The Reality of Film: Cinema and Critique of Representation

The project argues for a conception of the reality of film. It advocates an engagement with cinema's capacity to create its own presentations, that is, its ability to create what I call 'filmic realities'. I argue that, rather than offering realistic representations of the world, films in fact produce their own worlds, worlds that are filmically real and not just reflections or representations of a reality located elsewhere. The project uses film theory and the close analysis of specific film to chart some of the ways that filmic realities are produced.