Books in the ReFocus: The International Directors Series series

Featuring essays from both recognized and up-and-coming scholars in Scandinavian, transnational and feminist film and media studies, this book also includes an original interview with Bier, addressing some of the provocative readings of her films advanced by the volume's contributors.

Ever since his first feature film I Killed My Mother premiered at Cannes, every film from the 29-year-old director Xavier Dolan has generated significant critical interest. A recipient of numerous awards, Dolan has recently taken his career to an international level with The Death and Life of John F. Donovan. As the first book-length study about Dolan, with case studies of key films like Mommy (2014), Tom at the Farm (2013) and It's Only the End of the World (2016), this volume explores the global reach of small national and subnational cinemas. In particular, it uses Dolan's cinema as a departure point to reconsider the position of Québec film and cultural imaginary within a global cinematic culture, as well as the intersections between national, millennial and queer filmmaking.Andrée Lafontaine is Assistant Professor of Anglophone Literature and Culture at the University of Tsukuba (Japan).

Rakshi Banietemad is one of Iran's first female film directors. This book, the first English language study of her films and career, contains chapters by some of the most prominent scholars of Iranian cinema, as well as younger scholars with fresh points of view.Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, the book gives special attention to Banietemad's under-studied documentaries and films, including Under the Skin of the City (2000) and Tales (2014), while offering new perspectives on well-known works such as The Blue Veiled (1994) and The May Lady (1997). The contributors focus on questions of aesthetics and poetics, social realism, gender dynamics and the 'afterimages' and 'counter-memories' of revolution and war, and the book also includes an in-depth interview with Banietemad herself.Maryam Ghorbankarimi is a Lecturer in Film at Lancaster University. Her research concentrates on Iranian Cinema and transnational cinema and cultures, specifically the representation of gender in Middle Eastern cinemas.

Using an auterist lens to challenge the notions of taste, genre and aesthetics that are commonly used to form the cinematic canon, this book explores the twelve films Veber directed between 1976 and 2008. These include Le Jouet (1976), Les fugitifs (1986) and L'emmerdeur (2008).

This is the first English-language study of internationally acclaimed Portuguese filmmaker Pedro Costa, examining the cultural, production and exhibition contexts of his feature films, shorts and video installations. It situates Costa's filmmaking within the contexts of Portuguese, European and global art film, looking into his working practices alongside the impact of digital video, forms of collaborative authorship, and the intricate dialogue between modes of production and aesthetics. Considering the exhibition, circulation and reception of Costa's creative output in settings such as film festivals, the art gallery circuit and the home video market, ReFocus: The Films of Pedro Costa provides an essential critical analysis of this major filmmaker - as well as of the multifaceted production and consumption practices that surround contemporary art cinema.

Reassesses the work of the influential Russian filmmaker Andrei TarkovskySheds new light on Tarkovsky's biography in connection to his filmsAssesses the director's contributions to film theory and aesthetics by close analysis of his films and writingsOffers highly original interpretations of Tarkovsky's oeuvre in the context of film aesthetics, psychoanalysis, philosophy, cultural studies and art historyTraces the influence of Tarkovsky's legacy on contemporary filmmakersDespite an output of only 7 feature films in 20 years, Andrei Tarkovsky has had a profound influence on international cinema. Famous for their spiritual depth and incredible visual beauty, his films have gained cult status among cineastes and are often included in ranking polls and charts dedicated to the 'best movies ever made.' Beginning with the late 1980s, Tarkovsky's highly complex cinema has continuously attracted scholarly attention by generating countless hermeneutic challenges and possibilities for film critics.This book provides a fresh look at the director's legacy, with critical essays by both world-famous and early-career film scholars. It examines Tarkovsky's cinematic techniques and his treatment of genre, landscape and sound and offers highly original interpretations of his oeuvre in the context of film aesthetics, psychoanalysis, philosophy, cultural studies and art history.

Assessing his work in the context of film aesthetics, philosophy, history, adaptation studies and cultural studies, this is the first book-length English-language anthology about this important director's cinema, offering a wide range of perspectives by a diverse range of international scholars.