German-language cinema has always been more diverse than film historians admit. The contributions in this volume challenge us to recognize this heterogeneity in recent, post-millennial films from Germany and Austria. Close readings elaborate how filmmakers respond to the tensions that arise as the national and European social landscape changes, with implications for film aesthetics, funding, production, distribution, and reception. At ... Read morethe same time these crisply written chapters redefine the emerging cinema landscape within transnational market dynamics and capital flow. I recommend this volume to readers seeking to understand the multiplicity and hybridity of the post-1990s 'consensus' cinema.
Marc Silberman, University of Wisconsin, editor of 'The German Wall: Fallout in Europe' (2011) Cinema by all means has to be dangerous! (279) When Barbara Pichler quotes the title of Marcus Seibert's book of interviews with young Austrian filmmakers (2006), she also sums up the fifteen articles of this carefully edited volume, which presents a whole host of refreshing new perspectives on the most recent German-language film productions.... With its helpful abstracts, detailed notes, extensive reference lists, four-page filmography, and twelve-page index the book is an invaluable resource to anyone interested in German cinema in general and twenty-first century German cinema in particular. The articles present a forward-looking engagement with social issues that should serve as valuable reading in courses about contemporary Germany, Austria, and Europe, but also courses that want to explore European perspectives on globalization, or courses about the role of art in pursuit of social justice. They would provide a useful contrast, of course, in comparative courses with North American and other film productions. Indirectly the volume presents a strong case in favour of making all the films discussed available in region 1 format with English subtitles so that this exciting new German cinema can find the audience it deserves.
Sabine von Mering, Brandeis University
German Politics and Society Der vorliegende Sammelband ist eine englischsprachige Publikation, die eine vielfAltie und mAglichst differenzierte Sicht auf das zeitgenAssische deutsche und Asterreichische Kino anbietet.
Danila Lipatov (Moskau), Brandeis University
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