The aim of this series is to present in lively, authoritative volumes a guide to those film-makers who have made British cinema a rewarding but still under-researched branch of world cinema. The intention is to provide books which are up-to-date in terms of information and critical approach, but not bound to any one theoretical methodology. Though all books in the series will have certain elements in common – comprehensive filmographies, annotated bibliographies, appropriate illustration – the actual critical tools employed will be the responsibility of the individual authors.

Series editors: Brian McFarlane and Neil Sinyard

Series advisors: Allen Eyles, Sue Harper, Tim Pulleine, Jeffrey Richards, Tom Ryall and Melanie Williams

Since the 1970s, many academics and teachers have been taking the study of film out of film studies by producing curricula and critical literature hostile to notions of artistic endeavour and aesthetic value. An old heresy is a new orthodoxy, and the argument that the cinema exists solely to illustrate the politics of culture, identity and pleasure is no longer an argument; it is now a ‘core doctrine’ of film education, particularly in the UK and the US. The Cinema Aesthetics series aims to challenge this orthodoxy by publishing visually literate and intellectually creative studies that explore a specific term, critical category, or interdisciplinary issue.

Series editors: Des O'Rawe

To an anglophone audience, the combination of the words ‘French’ and ‘cinema’ evokes a particular kind of film: elegant and wordy, sexy but serious – an image as dependent upon national stereotypes as is that of the crudely commercial Hollywood blockbuster, which is not to say that either image is without foundation. Over the past two decades, this generalised sense of a significant relationship between French identity and film has been explored in scholarly books and articles, and has entered the curriculum at university level and, in Britain, at A-level. The growth in multi-screen and ‘art-house’ cinemas, together with the development of the video industry, has led to the greater availability of foreign-language films to an English-speaking audience. Responding to these developments, this series is designed for students and teachers seeking information and accessible but rigorous critical study of French cinema, and for the enthusiastic filmgoer who wants to know more.

Series editors: Diana Holmes and Robert Ingram

Series advisor: Dudley Andrew

Inside Popular Film is a forum for writers working to develop new ways of analysing popular film. Each book offers a critical introduction to existing debates while exploring new approaches. In general, the books give historically informed accounts of popular film, which present this area as altogether more complex than is commonly suggested by established film theories.

Series editors: Mark Jancovich and Eric Schaefer

This series offers a focus on new filmmakers; reclaims previously neglected filmmakers; and considers established figures from new and different perspectives. Each volume places its subject in a variety of critical and production contexts.

The series sees these figures as more than just auteurs, thus offering an insight into the work and contexts of producers, writers, actors, production companies and studios. The studies in this series take into account the recent changes in Spanish and Latin American film studies, such as the new emphasis on popular cinema, and the influence of cultural studies in the analysis of films and of the film cultures produced within the Spanish-speaking industries.

Series editor: Nuria Triana Toribio Andrew Willis

Television is part of our everyday experience, and one of the most significant aspects of our cultural lives today. Yet its practitioners and its artistic and cultural achievements remain relatively unacknowledged. The books in this series aim to remedy this by addressing the work of major television writers and creators. Each volume provides an authoritative and accessible guide to a particular practitioner’s body of work, and assesses his or her contribution to television over the years. Many of the volumes draw on original sources, such as specially conducted interviews and archive material, and all of them list relevant bibliographic sources and further reading and viewing. The author of each book makes a case for the importance of the work considered therein, and the series includes books on neglected or overlooked practitioners alongside well-known ones.

Series editors: Jonathan Bignell, Sarah Cardwell and Steven Peacock