Kinotopias: Film, Place and Belonging in a Bordered World (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781399536653)

Combining original research with insights from social sciences, philosophy and film theory, it argues that film can effectively capture both material and socio-cultural dimensions of borders and their underlying tensions. From popular cinema using border surveillance optics to militant and amateur filmmaking by borderlanders, Kinotopias: Film, Place and Belonging in a Bordered World traces diverging strategies that use film to enforce or overcome borders, demonstrating how film can become a political instrument for belonging. Introducing the concept of debordering film, the book urges a rethinking of how film is made, studied and understood, foregrounding neglected forms, voices and spatial experiences.

​​​​​​​Through an ambitious conceptual framework stemming from research on highly politicised borders in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, Kinotopias makes a strong case for the social and political power of film as a tool of resistance and reimagination.

Author: Kevin Smets,Lennart Soberon,Irene Gutiérrez-Torres
ISBN-10: 1399536656
ISBN-13: 9781399536653
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Language: English
Published: 07/31/2026
Pages: 224
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.08lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.56d