Sovereign Violence
Ethics and South Korean Cinema in the New Millennium
By Steve Choe

 

South Korea is home to one of the most vibrant film industries in the world today. This book presents a comprehensive analysis of some of the most well-known and incendiary South Korean films of the millennial decade from nine major directors. Building his analysis on contemporary film theory and philosophy, as well as interviews and other primary sources, Steve Choe makes a case that these often violent films pose urgent ethical dilemmas central to life in the age of neoliberal globalization.

Part of the series Film Culture in Transition | June 2016 | Hardback | ISBN 9789089646385
326 pages | 26 b/w illustrations | â‚¬ 99.00 | Â£80.00 | $ 124.00 | Order here

Hollywood is Everywhere
Global Directors in the Blockbuster Era
By Melis Behlil

 

Hollywood has a long tradition of bringing in emigre directors from around the world. But that fact hides a fundamental difference, one that Melis Behlil examines in this book: today's Hollywood studios are themselves transnational, with ownership structures and financial arrangements that stretch far beyond the borders of the United States. Seen in that context, Hollywood's international directors of today are less analogous to the emigre talent of the past than to ordinary transnational employees of other major global corporations.

Part of the series Film Culture in Transition | July 2016 | Hardback | ISBN 9789089647399
208 pages | â‚¬ 79.00 | Â£64.00 | $ 99.00 | Order here

Urban Memory and Visual Culture in Berlin
Framing the Asynchronous City, 1957-2012
By Simon Ward

As sites of continual change and transformation, cities are fundamentally forgetful places. Yet at the same time, urban areas are also homes to museums and archives that collect and exhibit the past-a key cultural, political, and economic activity. This book looks at that paradox through the example of Berlin to see how the city has responded to challenges to memory created by rapid changes in politics, economics, society, and the built environment, ultimately arguing that the recovery of the experience of time is central to the practices of an emergent memory culture in the contemporary city.

Part of the series Cities and Cultures | June 2016 | Hardback | ISBN 9789089648532
212 pages | 20 b/w illustrations | â‚¬ 79.00 | Â£64.00 | $ 99.00 | Order here

Medium, Messenger, Transmission
An Approach to Media Philosophy
By Sybille Krämer

 

This rich study provides a comprehensive introduction to media philosophy, offering a new perspective on the concept and function of transmission media. Krämer uses the figure of the messenger as a key metaphor, examining a diverse range of transmission events, including the circulation of money, translation of languages, angelic visitations, spread of infectious diseases, and processes of transference and counter-transference that occur during psychoanalysis.

Part of the series Recursions | June 2016 | Paperback | ISBN 9789462983083
270 pages | € 39.95 | Â£32.50 | $ 49.95 | Order here

Sergei M. Eisenstein
Notes for a General History of Cinema
Edited by Naum Kleiman and Antonio Somaini

One of the iconic figures of 20th century cinema, Eisenstein is best known as director of The Battleship Potemkin. This comprehensive volume is the first English-language edition of his newly discovered notes for a “general history of the cinema”. While written in the Soviet Union in the late 1940s, these notes deal with some of the most debated issues in contemporary film and media theory: the status of cinema as a medium; the relations between cinema, other media, and other art forms; the nature and the objectives of film history. Eisenstein’s texts are accompanied by essays by international experts on film theory and the history of Russian cinema.

Part of the series Film Theory in Media History | July 2016 | Paperback | ISBN 9789089642837
128 pages | 1 colour, 126 b/w illustrations | â‚¬ 39.95 | Â£48.50 | $ 74.95 | Order here

          

On July 28-30 the conference of the European Network for Cinema and Media Studies (NECS) with the theme 'in/between: cultures of connectivity' will take place in Potsdam, Germany -- home of Europe's largest film studios in Babelsberg. The conference aims to reflect on our current culture of connectivity from a variety of perspectives and will celebrate the 10^th anniversary of NECS. Amsterdam University Press will be at the conference, represented by Media & Communication Editor Jeroen Sondervan, to present some of the exciting new titles published in this field of interest. Also keep an eye out for Annie van den Oever, editor of the newly published Exposing the Film Apparatus!