Mexican Screen Fiction: Between Cinema and Television - Tapa dura

"Combining insightful readings of key films with social science approaches to issues of production, distribution, exhibition and audience response, Paul Julian Smith s Mexican Screen Fiction ventures beyond the boundaries of traditional film studies to offer a probing and wide ranging study of Mexico s dynamic audiovisual sector." Kathleen Vernon, Stony Brook University "With his latest book, Paul Julian Smith not only offers valuable insights into contemporary Mexican screen fiction, bringing together both film and TV, which are located in their industrial, critical, cultural and historical contexts. Researched and written with evident pleasure, he provides us with an innovative paradigm for thinking about screen media in the twenty-first century." Andrea Noble, Durham University

Mexican cinema is booming today, a decade after the international successes of Amores perros and Y tu mama tambien. Mexican films now display a wider range than any comparable country, from art films to popular genre movies, and boasting internationally renowned directors like Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and Guillermo del Toro. At the same time, television has broadened its output, moving beyond telenovelas to produce higher-value series and mini-series. Mexican TV now stakes a claim to being the most dynamic and pervasive national narrative. This new book by Paul Julian Smith is the first to examine the flourishing of audiovisual fiction in Mexico since 2000, considering cinema and TV together. It covers much material previously unexplored and engages with emerging themes, including violence, youth culture, and film festivals. The book includes reviews of ten films released between 2001 and 2012 by directors who are both established (Maryse Sistach, Carlos Reygadas) and new (Jorge Michel Grau, Michael Rowe, Paula Markovitch). There is also an appendix that includes interviews carried out by the author in 2012 with five audiovisual professionals: a feature director, a festival director, an exhibitor, a producer, and a TV screenwriter. Mexican Screen Fiction will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars and essential reading for anyone interested in one of the most vibrant audiovisual industries in the world today.