Cinema at the Periphery

From Iceland to Iran, from Singapore to Scotland, a growing intellectual & cultural wave of production is taking cinema beyond the borders of its place of origin-exploring faraway places, interacting with barely known peoples, & making new localities imaginable. In these films, previously entrenched spatial divisions no longer function as firmly fixed grid coordinates, the hierarchical position of place as "center" is subverted, & new forms of representation become possible. In Cinema at the Periphery, editors Dina Iordanova, David Martin-Jones, & Belén Vidal assemble criticism that explores issues of the periphery, including questions of transnationality, place, space, passage, & migration.

Cinema at the Periphery examines the periphery in terms of locations, practices, methods, & themes. It includes geographic case studies of small national cinemas located at the global margins, like New Zealand & Scotland, but also of filmmaking that comes from peripheral cultures, like Palestinian "stateless" cinema, Australian Aboriginal films, & cinema from Quebec. Therefore, the volume is divided into two key areas: industries & markets on the one hand, & identities & histories on the other. Yet as a whole, the contributors illustrate that the concept of "periphery" is not fixed but is always changing according to patterns of industry, ideology, & taste.

Cinema at the Periphery highlights the inextricable interrelationship that exists between production modes & circulation channels & the emerging narratives of histories & identities they enable. In the present era of globalization, this timely examination of the periphery will interest teachers & students of film & media studies.