The last thirty years of the twentieth century saw the establishment of film studies as a major discipline in higher education throughout the world. Not only did film become a subject discipline in its own right, it also became a focus of study within the emergent fields of cultural studies, media studies and gender studies. This period of academic growth coincided with extensive developments in fFilm tTheory. Film’s significance as a social and cultural practice, and as an art form, gained greater emphasis. Theories from a range of disciplines were deployedexamined in the context of film studies. This led not only to the testing and re-appraisalrevision of traditional critical concepts such as realism, genre and narrative, but also to the application of newer theoretical perspectives including semiotics, structuralism and psychoanalysis. This major new collection: identifies the critical and theoretical concepts which have been most significant in the study of film presents chronologically the most influential and important writing on these concepts provides an historical and intellectual context for the material presented. New introductions by the editors guide the reader through the work. This is an essential source of ideas and insights for students and researchers in the field of Film Studies.