LibGuides: Film: Individual Periodicals and Reference Books

Journals and Newspapers

These journals and newspapers contain film reviews as well as discussions of film theory.

Sight and Sound
Sight and Sound (also spelled Sight & Sound) is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI) since 1932. It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade Sight and Sound Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing since 1952.
Camera Obscura
Camera Obscura provides a forum for scholarship and debate on feminism, culture, and media studies. The journal encourages contributions in areas such as the conjunctions of gender, race, class, and sexuality with audiovisual culture; new histories and theories of film, television, video, and digital media; and politically engaged approaches to a range of media practices.
CINEJ Cinema Journal
CINEJ Cinema Journal is a free, online and print, open access, peer-reviewed and refereed journal of Cinema. It is published by the University Library System, University of Pittsburgh beginning in 2011. CINEJ Cinema Journal is committed to publishing fresh and original research in the fields of film and media studies.
Cinema Journal
Cinema Journal, the official publication of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, publishes engaging scholarship in all areas of media studies including film, television, radio, sound, and digital media.
Film Philosophy
Film-Philosophy is an open access peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the engagement between film studies and philosophy.
Film Reference
General film database with user generated content. Many online encyclopedias and short biographies.
H-Film
H-Film encourages scholarly discussion of cinema history and uses of the media. Diverse bibliographical, research, and teaching aids are available.
Iskusstvo Kino Digital Archive
Established in 1931 - the leading journal of Russian, and formerly Soviet, cinema. Iskusstvo kino includes critical reviews of both domestic and foreign film, as well as scholarly articles on cinematic theory and history, Russian culture and arts scene. It was first published under title Proletarskoe kino (1931-1932), then Sovetskoe kino (1933-1935), and finally under the present name (since 1936). RUSSIAN LANGUAGE ONLY.
Jewish Film & New Media
Jewish Film & New Media provides an outlet for research into any aspect of Jewish film, television, and new media and is unique in its interdisciplinary nature, exploring the rich and diverse cultural heritage across the globe.
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The journal is distinctive in bringing together a range of cinemas, televisions, films, programs, and other digital material in one volume and in its positioning of the discussions within a range of contexts—the cultural, historical, textual, and many others.
Media Industries Journal
Media Industries is a peer-reviewed, multi-media, open-access online journal that supports critical studies of media industries and institutions worldwide.
Scope
Scope is a fully peer-reviewed online journal edited by staff and students in the Department of Culture, Film and Media and Institute for Screen Industries Research at the University of Nottingham. Scope provides a forum for discussion of all aspects of film and television history, theory and criticism.
Screen
Screen is the leading international journal of academic film and television studies. From video art to popular television, from Hollywood to Hong Kong, from art cinema to British film finance, Screen authors cover a wide range of issues, both contemporary and historical, from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Each quarterly issue combines substantial scholarly essays with reports and debates on conferences and current research, along with book reviews.
Variety
The international entertainment weekly; feature articles, interviews and profiles, television and motion picture reviews and ratings, financing, legislation, box office reports and news of note on all aspects of the entertainment industry.
Velvet Light Trap
VLT is collectively edited by graduate students at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and The University of Texas at Austin, with the support of media scholars at those institutions and throughout the country. Each issue provokes debate about critical, theoretical, and historical topics relating to a particular theme.

eBook titles

A Pocket Guide to Analyzing Films
A concise guide to the formal analysis of film. This book moves systematically through the elements that make up most films, focusing on aspects of the art of cinema that are common across history and national cinemas.

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers
Provides thorough coverage of films and filmmakers, including actors and actresses, directors, writers and other production artists. Entries include a detailed essays, biographies, filmographies, comprehensive credits, major awards, and updated bibliographies, as well as photographs.

Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film
This reference provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to film and film studies, covering such aspects as production, national traditions, studios, genres, critical theory and film history.

A Companion to the Historical Film
Broad in scope, this interdisciplinary collection of original scholarship on historical film features essays that explore the many facets of this expanding field and provide a platform for promising avenues of research.

