Co-edited by Brenda Hollweg and Igor Krstić.
Published 2019.
World Cinema and the Essay Film examines the ways in which essay film practices are deployed by non-Western filmmakers in specific local and national contexts, in an interconnected world. The book identifies the essay film as a political and ethical tool to reflect upon and potentially resist the multiple, often contradictory effects of globalization. With case studies of essayistic works by John Akomfrah, Nguyen Trinh Thi and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, amongst many others, and with a photo-essay by Trinh T. Min-ha and a discussion of Frances Calvert’s work, it expands current research on the essay film beyond canonical filmmakers and frameworks, and presents transnational perspectives on what is becoming a global film practice.
Key features
- Includes well-known and fresh voices of essay film practice from around the world
- Features examples from essay film practice as research
- Contains interviews with non-western filmmakers, in-depth case studies of global essay film practice and self-reflexive essays by scholars and film practitioners
Includes case studies of works by:
- John Akomfrah
- Noël Burch and Allan Sekula
- Frances Calvert
- Toshi Fujiwara
- Grant Gee
- Amos Gitai
- Cathy Greenhalgh
- José Luis Guerín
- Jonas Mekas
- Angela Melitopoulos
- Luc Moullet
- Nguyen Trinh Thi
- David Perlov
- Agnieszka Piotrowska
- Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Zhao Liang
Text from listing at Edinburgh University Press, here