Virginia Wright Wexman has pulled together some of the freshest writing available on the topic of film authorship. Spanning approaches including poststructuralism, feminism, queer theory, postcolonialism, and cultural studies, the contributors ask, what does auteurship look like today in light of all these developments? The contents of the volume are divided into three major sections: Theoretical Statements, Historical and Institutional Contexts, and Case Studies. Wexmans comprehensive introduction contextualizes the selections and summarizes the scholarly methods through which auteurism has been addressed in the past; it also provides a sketch of the history of media authorship. An extensive bibliography rounds off the volume.

This innovative essay collection explores Asian American cinematic representations historically and socially, on and off screen, as they contribute to the definition of American character. The history of Asian Americans on movie screens, as outlined in Peter X. Feng’s introduction, provides a context for the individual readings that follow. Asian American cinema is charted in its diversity, ranging across activist, documentary, experimental, and fictional modes, and encompassing a wide range of ethnicities (Filipino, Vietnamese, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Taiwanese). Covered in the discussion are filmmakers—Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Ang Lee, Trinh T. Minh-ha, and Wayne Wang—and films such as The Wedding Banquet, Surname Viet Given Name Nam, and Chan is Missing.
 

Film and Nationalism examines the ways in which cinema has been considered an arena of conflict and interaction between nations and nationhood. Each section of this volume explores a crucial aspect of the discussion. Is film an effective form of national propaganda? Are films losing the very notion of nationhood, in favor of a generalized, "global" cinematographic culture? What is films influence over "national character"? In addition, the volume explores the cultural and economic interactions between developed and underdeveloped countries. How have third world nations defined themselves in relation to hegemonic first world cultures, and how have their relations been changed through the dissemination of Western films? Throughout, Alan Williams chooses essays that enhance our understanding of how films help shape our sense of nationhood and self.