This volume of specially commissioned work by experts in the field of film studies provides a comprehensive overview of the field. Its international and interdisciplinary approach will have a broad appeal to those interested in this multifaceted subject. * Provides a major collection of specially commissioned work by experts in the field of film studies. * Represents material under a variety of headings, including class, race, gender, queer theory, nation, stars, ethnography, authorship, and spectatorship. * Offers an international approach to the subject, including coverage of topics such as genre, image, sound, editing, culture industries, early cinema, classical Hollywood, and TV relations and technology. * Includes concise chapter--by--chapter accounts of the background and current approaches to each topic, followed by a prognostication on the future. * Considers cinema studies in relation to other forms of knowledge, such as critical studies, anthropology, and literature.