Subject Librarian
Dartmouth College
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Other library resource(s)
Digitalia Film Library and Kanopy are streaming services to which the Library subscribes. Both services have different collections of French cinema in their libraries.
Cinéma Français from Media History Digital Library by Call Number: Electronic resourceAs the site of what was likely the first ever public screening of a projected film, France is considered by many to be the birthplace of cinema itself. The French film industry was powerful and important in cinema’s early days, with companies like Pathé and Gaumont producing huge numbers of films in impressive facilities. In this collection, issues of Ciné-Journal cover this period of particular strength for the French film industry. However, like many European film industries, film production in France suffered during and after World War I. The United States’ film industry was not affected like its European counterparts and was able to make up much of the ground that the French industry lost during wartime. This is notable in some of the later publications from the 1920s and 1930s included below, like Cinéa and La Cinématographie Française, which frequently feature American-based stars and figures like Charlie Chaplin, Janet Gaynor, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Adolph Zukor.
Digitalia film library. French cinemaCall Number: Streaming videoA small collection of French films from Digitalia.
French cinema from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199791286As befits the country of the cinema’s official “birth,” France boasts a long tradition of writing on film. In the 1920s, avant-garde filmmakers such as Louis Delluc and Jean Epstein started theorizing cinema’s specificity as a medium, while in the 1930s debates turned political. During that decade critics and historians such as Georges Sadoul began also to reflect on film history. Major works on French cinema, however, started to appear only after World War II.
Internet resource(s)
- Film, TV & Digital MediaSponsored by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States.
Keeping up with the journal literature
Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for a national or regional cinema? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents (ToCs) of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC's you can download and read the articles you want.
You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.
Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's now available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.
Introduction to French cinema
France can boast one of the world’s oldest-established film industries, and, with a current annual output of close to 300 feature films, the largest output of feature films in Europe. On 28 December 1895 the French brothers Louis and Auguste Lumière presented a programme of projected films to a paying audience in Paris, and then embarked on an international tour with their Cinématographe. In the following year, Georges Méliès presented his first ‘trick-film’, Une partie de cartes; and soon after this, Léon Gaumont and Charles Pathé laid the foundations of their respective film production enterprises, both of which are still in existence. In 1900 Alice Guy was appointed director of Gaumont and, having already made La fée aux choux/The Cabbage Fairy (1896), can be counted as the first of France’s many female film directors. The industry flourished until the outbreak of World War I—successes of the prewar period include the Film d’Art, a studio and an internationally successful movement devoted to ‘quality’ film; as well as Louis Feuillade’s popular adventure serial Fantômas (1913–14)—but it subsequently struggled under pressure of competition from foreign imports. ...
Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020). France, film in. In A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 Dec. 2021
Beur cinema
A body of films made since the 1980s in France by directors of North African descent, bringing the immigrant experience to the screen and addressing issues of identity and integration facing the second generation. ‘Beur’ is Parisian backslang for Arabe, and the term was originally coined by and for those to whom it refers. It was taken up in the French media in the 1980s and remains in common usage, though it is now regarded by its originators as pejorative. Commentators argue that ‘beur’ nonetheless remains useful shorthand for an identifiable body of films the study of which sheds light on issues of cinema and cultural identity, and complicates and advances understandings of diasporic cinema and intercultural cinema (see postcolonialism). Beur cinema first came to international attention with Mehdi Charef’s award-winning debut feature Le thé au harem d’Archimède/Tea in the Harem (1985) and Rachid Bouchareb’s Bâton rouge (1985), and within a decade had established a set of broadly shared themes and stylistic characteristics: settings featuring banlieues (districts on the outskirts of Paris and some other French cities that are densely populated by immigrants); distinctive, and increasingly fluid and permeable, fictional spaces (as in Hexagone (Malik Chibane, 1994)); migration memories of the previous generation (as in Inch’Allah dimanche/Inch’Allah Sunday (Yamina Benguigui, 2002)); and the tensions and contradictions of a multilayered identity within French society (as in La graine et le mulet/Couscous (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2007). ...
Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020). Beur cinema. In A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 Nov. 2022
In the library's collections/Searching the online catalog
You can use the subject heading below to find resources in the online catalog. The call number range is also included.
- motion pictures franceCall number range PN 1993.5 .F7 on Baker Level 4. Please note: this is not the only call number range, but it has the most items.
