SUNY in Latin American Cinema

This book offers a pioneering critical history of Brazilian science fiction (SF) cinema, from its first appearances in the mid-twentieth century to the present. Though frequently overlooked by scholars, SF cinema from the Global South has reinvigorated the genre in recent decades. In this comprehensive study, the first of its kind in either English or Portuguese-Alfredo Suppia draws out the unique features and universal resonance of SF film in Brazil, a country that has fittingly been called "the land of the future." In Suppia's analysis, Brazilian SF stems from and responds to a long history of inequality in which everyday reality has often resembled a movie-like dystopia. Analyzing both short and feature films in the context of social, political, and economic transformations, Suppia rethinks SF film in general from a southern perspective.

This is the first book on experimental cinemas of Latin American and Spain to offer a comprehensive look at old and new technologies, including Super 8, VHS, cell phones, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and more. From the militant films of the 1960s to today's expanded reality experiences, filmmakers in Argentina, Spain, Cuba, Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico have continually used alternative formats both to dialogue with international movements and to counter commercial cinematic trends. To make this argument and cover this vast geographic and historical terrain, Eduardo Ledesma adopts a transnational and intermedial approach, examining exchanges and associations between cineastes to better understand how their films were created and circulated. Ledesma works to untangle both the relations between media and the associations of experimental cinema to cultural phenomena such as diaspora, exile, displacement, and immigration. Throughout the book, connections are further made to other global avant-garde and alternative cinemas and formats, including in the United States.

Answering a call to view Mexican film through the lens of commercial cinema, Animation in Mexico, 2006 to 2022 is the first book-length study of the country's animated cinema in the twenty-first century. As such, the volume sheds light on one of the country's most strategically important and lucrative genres, subjecting it to sustained intellectual analysis for the first time. Building on earlier film history, David S. Dalton identifies two major periods, during which the focus shifted from success at the national box office to internationalization and streaming. In eight original essays, contributors use an array of theoretical and disciplinary approaches to interrogate how this popular genre interfaces with Mexican politics and society more broadly, from Huevocartoon to Coco and beyond. The book will appeal to students, scholars, and fans of Mexican film by situating animation within broader currents in the field and the industry.