The Precarious in the Cinemas of the Americas [Hardcover]

Historically, cinema in the Americas has been signed by a state of precariousness. Notwithstanding the growing accessibility to video and digital technologies, access to the material means of film production is still limited, affecting the spheres of production, distribution, and reception. Equally, questions about the precarious can be traced in cultural and archival policies, film legislations, as well as in thematic and aesthetic choices. While conventional definitions of the precarious have been associated with notions of scarcity and insecurity, this volume looks at precariousness from a non-monolithic angle, exploring its productivity and potential for original, critical approaches, with the aim of providing new readings to the variedly rich and complex cinemas of the Americas.

1. Introduction: Forms of the Precarious in the Cinemas of the Americas (Constanza Buruc?a and Carolina Sitnisky)

Part I. Self-Reflexive Considerations on the Precarious

2. Beyond Documentary?: Archives, Absences, and Rethinking Mexican Nonfiction Film, c.1935-1955 (David M. J. Wood)

3. Precarious Images: Media and Historicity in Pablo Larra?ns No (James Cisneros)

4. The Futures Reverse: Dystopia and Precarity in Adirley Queir?ss Cinema (Cl?udia Mesquita)

5. The Never-Ending Movie: Precariousness and Self-Reflexivity in Contemporary Argentine Cinema (Beatriz Urraca)

Part II. On Cultural Policies, Legislations and Funding

6. Narrating Precariousness in Cuba beyond Havana and the ICAIC: The Case of Televisi?n Serranas Ariagna Fajardo and ?A d?nde vamos? (Michelle Leigh Farrell)

7. Precariousness in Contemporary Venezuelan Filmmaking: Pelo malo and Brecha en el silencio (Mar?a Mercedes V?zquez l£-