Cinema and the Century: Film as a Mirror of Modern Life

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to invite submissions for a Special Issue of Arts (MDPI) entitled “Cinema and the Century: Film as a Mirror of Modern Life.” This Special Issue seeks to bring together original scholarly contributions that explore cinema’s evolving relationship with the social, political, economic and cultural dynamics of modernity across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (Elsaesser 2016; Gunning 2019).

1. Focus, Scope, and Purpose of the Special Issue

a. Focus
The central focus of this Special Issue is cinema’s capacity to both reflect and actively shape modern life. Film has long functioned as a privileged site through which experiences of modernity—such as urbanisation, technological change, political conflict, social transformation and cultural identity—are narrated and challenged (Kracauer 1997; Charney and Schwartz 1995; Hansen 2012). The Issue invites contributions that address cinema as a historical, aesthetic, industrial and politically shaped phenomenon and practice, attentive to the ways films engage with the “century” not merely as a chronological frame, but as a set of lived conditions and structures of feeling (Williams 1977; Elsaesser 2016).

b. Scope
The scope of the Issue is deliberately broad, welcoming diverse theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, historical periods and geographical contexts within film and screen studies. Submissions may address, but are not limited to:

• Film history and historiography, including national, transnational and global perspectives (Allen and Gomery 1985; Elsaesser 2005; Grieveson and Krämer 2004);
• The relationship between cinema and politics (e.g., ideology, power, propaganda, resistance, governance, activism) (Sorlin 2001; Rosenstone 2012; Grieveson 2018);
•  Cinema’s engagement with social change, collective memory and historical trauma (Hirsch 2012; Landsberg 2015);
• Extra-cinematic factors shaping film cultures, such as production contexts, funding structures, co-productions and circulation (Higson and Maltby 2019; Kauber and Rohn, 2025; Damásio et al., 2025);
• The role of cinema in reflecting or challenging cultural policies and economic/technological models (Miller et al. 2005; Wasko 2020, Barra et al., 2025);
• Industrial, institutional and policy frameworks influencing film production and reception, past and present (Curtin, Holt, and Sanson 2014; Jones, 2024);
• Continuities and ruptures between “old” and “new” cinemas, including the impact of digitalisation and platformisation (Tryon 2013; Lobato 2019; Frey, 2021);
• Comparative, transnational, or regional case studies that illuminate cinema’s entanglement with modern life (Hjort and Petrie 2007; Dennison and Lim 2006);
• Frontiers between documentary and fiction (Moody, 2025)
• New theoretical proposals for the field of film studies (Graça, Baggio and Penafria, 2023). 

The Special Issue is open to studies of fiction, documentary, experimental and hybrid forms, as well as analyses that move across media, while remaining grounded in film studies.

Contributions to this Special Issue should be based on clearly defined research questions and demonstrate methodological rigour and scholarly intent. While a wide range of theoretical perspectives and critical traditions are welcome, submissions should move beyond impressionistic readings or opinion-driven commentary. Authors are expected to situate their analyses within relevant academic debates and to articulate the methodological, historical, or empirical foundations of their work.

c. Purpose
The purpose of this Special Issue is to foster dialogue across different sensibilities within film studies and related disciplines, encouraging contributions that are historically informed, methodologically sound and contextually grounded. By foregrounding cinema’s embeddedness in broader social, political and economic processes, the Issue aims to highlight film not only as an artistic medium but also as a cultural practice deeply intertwined with the structures and contradictions of modernity.

2. Contribution to and Relationship with Existing Literature

This Special Issue seeks to usefully supplement existing scholarship on the field of film and media studies by bringing together strands of research that are often treated separately. While there is a rich body of literature on film history, political cinema, national cinemas and transnational production, this Issue emphasises their interconnections—particularly the ways aesthetic forms, historical contexts and extra-cinematic conditions co-constitute one another.

By integrating analyses of film texts with attention to industrial practices, cultural policies, economic dynamics and international collaborations, the Special Issue aims to extend debates on cinema’s social function beyond strictly textual or theoretical approaches. It also contributes to ongoing discussions about the role of cinema within broader cultural and political economies, both historically and in contemporary contexts marked by globalisation, shifting policy regimes and changing modes of production and circulation.

