German Cinema

This work contains over 200 entries on film, actors, directors, producers, cinematographers, critics, film industry, film movements and festivals covering German-speaking cinema from the 1890s to the popular comedies of the 1990s. Articles consider emigre directors, film politics and Nazi cinema.

Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts is an essential guide for anyone interested in film. Providing accessible coverage of a comprehensive range of genres, movements, theories and production terms, this is a must-have guide to a fascinating area of study and arguably the greatest art form of modern times.

This comprehensive guide is an ideal reference work for film specialists and enthusiasts. Included are directors and actors, writers and cameramen, composers and production designers, film theorists and critics, producers and distributors, inventors and manufacturers. An appendix includes short introductory essays on specific periods and movements, such as Early Film, Weimar, Nazi Cinema, DEFA, New German Cinema, and German film since unification, as well as on cinematic developments in Austria and Switzerland.

This volume clearly and accessibly explains the major theoretical approaches now deployed in the study of the moving image as well as defining key theoretical terms.

East Germany's film monopoly, Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft (DEFA), produced a breadth and depth of films ranging beyond simple propaganda to westerns, science fiction films, musicals, melodramas, spy thrillers, women's films, fairy tales, and children's films. This book covers the entire range of filmmaking under the DEFA logo, from their beginnings in the Soviet Occupied Zone through unification and shows their continuing impact in contemporary culture.

This encyclopedia provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to film and film studies, covering such aspects as production, national traditions, studios, genres, critical theory and film history. Approximately 200 entries cover specific topics, including acting, censorship, editing, lighting and others.

Encompassing the full range of German cinema between the wars, each chapter illuminates the technological advancements of a given film, its detailed production history, its critical reception over time, and the place it occupies within the larger history of the German studio and of Weimar cinema in general.