Includes bibliographical references and index.

Cover; Series page; Title page; Copyright page; List of Contributors; Acknowledgments; Editorial Practice; Introduction; Contexts: Institutional, Political, Cultural, and Economic; Characteristics of Contemporary French Cinema; Thematic Preoccupations; Trends, Developments, and the Future of French Cinema; Part I: Economic, Institutional, and Political Contexts; 1 The Political Economy of French Cinema; Changing Patterns of Cinema Attendance; Cinematic Production and Its Outcomes; The Competitiveness of French Cinema and Market Share; Concentration and Diversity.

The Transformation of the Pool of TheatersThe Future of Cinematic Theaters; Conclusion; 2 "Do We Have the Right to Exist?" French Cinema, Culture, and World Trade; France; Europe: Television Without Frontiers; Cultural Exception: GATT; Cultural Diversity: MAI/UNESCO; Conclusion; 3 Historicizing Contemporary French Blockbusters; A Tentative Typology; "Cultural Diversity" or Cultural Crisis?; The Second Lang Plan (1989-1993); The Maturation of a "Forced Marriage"; StudioCanal in the Crosshairs; A New Oligopoly?; Conclusion; 4 Moving Between Screens.

The Role of Television in the Financing of CinemaArte as a Stimulus and Sponsor of the New Cinema; A Cinema of Collections; Realism and Television; The Revival of Documentary; Films/Telefilms: A Play of Mirrors; "Television Films" and Cinema Formatting; From Comic Television to Comedy in Cinemas; Cinema and Televised Series; Conclusion; 5 Contemporary Political Cinema; Taking Stock: Working-Class Histories and the Exit from Fordism; Outsiders and Victims, Ethics and Politics; Political Effectiveness; New Departures?; 6 Diasporic and Postcolonial Cinema in France from the 1990s to the Present.

Auteur-led Productions and the "Return" of the Politicalin Diasporic and Postcolonial Cinema Since the 1990sFrom Margins to the Mainstream: Postcolonial Comedy and the Mainstreaming of Maghrebi-French Filmmakers in the 2000s; Memorializing Colonial History: From Neo-Colonial to "Counter-Heritage" Cinema; Return Narratives in Diasporic Cinema of the 2000s; Beyond Ethnicity? Reconfiguring Difference in Diasporic Cinema; Part II: Auteurs and Auteurism; 7 The Veterans of the New Wave, Their Heirs, and Contemporary French Cinema; The Extraordinary Fecundity of the Veterans of the New Wave.

The Quartet of Founding Members: Chabrol, Rohmer, Rivette, GodardThe "Left Bank" of the New Wave; A Problematical Legacy; Epilogue: The Enduring Influence of Bresson and Pialat; 8 Was There a Young French Cinema?; To What Does the Term "Young French Cinema" Refer?; The Arrival of the New Cinema; The Counter-Attack of Positif; Maturity and Defining Parameters; New Appraisals, New Perspectives; Consensus and Uncertainties; What Remains of the Young French Cinema?; 9 Auteurism, Personal Cinema, and the Fémis Generation; Characteristics of Auteur Cinema; Categories of Auteur Directors.

A Companion to Contemporary French Cinema presents acomprehensive collection of original essays addressing all aspectsof French cinema from 1990 to the present day. Features original contributions from top film scholarsrelating to all aspects of contemporary French cinema Includes new research on matters relating to thepolitical economy of contemporary French cinema, developments incinema policy, audience attendance, and the types, building, andrenovation of theaters Utilizes groundbreaking research on cinema beyond thefiction film and the cinema-theater such as documentary, amateur, and digit.

Print version record and CIP data provided by publisher.