Offers a unique collection of cutting edge research that questions the intention behind and influence of historical film
Essays range in scope from inclusive broad-ranging subjects such as political contexts, to focused assessments of individual films and auteurs
Prefaced with an introductory survey of the field by its two distinguished editors

Features interdisciplinary contributions from scholars in the fields of History, Film Studies, Anthropology, and Cultural and Literary Studies

Film Manifestos and Global Cinema Cultures : A Critical Anthology

Film Manifestoes and Global Cinema Cultures features manifestoes from the global history of cinema, providing historical and theoretical account of the role played by film manifestos in filmmaking and film culture. Focusing equally on political and aesthetic manifestoes, Scott MacKenzie uncovers a unique history of the cinema, exploring a series of documents that postulate ways in which to re-imagine the cinema.

Encyclopedia of Chinese Film
Single volume encyclopedia of Chinese film. Part 1 - Historical essays. Part 2 - Bibliography, Select websites, glossary and indexes.

International Encyclopedia of Media Studies
This collection brings together over 200 critical essays in this rapidly evolving field of study. Global in scope, wide-ranging in its inclusion of topics, and edited by an international team of the world's best scholars, this is an essential resource for the analysis of contemporary media studies.

The Film Handbook
The Film Handbook examines the current state of filmmaking - how film language, technique and aesthetics are being utilized for today’s ‘digital film’ productions. It reflects on how critical analysis of film underpins practice and story, and how developing an autonomous ‘vision’ will best aid student creativity.

'I' of the Camera : Essays in Film Criticism, History, and Aesthetics
Originally published in 1988, The "I" of the Camera has become a classic in the literature of film. In a series of essays examining the "Americanness" of American film, William Rothman argues compellingly that movies have inherited the philosophical perspective of American transcendentalism.

Complete History of American Film Criticism
From the first movie review in The New York Times in 1896 through the Silent Era, the pre- and postwar years, the Film Generation of the 1960s, the Golden Age of the 1970s, and into the 21st century, critics have educated generations of discriminating moviegoers on the differences between good films and bad. They call attention to great directors, cinematographers, production designers, screenwriters, and actors, and shed light on their artistic visions and storytelling sensibilities. The Complete History of American Film Criticism honors those who helped establish the notion that film was the 20th century’s most significant art form.

Cambridge Companion to Literature on Screen
This Companion offers a multi-disciplinary approach to literature on film and television. Writers are drawn from different backgrounds to consider broad topics, such as the issue of adaptation from novels and plays to the screen, canonical and popular literature, fantasy, genre and adaptations for children.

Print Reference Works

The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures produced in the United States
Reference - PN1995.9.C34 A64 1988
14 volumes divided by decade. Entries include studio, director, cast, brief summary, suggested subject headings, and abbreviated bibliographic information for reviews. Indexes are separate volumes and thoroughly reference names, subjects, and places.

Bowkers Complete Video Guide 2009
IMC - PN1992.95 .V29 v.2009
Comprehensive listings of over 250,000 video titles, divided by title, subject, series and names.

Essential art house : 50 years of Janus Films
Oversize - PN1997.A1 .E87 2007
A collection of the quintessential international releases by distributor Janus films. Book indexes a collection of 50 DVDs (located in the IMC). Each film is detailed including credits, cast list, and a description of the film.

Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film
Reference - PN1993.45.G65 2007
4 volume set. General overview of film history with an American emphasis. Includes recommended viewing, further reading, and an index.

International Encyclopedia of Film
Oversize - PN1993.45.I5 1972
Single volume encyclopedia of international film. Brief entries on film as art, technology, biography, and nationality up to 1972. 14 page bibliography by subject name. Indexes include films, title changes, and names.

Encyclopedia of Chinese Film
Stacks - PN1995.3.C4 Z53 1998
Single volume encyclopedia of Chinese film. Part 1 - Historical essays. Part 2 - Bibliography, Select websites, glossary and indexes.

Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film
Reference - PN1995.9.D6 E53 2006
2 volume set. Over 220 contributors. Entries consist mainly of films by title, filmakers, and commentary on documentary filmmaking by nationality. Comprehensive 110 page index.

Criterion Designs
NC999.4.C75 A4 2014
This book features a selection of DVD and Blu-ray disc covers, supplemental art, and never-before-seen sketches and concept art commissioned for Criterion releases, plus a gallery of every Criterion DVD and Blu-ray disc cover since the collection's first laserdisc thirty years ago.

Selected Film Criticism by Anthony Slide
Request through Summit
Valuable resource for finding film reviews contemporary with the film's release for understanding popular and critical reaction to the work.