Provides a historical survey of Greek cinema from its very beginning (1905) until today (2010). This title focuses on the attempts to establish a national cinema useful to social cohesion and national identity. It analyses the problems and the dilemmas that many Greek directors faced in order to establish a distinct Greek cinema language.

The history of Greek cinema is a rather obscure and unexamined affair. Greek cinema started slowly and then collapsed; for several years it struggled to reinvent itself, produced its first mature works, then collapsed completely and almost vanished. Because of such a complex historical trajectory no comprehensive survey of the development of Greek cinema has been written in English. This book is the first to explore its development and the contexts that defined it by focusing on its main films, personalities and theoretical discussions. A History of Greek Cinema focuses on the early decades and the attempts to establish a "national" cinema useful to social cohesion and national identity. It also analyses the problems and the dilemmas that many Greek directors faced in order to establish a distinct Greek cinema language and presents the various stages of development throughout the background of the turbulent political history of the country. The book combines historical analysis and discussions about cinematic form in to construct a narrative history about Greek cinematic successes and failures.

A History of Greek Cinema is a long-anticipated book in the area of Greek film studies, which fills a significant void?an ambitious publication, which would be warmly welcomed by film scholars as an essential and indepensable reading on Greek film studies. It could also serve as a valuable textbook for film students, as it comprises a fundamental and promising work, which would further enrich international literature on the field of Greek film studies.