Anxious Cinephilia: Pleasure and Peril at the Movies (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780231180863)

The advent of new screening practices and viewing habits in the twenty-first century has spurred a public debate over what it means to be a "cinephile." In Anxious Cinephilia, Sarah Keller places these competing visions in historical and theoretical perspective, tracing how the love of movies intertwines with anxieties over the content and impermanence of cinematic images.

Keller reframes the history of cinephilia from the earliest days of film through the French New Wave and into the streaming era, arguing that love and fear have shaped the cinematic experience from its earliest days. This anxious love for the cinema marks both institutional practices and personal experiences, from the curation of the moviegoing experience to the creation of community and identity through film festivals to posting on social media. Through a detailed analysis of films and film history, Keller examines how changes in cinema practice and spectatorship create anxiety even as they inspire nostalgia. Anxious Cinephilia offers a new theoretical approach to the relationship between spectator and cinema and reimagines the concept of cinephilia to embrace its diverse forms and its uncertain future.

Author: Sarah Keller
ISBN-10: 0231180861
ISBN-13: 9780231180863
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Language: English
Published: 04/21/2020
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.65lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.20w x 1.00d