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The ArtsJune 2017Contemporary Australian cinema
An introduction
by Jonathan Rayner
Provides an introduction to the products and context of the new Australian film industry which arose toward the end of the 1960s. Traces the development of Australian film, in terms of prominent directors and stars, consistent themes, styles and evolving genres. The evolution of the film genres peculiar to Australia, and the adaptation of conventional Hollywood forms (such as the musical and the road movie) are examined in detail through textual readings of landmark films. Films and trends discussed include: the period film and Picnic at Hanging Rock; the Gothic film and the Mad Max trilogy; camp and kitsch comedy and the Adventures of Pricilla, Queen of the Desert. The key issue of the revival (the definition, representation and propagation of a national image) is woven through analysis of the new Australian cinema.
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The ArtsJanuary 2019The films of Luc Besson
Master of spectacle
by Susan Hayward, Philip Powrie
This fascinating collection looks at the career and films of Luc Besson, one of the most acclaimed figures in international cinema. Contributions have been assembled from all over the world, and their different approaches reflect this geographical diversity. Films covered range from Besson's first feature, La Dernier Combat, to the international blockbusters The Fifth Element and Joan of Arc. The essays range from looking at costume design to musical scores, and the final chapter offers a transcript of a previously unpublished interview with the man himself. He is the only French director to have crossed over successfully during the 1990s into the blockbuster spectacular we associate with Hollywood cinema and yet this is only the second book in English on this major international director. The films of Luc Besson will make fascinating reading for anyone interested in the career and films of the 'master of spectacle'.
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The ArtsJuly 2024Public information films
British government film units, 1928–52
by Alan Harding
In the years after the First World War the British government had to adapt its communication policy to connect with the new mass electorate. This book examines the government's own Film Units and their slow development of the Public Information Film. By reviewing the entire film catalogue produced by the Empire Marketing Board, the General Post Office and Crown Film Units, particular themes are identified which not only reflect the demands of the Units' sponsors but also the anxieties and concerns of the 1930s and 1940s. The impact of the films is explored through the contemporary reaction of the audiences to them. By the time the Crown Film Unit was closed in 1952 a style of Public Information Film had been developed and continued into the 1970s.
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The ArtsJanuary 2019Reframing difference
Beur and banlieue filmmaking in France
by Carrie Tarr
Reframing difference is the first major study of two overlapping strands of contemporary French cinema, cinema beur (films by young directors of Maghrebi immigrant origin) and cinema de banlieue (films set in France's disadvantaged outer-city estates). Carrie Tarr's insightful account draws on a wide range of films, from directors such as Mehdi Charef, Mathieu Kassovitz and Djamel Bensalah. Her analyses compare the work of male and female, majority and minority film-makers, and emphasise the significance of authorship in the representation of gender and ethnicity. Foregrounding such issues as the quest for identity, the negotiation of space and the recourse to memory and history, she argues that these films challenge and reframe the symbolic spaces of French culture, addressing issues of ethnicity and difference which are central to today's debates about what it means to be French. This timely book is essential reading for anyone interested in the relationship between cinema and citizenship in a multicultural society.
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December 2020The Oasis Man
by Deng Xiangzi, Lin Zi
"The Childhood Sky—Original Picture Books" series is a set of four eco-illustrated books on environmental protection. The concept of environmental protection is established for children in a positive emotional way. "The Oasis Man": The grandparents who originally lived in the city took the initiative to bid farewell to a comfortable life and settled their home in the desert. After more than 10 years of perseverance, they have built an oasis that has become an eternal home for little animals.
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Children's & YA2020Ayélévi's Secret
by Simon de Saint-Dzokotoe, Maryse Montron
Little Ayélévi is very cunning. She always wins at the game of "Who would win the most beautiful flower." This situation intrigued his brother who wanted to understand the secret of these repeated successes. Ayélévi is very clever; will it still be for a long time?
