World cinema

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World cinema
African cinema Asian cinema East Asian cinema South Asian cinema Southeast Asian cinema West Asian cinema Australasian cinema European cinema North American cinema South American cinema

World cinema is a term used primarily in the West to refer to the films and film industries of non-English language speaking countries (those outside of the Anglosphere). It is therefore often used interchangeably with the term Foreign film. However, both World cinema and Foreign film could be taken to refer to the films of all countries other than one's own, regardless of native language.

Technically, foreign film does not mean the same as foreign language film, but the inference, particularly in the U.S., is that a foreign film is not only foreign in terms of the country of production, but also in terms of the language used. As such, the use of the term foreign film for films produced in the UK, Australia, Canada or other English speaking countries would be uncommon.

In other English speaking countries, it would be extremely unlikely to class films made in the U.S. as foreign films, or belonging to World cinema, as American films are reasonably dominant in all English-language markets.

World cinema has an un-official implication of films with "artistic value" as opposed to "Hollywood commercialism." Foreign language films are often grouped with "Art House films" and other independent films in DVD stores, cinema listings etc. Unless dubbed into one's native language, foreign language films usually have English subtitles. Few films of this kind receive more than a limited release and many are never played in major cinemas. As such the marketing, popularity and gross takings for these films are usually markedly less than for typical Hollywood blockbusters. The combination of subtitles and minimal exposure adds to the notion that "World Cinema" has an inferred artistic prestige or intelligence, which may discourage less sophisticated viewers. Additionally, differences in cultural style and tone between foreign and domestic films affects attendance at cinemas and DVD sales.

Foreign language films can be commercial, low brow or B-movies, so to automatically assume that World cinema is "arty" or intellectual is erroneous. Furthermore, foreign language films can cross cultural boundaries, particularly when the visual spectacle and style is sufficient to overcome people's misgivings. Films of this ilk are becoming more common, and recent examples such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Amelie enjoyed great success in Western cinemas and DVD sales. The first foreign language film to top the North American box office was Hero in the fall of 2004.

Contents 1 Cinema by Continent and Country 2 World Cinema on DVD 3 See also 4 External links

Cinema by Continent and Country

World Cinema on DVD

Foreign language films that are particularly successful in international markets may be taken on by the large film distribution companies for DVD releases. At the other end of the scale, many foreign language films are never given a DVD release outside of their home markets. With the enormous number of films produced across the world every year, this is hardly surprising.

The majority of those DVDs that are given an international release, come out on specialist labels. These labels include:

• Artificial Eye (USA and UK)
• British Film Institute
• Contender Entertainment Group - Label that owns the sub-labels Hong Kong Legends (specialising in films from Hong Kong) and Premier Asia (specialising in films from the rest of East Asia, particularly Japan, South Korea and Thailand). CEG bought out the label Medusa in 2005.
• The Criterion Collection
• Dragon Dynasty (USA) - label specialising in films from East Asia.
• Eastern Heroes - European label specialising in films from East Asia. Eastern Heroes sold off many of their titles to Medusa (before it was bought out by Contender Entertainment Group) and Soulblade in the early 2000s.
• Facets Multimedia (USA)
• Kino International (USA) - Label distributing foreign language, arthouse and silent films.
• Manga Entertainment (USA and UK) - Label specialising in anime.
• Masters of Cinema
• Optimum Releasing (UK) - Distributor of English and foreign language films in the UK.
• Second Run (UK)
• Soulblade (UK)
• Studio Canal (France)
• Tartan Films (USA and UK) - Label distributing a variety of foreign language films and English language films, though primarily East Asian films. The company consists of Tartan Video in the UK and Tartan Films USA, and the Tartan Asia Extreme and Tartan Terror horror labels.

See also

• Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
• César Award for Best Foreign Film
• History of film

Wikipedia information about World cinema This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "World cinema". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.