The Cultural Practice of Immigrant Filmmaking

This fascinating and painstakingly researched book unearths the rich history of immigrant filmmaking and film workshops in Sweden, interrogating the concept of minor cinema and the tenets of film historiography. Offering ten case studies, Andersson and Sundholm examine the films as one element in a complex process and practice encompassing filmmaker associations, film policy, audiences and archives. -- C. Claire Thomson, Associate Professor of Scandinavian Film, UCL

Lars Gustaf Andersson is professor of film studies at Lund University. John Sundholm is chair of the Department of Media Studies and professor of cinema studies at Stockholm University.

Introduction: The Cultural Practice of Immigrant Filmmaking Film and Theory Minor cinemas, the public sphere and the production of locality Migration and diaspora: Notes on recent research Outline of the book Chapter 1: Migrants Minor Cinemas: Beyond Accented and Exilic Cinema Accented cinema Minor cinema Beyond textual models of the accented and exilic Chapter 2: Conditions of Production: Immigrants Associations and Workshops in Sweden Immigration and culture in post-war Sweden Establishing experimental film culture: The Independent Film Group Immigrant film as cultural policy: The Stockholm Film Workshop The momentary agency: Cineco (Cinecooperativo) To be or not to be a filmmaker: Kaledioscope Do it yourself: The Tensta Film Association The production of film, the production of experience and the public Chapter 3: From Avant-garde to Communion: Ten Films by Immigrant Filmmakers in Sweden Fabulations in the minor key Study 1 (Awakening) by Peter Weiss (1952) Alone by the Tensta Film Association (1974) Do You Want to Join Me, Martha? by the Tensta Film Association (1980) Interference by Maureen Paley (1977) The Earthman by Muammer zer (1980) The Mirage by Guillermo lvarez/Cineco (1981) The Sea is Far Away by Reza Bagher (1983) The Promise by Menelaos Carayannis (1984) The Waiting by Myriam Braniff (1989) Five Minutes for the Souls of America by Csar Galindo (1992) Projecting a public, creating a context Chapter 4: The Cultural Practice of Minor Immigrant Cinema Archiving The archival life of cinema The archival trajectories of the immigrant films The Stockholm Film Workshop and immigrant filmmaking Performing accidental archives Dispostif in the making, palimpsests of minor histories and the politics of recognition Conclusion: Immigrant Filmmaking as Minor Cinema Practice