A Companion to Motion Pictures and Public Value

A singular collection of original essays exploring the varied intersections of motion pictures and public value A Companion to Motion Pictures and Public Value presents a cross-disciplinary investigation of the past, present, and possible future contributions of the moving image to the public good. This unique volume explores the direct and indirect public value developed through motion pictures of different types, genres, and screening sites. Essays by world-renowned scholars from diverse disciplines present original conceptual work, philosophical arguments, historical discussion, empirical research, and specific case studies. Divided into seven thematically organized sections, the Companion identifies the various kinds of values that motion pictures can deliver, amongst them artistic, ethical, environmental, cultural, political, cognitive, and spiritual value. Each section includes an introduction in which the editors outline main themes and highlight connections between individual chapters. Throughout the text, probing essays interrogate the issue of public value as it relates to the cinema and provide insight into how motion pictures play a positive role in human life and society. Featuring original research essays on a pioneering topic, this innovative reference text: Brings together work by expert authors in disciplines such as Philosophy, Political Science, Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Sociology, and Environmental Studies Discusses a variety of institutional landscapes, policy formations, and types and styles of filmmaking Provides wide and inclusive coverage of cinema's relation to public value in Africa, Asia, China, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas Explores the role of motion pictures in community formation, nation building, and the construction of good societies Covers new and emerging topics such as cinema-based fields focused on health and wellbeing A Companion to Motion Pictures and Public Value is an ideal textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in Film, Media, and Cultural Studies, and is a valuable resource for scholars across a variety of disciplines

A singular collection of original essays exploring the varied intersections of motion pictures and public value

A Companion to Motion Pictures and Public Value presents a cross-disciplinary investigation of the past, present, and possible future contributions of the moving image to the public good. This unique volume explores the direct and indirect public value developed through motion pictures of different types, genres, and screening sites. Essays by world-renowned scholars from diverse disciplines present original conceptual work, philosophical arguments, historical discussion, empirical research, and specific case studies.

Divided into seven thematically organized sections, the Companion identifies the various kinds of values that motion pictures can deliver, amongst them artistic, ethical, environmental, cultural, political, cognitive, and spiritual value. Each section includes an introduction in which the editors outline main themes and highlight connections between individual chapters. Throughout the text, probing essays interrogate the issue of public value as it relates to the cinema and provide insight into how motion pictures play a positive role in human life and society. Featuring original research essays on a pioneering topic, this innovative reference text:

• Brings together work by expert authors in disciplines such as Philosophy, Political Science, Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Sociology, and Environmental Studies
• Discusses a variety of institutional landscapes, policy formations, and types and styles of filmmaking
• Provides wide and inclusive coverage of cinema’s relation to public value in Africa, Asia, China, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas
• Explores the role of motion pictures in community formation, nation building, and the construction of good societies
• Covers new and emerging topics such as cinema-based fields focused on health and wellbeing

A Companion to Motion Pictures and Public Value is an ideal textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in Film, Media, and Cultural Studies, and is a valuable resource for scholars across a variety of disciplines "This volume's topic, the varied intersections and conjunctions of motion pictures and public value, is somewhat daunting in its potential scope. As the table of contents indicates, the book is structured in terms of (a non-exhaustive list of) different sorts of value that, we claim, can be understood as yielding public value or values that are partly constitutive of a common good. Given the breadth and heterogeneity of the contributions collected here, organised in seven different sections, our discussion in this main introduction will remain quite general. Each section of the book is preceded by a section introduction, in which we outline the main themes of the section and draw some connections between the individual chapters therein. For now, then, we will aim to do just two things. First, we will sketch a bit of background context for the project, outline its aims, and describe the approaches that characterise the contributions to the volume. Then, we will explain how we are conceiving of the concepts of 'motion pictures,' 'value,' and 'public value' respectively"-- Provided by publisher