Exploring the Transnational in Film Studies

2017

Some of the speakers at the conference addressed the topic of migration in film, but most of them dealt with the circulation and distribution of films, aesthetics, genres beyond national borders, or with the analysis of mechanisms of the international coproduction and funding of films. […] The conference achieved its aim of becoming one of the first events to encourage the exchange of ideas about the "transnational" in film studies in the German-speaking world, but at the same time, it left many issues unresolved.

In this talk I aim to present an overview of the historical shifts of the transnational in film studies, and consider the ways in which the discipline has responded to developments in the social sciences. In the talk I outline the key areas of focus in what I refer to as the first phase of transnational cinema studies. These are: migration and cinema and exilic and diasporic filmmaking; transnationalizing readings of national and regional cinema; historical readings of transnational cinema; and film festival studies. Following this, I discuss some of the strengths and limitations in attempting to categorize and assess scales of transnationality in film production. The final section of the talk presents an overview of the second phase of transnational film studies, and considers the expanded reach of the transnational to the many fields that make up the discipline.

This chapter aims to present an overview of the history of the transnational in film studies, and consider the ways in which the discipline has responded to developments in the social sciences following a transnational momentum in film studies from 2005, with the following years seeing a number of conceptual and theoretical essays and edited volumes and the founding of a journal, Transnational Cinemas in 2010. It outlines the key areas of focus in the first phase of transnational cinema studies: migration and cinema and exilic and diasporic filmmaking; transnationalising readings of national and regional cinema; historical readings of transnational cinema; and film festival studies. Following this, the chapter discusses approaches to transnational film theory through an analysis of a selection of definitional essays on the subject. The final section of the chapter presents an overview of the second phase of transnational film studies, and considers the expanded reach of the transnational to the many fields that make up the discipline.

Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies, 2016

he acute processes of globalisation at the turn of the century have generated an increased interest in exploring the interactions between the so-called global cultural products or trends and their specific local manifestations. Even though cross-cultural connections are becoming more patent in filmic productions in the last decades, cinema per se has always been characterized by its hybrid, transnational, border-crossing nature. From its own inception, Spanish film production was soon tied to the Hollywood film industry for its subsistence, but other film traditions such as those in the Soviet Union, France, Germany and, in particular, Italy also determined either directly or indirectly the development of Spanish cinema. Global Genres, Local Films: The Transnational Dimension of Spanish Cinema reaches beyond the limits of the film text and analyses and contextualizes the impact of global film trends and genres on Spanish cinema in order to study how they helped articulate specific national challenges from the conflict between liberalism and tradition in the first decades of the 20th century to the management of the contemporary financial crisis. This collection provides the first comprehensive picture of the complex national and supranational forces that have shaped Spanish films, revealing the tensions and the intricate dialogue between cross-cultural aesthetic and narrative models on the one hand, and indigenous traditions on the other, as well as the political and historical contingencies these different expressions responded to.

Transnational Cinemas, 2010

This article aims to map out the various concepts of transnational cinema that have appeared over the past ten to fifteen years, and its state of deployment, related issues and problematics. It argues for a critical form of transnationalism in film studies that might help us interpret more productively the interface between global and local, national and transnational. It also aims to move away from a Eurocentric approach towards the reading of such films. It will illustrate how the concept of transnational cinema has been at once useful and problematic, liberating and limiting, by focusing on two case studies -diasporic and postcolonial cinemas and Chinese and East Asian cinemas -that provide fertile ground for interrogating the concept of the transnational.

2019

Film history surveys have traditionally revolved around North American and European developments. However, the digital era allows an increasing access to film cultures from other regions, which is forcing the redefinition of film history surveys and their learning methodologies. Educators in the twenty-first century now have a responsibility to update their approaches to the discipline by challenging its traditional Euro-American focus. Nevertheless, that is not an easy task, as film studies has evolved from Western canons, paradigms, and models which are unsuitable for the study of ‘other’ cinemas.

The standard analytical category of "national cinema" has increasingly been called into question by the category of the "transnational." This anthology examines the premises and consequences of the coexistence of these two categories and the parameters of historiographical approaches that cross the borders of nation-states. The three sections of World Cinemas, Transnational Perspectives cover the geopolitical imaginary, transnational cinematic institutions, and the uneven flow of words and images.

2012

"[T]he carefully constructed essays in [this volume] contribute to elevating this reference book so much more than its component parts could have achieved - much like German cinema itself. It is a volume that contributes significantly to reference works on German cinema, European cinema, and cinematic history. Any academic library that has students that might get the merest whiff of cinema as part of their curriculum should ensure this work is available to them." -- Matt Borg, Sheffield Hallam University, REFERENCE REVIEWS “A Companion to German Cinema represents the cutting edge of German cinema studies that will force scholars to rethink their approach to the subject. Conceptually innovative and theoretically rigorous, the collection convincingly claims that the renewal of the field must occur from its margins.” -- Roy Grundmann, Boston University “This book is meant to re-envision what has been little seen, unsettle your thinking about German cinema and visual culture, and examine German cinema’s socially transformative potential.” -- Dora Apel, Wayne State University “Combining a path-breaking exploration of German cinema beyond the canon with a serious contribution to theories of nation and transnationalism, this collection is a much-needed addition to European film scholarship.” -- Rosalind Galt, University of Sussex A COMPANION TO GERMAN CINEMA offers a wide-ranging collection of essays demonstrating state-of-play scholarship on German cinema at a time during which cinema studies as well as German cinema have once again begun to flourish. * Offers a careful combination of theoretical rigor, conceptual accessibility, and intellectual inclusiveness * Includes essays by well-known writers as well as up-and-coming scholars who take innovative critical approaches to both time-honored and emergent areas in the field, especially regarding race, gender, sexuality, and (trans)nationalism * Distinctive for its contemporary relevance, reorienting the field to the global twenty-first century * Fills critical gaps in the extant scholarship, opening the field onto new terrains of critical engagement

Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 2015