ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the concept of 'blinking spaces', a particular type of cinematic space in which past and present incarnations of a film location are simultaneously depicted. German essay film The Empty Centre reflects on the changes of the Berlin cityscape in the 1990s, after the fall of the Wall. Its title refers to the 'death strip', the area where the Wall stood, a 'no man's land' located right in the former political centre of city. American travelogue California Company Town depicts up to twenty three former company towns in California that were abandoned after the closure or bankruptcy of their primary employer. Portuguese film Ruins portrays a country haunted by its past. The very title already announces its content: a set of non-narrative sequences showing the ubiquitous presence of ruins throughout Portugal. Argentine documentary Toponymy is a cinematic tour through four small villages located at the southwest end of Chaco Plain, fifty kilometres south of San Miguel de Tucuman.