Introductory reading(s)
La belle histoire du cinéma français en 101 films by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9782200623609This book includes key classics, public successes, rare or innovative films, each of which is summarized and followed by an analysis, where the context of their shooting, their themes, their aesthetics, their audience as well as their influence are discussed and illustrated. Discover or rediscover in a new light some of the works that have marked more than a century of French production, and register recent films in this prestigious genealogy.
Cinema-monde: decentred perspectives on global filmmaking in French by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .F74 C56 2018ISBN: 9781474414982The first book devoted to a wide-ranging study of developments in global French-language cinema, from Quebec to Mauritania and from Belgium to Cambodia, Cinéma-monde picks up on the lively scholarly debates generated by the related topic of littérature-monde. ...
French cinema: a critical filmography: volume 1, 1929-1939 by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780253016966This invaluable resource by one of the world's leading experts in French cinema presents a coherent overview of French cinema in the 20th century and its place and function in French society.
French cinema: a critical filmography: volume 2, 1940-1958 by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780253016959Each filmography includes 101 films listed chronologically and provides accessible points of entry into the remarkable world of 20th-century French cinema. All entries contain a list of cast members and characters, production details, an overview of the film's cultural and historical significance, and a critical summary of the film's plot and narrative structure. Each volume includes an appendix listing rewards earned and an extensive reference list for further reading and research. A third volume, covering the period 1958-1974, is forthcoming.
French national cinema by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .F7 H39 2005ISBN: 9780415307833Publication Date: 2nd ed.... French National Cinema offers a thorough and much-needed historical overview of French cinema at a time when it continues to grow in popularity with films such as Amelie and Belleville Rendez-vous.
Historical dictionary of French cinema by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .F7 O83 2007ISBN: 9780810854918The Historical Dictionary of French Cinema covers the history of French film from the silent era to the present in a concise and up to date volume detailing the development of French cinema and major theoretical and cultural issues related to it. This is done through a chronology, an introduction, photographs, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on many of the major actors, directors, films, movements, producers, and studios associated with French cinema. Going beyond mere biographical information, entries also discuss the impact and significance of each individual, film, movement, or studio included. This detailed, scholarly analysis of the development of film in France is useful to both the novice and the expert alike.
Selected book title(s)
Beyond auteurism: new directions in authorial film practices in France, Italy and Spain since the 1980s by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .A837 M38 2008ISBN: 9781841502045Beyond Auteurism is a comprehensive study of nine directors who have blurred the boundaries between art house and mainstream, national and transnational, film production. Rosanna Maule argues that the film auteur is not only the most important symbol of European cinema's cultural tradition, but a crucial part of Europe's efforts to develop its cinema within domestic and international film industries.
Cinema and the second sex: women's filmmaking in France in the 1980s and 1990s by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .F7 T27 2001ISBN: 9780826447425Women's film-making in France is a source of both delight and despair. On the one hand, the numbers are impressive--during the period in question, over 250 feature-length films were made by over 100 women directors in France. On the other hand, despite the heritage of French feminism, French women directors characteristically disclaim their gender as a significant factor in their film-making. This incisive study provides an informative, critical guide to this major body of work, exploring the boundaries between personal films (intimate psychological dramas relating to key stages in life) and genre films (which demonstrate women's ability to appropriate and rework popular genres). It analyzes the effects of "postfeminism," women's desire to enter the mainstream, and the recent impact of a new generation of filmmakers. ...
Cinema in an age of terror: North Africa, victimization, and colonial history by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9.P6 O75 2010ISBN: 9780803228092Cinema in an Age of Terror looks at how cinematic representations of colonial-era victimization inform our understanding of the contemporary age of terror. By examining works representing colonial history and the dynamics of spectatorship emerging from them, Michael F. O'Riley reveals how the centrality of victimization in certain cinematic representations of colonial history can help us understand how the desire to occupy the victim's position is a dangerous and blinding drive that frequently plays into the vision of terrorism. ...- Dictionnaire du cinéma français byCall Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.45 .D533 1987ISBN: 9782037200318
Post-Beur cinema: North African émigré and Maghrebi-French filmmaking in France since 2000 by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780748640041Since the early 1980s and the arrival of Beur cinema filmmakers of Maghrebi origin have made a key contribution French cinema's representation of issues such as immigration, integration and national identity. However, they have done so mostly from a position on the margins of the industry. In contrast, since the early 2000s, Maghrebi-French and North African émigré filmmakers have occupied an increasingly prominent position on both sides of the camera, announcing their presence on French screens in a wider range of genres and styles than ever before. ...