In doing so, the Special Issue positions itself as a platform for historically grounded yet forward-looking research that speaks to scholars across film studies, cultural studies, media history and related fields, offering new perspectives on how cinema continues to mirror, mediate and shape modern life.

Allen, Robert C., and Douglas Gomery. 1985. Film History: Theory and Practice. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Charney, Leo, and Vanessa R. Schwartz, eds. 1995. Cinema and the Invention of Modern Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Barra, Luca, Cristina Formenti, Mariapaola Pierini, and Francesco Pitassio, eds. 2025. Italian Contemporary Screen Performers: Training, Production, Prestige. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

Curtin, Michael, Jennifer Holt, and Kevin Sanson, eds. 2014. Distribution Revolution: Conversations about the Digital Future of Film and Television. Oakland: University of California Press.

Damásio, Manuel José, Cathrin Helen Bengesser, André Rui Graça, Jaka Primorac, Rita Grácio, Sten Kauber, Judith Pernin, Paul Hammoud, Marta Materska-Samek, and Małgorzata Kotlińska. 2025. “Audiences, Content Diversity and Streaming Platforms in Small European Countries: Engagement, Interaction with Catalogues, and Choice.” Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 31 (5): 1573–1590.

Dennison, Stephanie, and Song Hwee Lim. 2006. Remapping World Cinema: Identity, Culture and Politics in Film. London: Wallflower.

Elsaesser, Thomas. 2005. European Cinema: Face to Face with Hollywood. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Elsaesser, Thomas. 2016. Film History as Media Archaeology: Tracking Digital Cinema. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Frey, Mattias. 2021. Netflix Recommends: Algorithms, Film Choice, and the History of Taste. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Gledhill, Christine, and Linda Williams, eds. 2000. Reinventing Film Studies. London: Arnold.

Graça, André Rui, Eduardo Tulio Baggio, and Manuela Penafria, eds. 2023. Filmmakers on Film: Global Perspectives. London: Bloomsbury Academic / British Film Institute

Grieveson, Lee. 2018. Cinema and the Wealth of Nations: Media, Capital, and the Liberal World System. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Grieveson, Lee, and Peter Krämer, eds. 2004. The Silent Cinema Reader. London: Routledge.

Gunning, Tom. 2019. The Films of Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and Modernity. London: BFI.

Hansen, Miriam Bratu. 2012. Cinema and Experience: Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor W. Adorno. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Higson, Andrew, and Richard Maltby, eds. 2019. Film Europe and Film America: Cinema, Commerce and Cultural Exchange 1920–1939. Exeter: University of Exeter Press.

Hirsch, Marianne. 2012. The Generation of Postmemory. New York: Columbia University Press.

Hjort, Mette, and Duncan Petrie, eds. 2007. The Cinema of Small Nations. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Jones, Huw D. 2024. “Euro-Million Middlebrow Films: Insightful Stories, Varied Audiences, Limited Diversity.” In Transnational European Cinema, 141–185. Palgrave European Film and Media Studies. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kauber, Sten, and Ulrike Rohn. 2025. “Understanding Film Industry and Audience Dynamics Through Imagined Affordances, Social Network Markets and Value Creation.” Eastern European Screen Studies 16 (3): 293–311.

Kracauer, Siegfried. 1997 [1947]. From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Landsberg, Alison. 2015. Engaging the Past: Mass Culture and the Production of Historical Knowledge. New York: Columbia University Press.

Lobato, Ramon. 2019. Netflix Nations: The Geography of Digital Distribution. New York: New York University Press.

Miller, Toby, Nitin Govil, John McMurria, Richard Maxwell, and Ting Wang. 2005. Global Hollywood 2. London: BFI.

Moody, Luke W. 2025. Hybrid Documentary and Non-Binary Cinema. New York: Routledge.

Rosenstone, Robert A. 2012. History on Film / Film on History. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

Sorlin, Pierre. 2001. European Cinemas, European Societies 1939–1990. London: Routledge.

Tryon, Chuck. 2013. On-Demand Culture: Digital Delivery and the Future of Movies. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

Wasko, Janet. 2020. Understanding Disney: The Manufacture of Fantasy. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Polity.

Dr. André Rui Graça
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Arts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• film studies
• creative and cultural industries
• film and history
• media studies