Movies about the movies: insiders' looks at the world of cinema - A general introduction (original) (raw)

Since the birth of cinema, and throughout its history, there have been movies set in the world of cinema itself, portraying, e.g. a film being made, or an audience watching it, or the society revolving around the film industry. Very often such movies are centred on the life of the many kinds of people who are involved in filmmaking, from producers to directors, from scriptwriters to actors and actresses. And yet Hollywood "movies about the movies", in particular, are inherently paradoxical in this respect. If they allow you to peep at their secrets, they only do so up to a certain point, because Hollywood, as a myth, must preserve its aura and cannot risk losing its somewhat magical, even mysterous appeal to mass cultures. This Dossier is a general introduction to a project which includes more specific explorations of the topic of "movies about movies". The other Dossiers in the project, which are all available at ResearchGate.net or at www.cinemafocus.eu, are: * The star system: the rise and fall of stars * On the set: watching films being made * The "Hollywood system": behind the scenes of the "dream factory" * "Films within films": viewers watching viewers * Directors on and off the set * Producers and screenwriters: the "hidden figures" of filmmaking * "Meta-cinema": when movies reflect on themselves

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