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The ArtsMay 2013British films of the 1970s
by Paul Newland
British films of the 1970s offers highly detailed and insightful critical analysis of a range of individual films of the period. This analysis draws upon an innovative range of critical methodologies which place the film texts within a rich variety of historical contexts. The book sets out to examine British films of the 1970s in order to get a clearer understanding of two things - the fragmentary state of the filmmaking culture of the period, and the fragmentary nature of the nation that these films represent. It argues that there is no singular narrative to be drawn about British filmmaking in the 1970s, other than the fact that these films offer evidence of a Britain (and ideas of Britishness) characterised by vicissitudes. While this was a period of struggle and instability, it was also a period of openings, of experiment, and of new ideas. Newland looks at many films, including Carry On Girls, O Lucky Man!, That'll be the Day, The Shout, and The Long Good Friday. ;
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Half the Quilt(Picture Book Edition)
by Xiaoxiang Film Group Co., Yang Fei
Half of the Quilt(Picture Book Edition) is based on the movie Heart for Heart (produced by Xiaoxiang Film Group and directed by Meng Qi). In October 1934, the fifth anti-encirclement failed, the Central Red Army evacuated the Soviet Union and began the Long March. The Red Army field hospital was bombed by enemy planes and suffered heavy casualties. Dong Xiuyun, a female soldier who stayed at the field hospital to look after the wounded, decided to take the wounded with her and chase the troops. Dong Xiuyun took in the soldiers of the various units who were left alone along the road, forming a special team. After the team came to Shazhou Village, the three female Red Army lived in Xu Xiexiu's house. When parting, Dong Xiuyun cut the only one quilt in half to Xu Xiexiu. This book nourishes the young people's spiritual world with red culture, inherits the red gene, and allows the spirit of the Long March to be passed on from generation to generation among children.
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November 2021Femicide
Violence against women
by Julia Cruschwitz, Carolin Haentjes
In Germany, 132 women were murdered by their (ex-)partners over the past year, according to police statistics. An attempted murder happened every other day – the real figure is in all probability much higher. Julia Cruschwitz and Carolin Haentjes unveil their book on femicides in Germany with research from interviews with academics, criminologists, police officers, social workers, lawyers, survivors, witnesses and relatives and their analysis of scientific reports. Their work highlights how the issue of femicides affects the whole of society, but there are sensible ways to protect women more effectively from male violence. All we must do is take steps to follow these.
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The ArtsJanuary 2019Carol Reed
by Peter William Evans
Carol Reed is one of the truly outstanding directors of British cinema, and one whose work is long overdue for reconsideration. This major study ranges over Reed's entire career, combining observation of general trends and patterns with detailed analysis of twenty films, both acknowledged masterpieces and lesser-known works. Evans avoids a simplistic auteurist approach, placing the films in their autobiographical, socio-political and cultural contexts and relating these to the analysis of Reed's art. The critical approach combines psychoanalysis, gender theory, and the analysis of form. Archival research is also relied on to clarify Reed's relations with his creative team, financial backers and others. Films examined include Bank Holiday, A Girl Must Live, Odd Man Out, The Fallen Idol, The Third Man, Night Train to Munich, The Way Ahead, Outcast of the Islands, Trapeze and Oliver!.
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Half the Quilt(Youth Edition)
by Xiaoxiang Film Group Co., Yang Fei
Half of the Quilt(Youth Edition) is based on the movie Heart for Heart (produced by Xiaoxiang Film Group and directed by Meng Qi). In October 1934, the fifth anti-encirclement failed, the Central Red Army evacuated the Soviet Union and began the Long March. The Red Army field hospital was bombed by enemy planes and suffered heavy casualties. Dong Xiuyun, a female soldier who stayed at the field hospital to look after the wounded, decided to take the wounded with her and chase the troops. Dong Xiuyun took in the soldiers of the various units who were left alone along the road, forming a special team. After the team came to Shazhou Village, the three female Red Army lived in Xu Xiexiu's house. When parting, Dong Xiuyun cut the only one quilt in half to Xu Xiexiu. This book nourishes the young people's spiritual world with red culture, inherits the red gene, and allows the spirit of the Long March to be passed on from generation to generation among children.
