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A Short History of Film
by Wheeler Winston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster
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Book Presentation:
With more than 250 images, new information on international cinema—especially Polish, Chinese, Russian, Canadian, and Iranian filmmakers—an expanded section on African-American filmmakers, updated discussions of new works by major American directors, and a new section on the rise of comic book movies and computer generated special effects, this is the most up to date resource for film history courses in the twenty-first century.
About the authors:
WHEELER WINSTON DIXON is the James Ryan Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He is the author of many books, including Black and White Cinema: A Short History (Rutgers University Press), and an internationally known experimental filmmaker.
GWENDOLYN AUDREY FOSTER is Willa Cather Professor Emerita of Film Studies at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She is an award winning experimental filmmaker and a prolific author.
Press Reviews:
"This is the film history book we've been waiting for."
— David Sterritt
"A Short History of Film is a comprehensive and detailed overview of the last 100 years of international film history. It will prove to be a useful reference tool for all students of film, both in and out of the classroom."
— Paula J. Massood
"A new history of international film at an affordable price. Nothing like those text book prices for a change. Includes perspectives on women and minorities in film along with innovations in technology, genres, studios, and conglomerates."
— Stephanie Ogle
"This excellent introduction stands out in a crowded field with its lively, accessible writing, broad coverage, and particular focus on traditionally marginalized figures in film history...the most striking aspect of the book is the coverage of women, African Americans, and Third World filmmakers, which strongly complements its solid coverage of American and European film. Illustrations abound, and even the best-versed cineaste will find new films to track down after reading the breezy, enthusiastic analysis in this book. Highly recommended for all collections, this text would also make an excellent textbook for introductory film-studies courses."
— Library Journal starred review
"With the goal of offering 'a fast paced tour' of movie history, Dixon and Foster have produced a study in the tradition of Paul Rotha's The Film till Now. The authors touch all the bases--they address new trends in international moviemaking, technologies, and critical theory and the emergence of new national and ethnic cinemas--and relate film history to social history. Each new technique, style, school, trend, and newly visible ethnic or feminist group takes its place in the larger history, and Dixon and Foster make it all accessible to the neophyte reader without ever breaking the pace. Uncommonly well-reproduced stills and a topically organized bibliography enhance the discussion. Highly recommended."
— Choice
"Significant University Press Titles for Undergraduates, 2012-2013"
— Choice
"One of the more important features is the focus on women directors who may not be well known to the general public; this makes the book timely and a welcome change from older film textbooks that are more implicitly biased. A good read for those who are just starting to learn more about the silver screen."
— Choice
"A comprehensive and detailed overview of the last 100 years of international film history—what to watch while 'sheltering-in-place!'"
— LitHub
See the publisher website: Rutgers University Press
> From the same authors:
Death of the Moguls (2012)
The End of Classical Hollywood
21st-Century Hollywood (2011)
Movies in the Era of Transformation
by Wheeler Winston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster
Subject: Economics
Visions of Paradise (2006)
Images of Eden in the Cinema
Experimental Cinema, The Film Reader (2002)
Dir. Gwendolyn Audrey Foster and Wheeler Winston Dixon
Subject: Genre > Experimental
The Exploding Eye (1997)
A Re-Visionary History of 1960s American Experimental Cinema
Subject: Genre > Experimental
Women Filmmakers of the African & Asian Diaspora (1997)
Decolonizing the Gaze, Locating Subjectivity
Subject: Countries > United States
> On a related topic:
The Routledge Companion to American Film History (2025)
Dir. Pamela Robertson Wojcik and Paula J. Massood
Subject: History of Cinema
The Enchanting Kinora (2025)
Domesticating Moving Images in Edwardian Britain
by Elizabeth Evans and Llewella Chapman
Subject: History of Cinema
Rethinking the Cinematic Cold War (2025)
The Struggle for Hearts and Minds Goes Global
Dir. Stefano Pisu, Francesco Pitassio and Maurizio Zinni
Subject: History of Cinema
How Film Histories Were Made (2023)
Materials, Methods, Discourses
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Subject: History of Cinema
Histoires d'appareils / Tales from the Vaults (2023)
La technologie du cinéma à travers les années et les continents
Dir. Louis Pelletier and Rachael Stoeltje
(in French and English)
Subject: History of Cinema
Accidental Archivism (2023)
Shaping Cinema’s Futures with Remnants of the Past
Dir. Stefanie Schulte Strathaus and Vinzenz Hediger
Subject: History of Cinema
The Story of Victorian Film (2023)
by Bryony Dixon, Mark Duguid and Patrick Russell
Subject: History of Cinema
The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures (2023)
A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies
by Paul Fischer
Subject: History of Cinema
The Women Who Built Hollywood (2023)
12 Trailblazers in Front of and Behind the Camera
Subject: History of Cinema
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