Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media. Issue 22: On the Cultural Circulation of Contemporary European Crime Cinema

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https://hdl.handle.net/10468/12588

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    Documentary Across Platforms: Reverse Engineering Media, Place, and Politics, by Patricia R. Zimmerman
    (Film and Screen Media, University College Cork, 2021-11-01) Waldron, Dara; Murphy, Jill
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    DETECting the “noirification” of European popular narratives across film, fiction and television
    (Film and Screen Media, University College Cork, 2021-11-01) Pagello, Federico; Baschiera, Stefano
    The article explores the transcultural dimension of European crime narratives by looking at the specific role of cinema in this context. Building on the research conducted by DETECt scholars in different areas of contemporary popular culture—especially literature and television—it first discusses the link between the more and more widespread use of the “noir” label and the increasing cultural legitimation of the crime genre. The article then argues that this phenomenon echoes the emergence of a new “European quality crime film” in recent years. While stressing the potential contribution of the genre to the circulation of European cinema, the evident limits of its impact in this field are also examined. Finally, it looks more closely at the transnational circulation of contemporary Italian crime films to assess to what extent they have been able to find a transnational audience on a continental level. In this context, the importance to look beyond theatrical distribution and the centrality of intermedial exchanges are highlighted, indicating new directions for research.
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    The distribution and promotion of Dogman (2016) in the United States
    (Film and Screen Media, University College Cork, 2021-11-01) Garofalo, Damiano; Baschiera, Stefano
    This article will analyse the distribution and promotion strategies of Matteo Garrone’s Dogman (2018) in the United States. It will reconstruct the singularity of this case study in a comparative perspective, considering both the international circulation trends of European national cinemas and the distribution of contemporary Italian films in the United States. An integrated methodology will be adopted, combining film and media industry studies, cultural studies, and the field of art and culture economics. After an analysis of the tendencies of the distribution of Italian contemporary arthouse cinema in the United States, the specific distribution strategies adopted for Dogman will be considered against the background of the financing system within which the production model of the film is embedded. Further, the role of Magnolia Pictures, the North American distributor of Garrone’s film, will be inspected through the discussion of some interviews with professionals directly involved in the promotion and distribution of the film.
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    Twenty-First-Century Hollywood: Rebooting the System, by Neil Archer
    (Film and Screen Media, University College Cork, 2021-11-01) Christensen, Alexander; Murphy, Jill
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    Cosmopolitan crimes: Sebastian Schipper’s Victoria (2015) and the distribution of European crime films
    (Film and Screen Media, University College Cork, 2021-11-01) Schleich, Markus; Baschiera, Stefano
    German crime films usually only find wide international circulation when they deal with either the two World Wars or the country’s unique position during the Cold War. Victoria (Sebastian Schipper, 2015) is an exception. The film, shot in one continuous take, tells the story of a young woman from Madrid who meets four local Berliners outside a nightclub in the middle of the night and ends up robbing a private bank with them. Without an established auteur or any sizeable star power attached to it, the film managed to travel widely within Europe, made possible by Creative Europe’s funding schemes for distribution. The first section of the article examines the struggles of German crime films to cross the borders, despite the abundant national production of crime films, television series, and literature. The second section focuses on the importance of the distribution scheme that helped Victoria travel and explores how the policies of the MEDIA programme have shaped the European cinema landscape. In the third section, the paper examines how Victoria evokes images and discourses of European society such as disenfranchisement, solidarity, and precarity set in a cosmopolitan Berlin. By analysing the promotional texts, this final section explores how Victoria’s ideal combination of genre, auteurial ambitions and “added European value” granted the film access to support mechanisms which are usually out of reach for a film.