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The ArtsJune 2021Medieval film
by Anke Bernau, Bettina Bildhauer
Medieval film explores theoretical questions about the ideological, artistic, emotional and financial investments inhering in cinematic renditions of the medieval period. What does it mean to create and watch a 'medieval film'? What is a medieval film and why are they successful? This is the first work that attempts to answer these questions, drawing, for instance, on film theory, postcolonial theory, cultural studies and the growing body of work on medievalism. Contributors investigate British, German, Italian, Australian, French, Swedish and American film, exploring topics such translation, temporality, film noir, framing and period film - and find the medieval lurking in inexpected corners. In addition it provides in-depth studies of individual films from different countries including The Birth of a Nation to Nosferatu, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Medieval Film will be of interest to medievalists working in disciplines including literature, history, to scholars working on film and in cultural studies. It will also be of interest to undergraduates, postgraduates and to an informed enthusiast in film or/and medieval culture.
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The ArtsJanuary 2019Medieval film
by Anke Bernau, Bettina Bildhauer
Medieval film explores theoretical questions about the ideological, artistic, emotional and financial investments inhering in cinematic renditions of the medieval period. What does it mean to create and watch a 'medieval film'? What is a medieval film and why are they successful? This is the first work that attempts to answer these questions, drawing, for instance, on film theory, postcolonial theory, cultural studies and the growing body of work on medievalism. Contributors investigate British, German, Italian, Australian, French, Swedish and American film, exploring topics such translation, temporality, film noir, framing and period film - and find the medieval lurking in unexpected corners. In addition it provides in-depth studies of individual films from different countries including The Birth of a Nation to Nosferatu, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Medieval film will be of interest to medievalists working in disciplines including literature, history, art history, to scholars working on film and in cultural studies. It will also be of interest to undergraduates, postgraduates and to an informed enthusiast in film or/and medieval culture.
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March 2024Today Is a Good Day to Abolish the Patriarchy
by Bettina Schulte (ed.)
Do we still need feminism in Europe? Equality or difference feminism? A new generation of feminists has now broken away from the feminism of the 1960s. The old white Cis man has been discredited, by the "#MeToo" movement at the latest. Sexualised violence against women has been outlawed, perpetrators taken to court. So everything’s good? No, of course not. Men still dominate public discourse; men are unchallenged in leadership positions in politics, society and business; male power still prevails in the domestic environment as well. The extent to which men fight back when they feel threatened by feminism is also evident in the revival of authoritarian nationalist politicians in Europe and around the world. The seven authors shed light on feminist struggles in different areas of life, and illustrate the range of feminism today.
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Pu Songling's Desk-mate is A Flower Fairy
by Chang Li
The Picture Book of Philosophical Stories for Children inspired by four Chinese and foreign literary classics (Tales from a Carefree Studio, Moby Dick, Don Quixote, and A Midsummer Night's Dream), this book carefully retells the works of four famous writers - Pu Songling, Herman Melville, Cervantes, and Shakespeare - all set in the context of modern children's lives, containing profound philosophical ideas, and skillfully incorporating the true meaning of wisdom and discernment. The form of this book is children's favorite picture books style, so that children can talk to literary classics and understand the philosophy in the stories. According to Pu Songling's "Liao Zhai Zhiyi", the persona of Pu Songling is preserved and taken from the autobiography of "Liao Zhai Zhiyi" as well as part of the storyline. A lonely child with a world of his own. Showing a journey of waves, a history of retrospection and reflection, a future that should be even better. A lonely child, in need of friendship, a friend in trouble, in need of help. When the individual fights against power, the whole of nature comes to help, and the plant grows wildly, both in anger and in ecstasy.
