace for women, how patterns and styles of the fashion industry have crossed borders, how women have crossed canonical cultural boundaries in search of identity and meaning, how global cultural influences have manifested in Hispanic and Lusophone cultural practices and production by or about women, and the challenging question of whether canine writing can be considered a branch of feminist theory. Common to most of the essays are the central issues of identity, values, conflict and interconnectedness and an analysis of the patterns that result from the transcultural encounter of these aspects.

A multidisciplinary investigation of contemporary Mexican cinema

Screening Minors in Latin American Cinema is the first volume to delve into the construction of children's subjectivity and agency in Latin American film, and addresses such questions as: How and to what extent do films express the point of view of the child? How do plots and film practices represent children’s subjectivity and agency? Childhood studies has demonstrated the importance of examining the lives of children. Building on those insights, together with current research from film studies and Latin American cultural studies, the essays in this volume analyze the development of agency and voices of minors in contemporary Latin American film. The theoretical perspectives used—gender studies, psychoanalytic and postcolonial theory, film studies, play and performance studies, and emotion studies, among others—take into account innovative approaches to filmic techniques as they explore the varied representations of children.

The crime film genre consists of detective films, gangster films, suspense thrillers, film noir, and caper films and is produced throughout the world. Crime film was there at the birth of cinema, and it has accompanied cinema over more than a century of history, passing from silent films to talkies, from black-and-white to color. The genre includes such classics as The Maltese Falcon, The Godfather, Gaslight, The French Connection, and Serpico, as well as more recent successes like Seven, Drive, and L.A. Confidential. The Historical Dictionary of Crime Films covers the history of this genre through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries on key films, directors, performers, and studios. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about crime cinema.

A2 Film Studies: The Essential Introduction gives students the confidence to tackle every part of the WJEC A2 Level Film Studies course. The authors, who have wide ranging experience as teachers, examiners and authors, introduce students step by step, to the skills involved in the study of film. The second edition has been re-designed and re-written to follow the new WJEC A2 syllabus for 2009 teaching onwards and is supported by a companion website at www.alevelfilmstudies.co.uk offering further advice and activities. There is a chapter for each exam topic including: The small scale research project The creative project Aspects of a national cinema - Bollywood; Iranian; Japanese; and Mexican International Film Styles - German and/or Soviet; Surrealism; Neo-Realism; and New Waves Specialist studies - Urban Stories; and Empowering Women Spectatorship topics - Early cinema before 1917; Documentary; Experimental and expanded film/video; and Popular film and emotional responses The single film critical study - every film covered Specifically designed to be user friendly, the second edition of A2 Film Studies: The Essential Introduction has a new text design to make the book easy to follow, includes more than sixty colour images and is packed with features such as: case studies relevant to the 2009 specification activities on films like All About My Mother, 10, Vertigo and City of God key terms example exam questions suggestions for further reading and website resources. Matched to the current WJEC specification, A2 Film Studies: The Essential Introduction covers everything students need to study as part of the course.