Popular Cinemas in East Central Europe

<p>The continued interest in the social and cultural life of the former Warsaw pact countries - looking at but also beyond their socialist pasts - encompasses a desire to know more about their national cinemas. Yet despite the increasing consumption of films from these countries - via DVD VOD platforms and other alternative channels - there is a lack of comprehensive information on this key aspect of visual culture. This important book rectifies the glaring gap and provides both a history and a contemporary account of East Central European cinema in the pre-WW2 socialist and post-socialist periods. Demonstrating how at different historical moments popular cinema fulfilled various roles for example in the capacity of nation-building and adapted to the changing markets of a morphing political landscape chapters bring together experts in the field for the definitive analysis of mainstream cinema in the region.Celebrating the unique contribution of films from Hungary the Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia and Poland from the award-winning Cosy Dens to cult favourite Lemonade Joe and from 1960s Polish Westerns to Hollywood-influenced Hungarian movies the book addresses the major themes of popular cinema.<br>By looking closely at genre stardom cinema exhibition production strategies and the relationship between the popular and the national it charts the remarkable evolution and transformation of popular cinema over time.</p>