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The ArtsJune 2021Contemporary Spanish cinema and genre
by Jay Beck, Vicente Rodríguez Ortega
This volume is the first English-language collection exclusively dedicated to the study of genre in relation to Spanish cinema. Providing a variety of critical perspectives, the collection gives the reader a thorough account of the relationship between Spanish cinema and genre, drawing on case studies of several of the most remarkable Spanish films in recent years. The book analyses the significant changes in the aesthetics, production and reception of Spanish film from 1990 onwards. It brings together European and North American scholars to establish a critical dialogue on the topics under discussion, while providing multiple perspectives on the concepts of national cinemas and genre theory. In recent years film scholarship has attempted to negotiate the tension between the nationally specific and the internationally ubiquitous, discussing how globalisation has influenced film making and surrounding cultural practice. These broader social concerns have prompted scholars to emphasise a redefinition of national cinemas beyond strict national boundaries and to pay attention to the transnational character of any national site of film production and reception. This collection provides a thorough investigation of contemporary Spanish cinema within a transnational framework, by positing cinematic genres as the meeting spaces between a variety of diverse forces that necessarily operate within but also across territorial spaces. Paying close attention to the specifics of the Spanish cinematic and social panorama, the essays investigate the transnational economic, cultural and aesthetic forces at play in shaping Spanish film genres today.
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The ArtsJanuary 2019Contemporary Spanish cinema and genre
by Jay Beck, Vicente Rodríguez Ortega
This volume is the first English-language collection exclusively dedicated to the study of genre in relation to Spanish cinema. Providing a variety of critical perspectives, the collection gives the reader a thorough account of the relationship between Spanish cinema and genre, drawing on case studies of several of the most remarkable Spanish films in recent years. The book analyses the significant changes in the aesthetics, production and reception of Spanish film from 1990 onwards. It brings together European and North American scholars to establish a critical dialogue on the topics under discussion, while providing multiple perspectives on the concepts of national cinemas and genre theory. In recent years film scholarship has attempted to negotiate the tension between the nationally specific and the internationally ubiquitous, discussing how globalisation has influenced film making and surrounding cultural practice. These broader social concerns have prompted scholars to emphasise a redefinition of national cinemas beyond strict national boundaries and to pay attention to the transnational character of any national site of film production and reception. This collection provides a thorough investigation of contemporary Spanish cinema within a transnational framework, by positing cinematic genres as the meeting spaces between a variety of diverse forces that necessarily operate within but also across territorial spaces. Paying close attention to the specifics of the Spanish cinematic and social panorama, the essays investigate the transnational economic, cultural and aesthetic forces at play in shaping Spanish film genres today.
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The ArtsJanuary 2019The British working class in postwar film
by Philip Gillett
An incidental pleasure of watching a film is what it tells us about the society in which it is made. Using a sociological model, The British working class in postwar film looks at how working-class people were portrayed in British feature films in the decade after the Second World War. Though some of the films examined are well known, others have been forgotten and deserve reassessment. Original statistical data is used to assess the popularity of the films with audiences. With its interdisciplinary approach and the avoidance of jargon, this book seeks to broaden the approach to film studies. Students of media and cultural studies are introduced to the skills of other disciplines, while sociologists and historians are encouraged to consider the value of film evidence in their own fields. This work should appeal to all readers interested in social history and in how cinema and society works.
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The ArtsJanuary 2019Patrice Leconte
by Lisa Downing
Lisa Downing's comprehensive study of the films of Patrice Leconte traces lines of continuity and revision through a body of apparently disparate films whose "messages" often appear both contradictory and controversial. Pursuing a close reading of the recurrent themes, styles, intertexts and techniques which structure Leconte's filmmaking, Downing re-evaluates Leconte's status as an enigmatic artist offering complex and paradoxical commentary on contemporary questions of sexuality, ethics and identity. This book is the first full-length critical work in English on Leconte's cinema. It provides essential reading for both enthusiasts of French cinema and for those fascinated by the relationship between popular culture and theory.
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The ArtsJanuary 2019The cultural politics of contemporary Hollywood film
by Chris Beasley, Heather Brook
