Explorations in New Cinema History: Approaches and Case Studies

Explorations in New Cinema History presents an original approach to writing and understanding the social and cultural history of cinema, focusing on cinema's audiences, the commercial activities of film exhibition and distribution, and the cinema as a site of social and cultural exchange.

If cinema history is to engage with broader social histories, this pioneering collection argues, it must concern itself not with the production of individual films, but with audiences, cinemagoing, and the role that cinema plays in culture at large. Bringing together a collection of essays written by scholars working on the leading edge of the field, this volume prompts us to question and revise our understanding of key periods of cinema history, and opens up cinema studies to long-overdue conversations with other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.

Contributors describe the very different forms of cinema and the experiences they offer their audiences, from the luxurious first-run movie palaces and downmarket "grind houses" of the major metropolitan centres to the altogether different theatres in small-town and remote rural communities. Their essays employ empirical research methods such as the use of geographical information systems to provide illuminating insights into the uses of cinema, making this an engaging read for all students of film history and cinema studies.