America: Films from Elsewhere - by Shanay Jhaveri (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"A generously illustrated, wide-ranging selection of essays on American films helmed by non-American filmmakers." --Film Comment

The cities, landscapes and people of America have been the subject of many a film, but when seen through an outsider's perspective, new and often significant aspects of its culture are revealed. America: Films from Elsewhere examines film and America from the perspective of auteurs from around the world--from anyplace but America--covering the half-century from the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 to the election of Donald Trump in 2017. Masters of the medium such as Chantal Akerman, Joyce Wieland, Michelangelo Antonioni, Lars von Trier, Jacques Demy, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Chris Marker are discussed, alongside lesser-known greats such as Yolande du Luart and Babette Mangolte. The book also features specially commissioned portfolios by artists, including Camille Henrot, Harun Farocki, Lucy Raven, the Otolith Group and Ute Aurand.

Review Quotes

A generously illustrated, wide- ranging selection of essays on American films helmed by non- American filmmakers.-- "Film Comment"

A unique, impressively informative, exceptionally insightful, and inherently thought-provoking volume of commentary.--Carl Logan "Midwest Book Review"

America films from Elsewhere describes a country that has mythologized itself to death, but is open to outsiders' critical takes on that mythology...--Steve Erickson "Cineaste"

America: Films from Elsewhere, an inspired new anthology edited by Shanay Jhaveri about films that depict or imagine the US from an outsider's point of view.--Max Nelson "Artforum"