Kathleen Collins: The Black Essai Film

by Geetha Ramanathan

Overview

A philosopher-filmmaker, Kathleen Collins decisively redefined the parameters of African American film with The Cruz Brothers and Miss Malloy (1980) and Losing Ground (1982). This book uses detailed analyses of Collins’s films to contextualise her work in the African American, feminist and world film traditions, and it highlights her contribution to each of these canons.
Exploring the philosophical aspects of Collins’s films and placing her in a genealogy of African American auteurs, Geetha Ramanathan argues that Collins uses film to integrate diverse elements of African American culture, showing how the medium can transform the visual and become a site of convergence for ideas on philosophy, otherness, art, aesthetics and the craft of filmmaking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474440684
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	03/03/2020
Series:	Visionaries: The Work of Women Filmmakers
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Geetha Ramanathan is Professor of Comparative Literature at West Chester Universitywhere she teaches Comparative Literature, film and Women’s Studies (including Feminist Film and African American Film). Her interests include modernist, feminist and third world literature.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1.The New York Black Independents

2.The Black Essai Film

3.Ambiguities of Auteurship

4.The Magical Marvellous Modern

5.Sacred Doubles

6.Film Across Drama and Art

7.Black Feminist Culture and Black Masculinity

Afterword

List of Films

Bibliography

What People are Saying About This

In her fascinating and important book, Geetha Ramanathan gives the films of Kathleen Collins the astute and attentive analysis they deserve, usefully placing them in the context of Collins’ wide aesthetic and philosophical interests as well as her plays and stories. This welcome study makes a crucial contribution to Collins’ recent return to both film history and African American culture.

Professor Laura Mulvey

In her fascinating and important book, Geetha Ramanathan gives the films of Kathleen Collins the astute and attentive analysis they deserve, usefully placing them in the context of Collins’ wide aesthetic and philosophical interests as well as her plays and stories. This welcome study makes a crucial contribution to Collins’ recent return to both film history and African American culture.

Editorial Reviews

In her fascinating and important book, Geetha Ramanathan gives the films of Kathleen Collins the astute and attentive analysis they deserve, usefully placing them in the context of Collins’ wide aesthetic and philosophical interests as well as her plays and stories. This welcome study makes a crucial contribution to Collins’ recent return to both film history and African American culture.

Professor Laura Mulvey