Studies in French cinema: UK perspectives, 1985-2010 by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .F8 S78 2011ISBN: 9781841503233Studies in French Cinema looks at the development of French screen studies in the United Kingdom over the past twenty years and the ways in which innovative scholarship in the UK has helped shape the field in English- and French-speaking universities. This seminal text is also a tribute to six key figures within the field who have been leaders in research and teaching of French cinema: ...
Finding journal articles
Articles and other writings about French film can be found in many publications. Our collection includes 1 journal which looks exclusively at French film. You can use Film & Television Literature Index to find articles or use the search box at the top of the page. Below is the title we have in our Library's collection.
French screen studies by Call Number: Electronic journalFrench Screen Studies is the only journal devoted exclusively to French and francophone cinema, providing scholars, teachers and students from around the world with a consistent quality of academic investigation across the full breadth of the subject. Contributors explore the cultural and technical aspects of French cinema from a wide range of methodological perspectives.- Cairn Bouquet French studiesCall Number: Electronic journalsFull text English language articles selected from the larger French-language Cairn.info database for their importance to their disciplines. Also includes an email notification service for new translations.
Film & television literature index by Call Number: Electronic resourceUse this index to find articles about this national cinema.
Screen studies collection by Call Number: Electronic resourceA comprehensive survey of current publications related to film scholarship alongside detailed filmographies. This collection includes the FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals Database and the detailed and complementary filmographies created by the American Film Institute (AFI) and the British Film Institute.
The web of science citation databases by Call Number: Electronic resourceThe online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.
Selected movie titles
Find more French film titles in the library's online catalog.
100% Arabica by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #4699ISBN: 9781565805415The rising popularity of a local band threatens orthodox religious groups in a mixed Arab and African housing project outside Paris. Attendance at the mosque falls and drastic measures are taken to keep the balance of power in the hands of the religious leaders. No one can stop the infectious popularity of the music, however, and when all the musicians finally sing together, everyone is united.
Belle de jour by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #3274ISBN: 9780788833397Subtle, erotic film about a wealthy young surgeon's wife who indulges her masochistic fantasies by working as a part-time prostitute in a Paris brothel.
L'armée des ombres = Army of shadows by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #5133ISBN: 9781934121481A civil engineer who is one of the French Resistance's chiefs is given away by a traitor and interned in a camp. He manages to escape and join his network at Marseilles, where he has the traitor executed.
Le cérémonie by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #2260ISBN: 9780780028968Catherine hires the illiterate Sophie to work as her maid at her remote home in the French countryside. But Sophie soon falls under the influence of the mysterious Jeanne and suddenly the stage is set for murder, violence and betrayal.
Les cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma = One hundred and one nights by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #861ISBN: 9781572527577Simon Cinéma, an aging director, hires a film student to give his memory a daily workout. The student recalls his career ; stars pop in to talk. All the while, the student is plotting to con Simon out of his money.
Mon meilleur ami = My best friend by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #6052ISBN: 9781594448294Unlikeable antiques dealer François always gets what he wants, but there's one thing he's never had: a friend. Challenged to a bet by his business partner, François must find someone who will pose as his best pal in just 10 days. Enlisting the assistance of charming taxi driver Bruno, François goes to outrageous lengths to be a likeable guy.
Orfeu negro = Black Orpheus by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #2269ISBN: 9780780022218Story based on the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice set against the colorful background of the carnival in Rio de Janiero. With its magnificent color photography and lively soundtrack, this film brought the infectious bossa nova beat to the United States.
That obscure object of desire = Cet obscur objet du désir by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #4009ISBN: 9780780024618A middle-aged man falls in love with a much younger woman in this satire of sexual obsession.
Une affaire de femmes = Story of womenCall Number: Jones Media DVD #2015ISBN: 9780780028975To survive Nazi-occupied 1940's France, Marie turns to illegally aborting pregnancies for a hefty fee. As her income increases, Marie moves her family to a posh apartment. Completely seduced by her lifestyle, Marie ignores her shell-shocked husband Paul. Things take a disastrous turn after one of Marie's "customers" dies and her husband turns her over to the authorities. Inspired by the real-life of Marie-Louise Girard, who was executed in 1943 by the Vichy Government, who'd declared abortion as a Crime Against the State because it diminished the number of potential soldiers.
