ABSTRACT
Cinephilia is both straightforward and elusive. The word alludes to the bonding desire for cinema, but also to the practices and cultures that this desire has inspired and brought to life. Generational dissent was a fixture of early cinephilic cultures, but subsequent iterations have seen this reactive aspect give way to a sense of desired legacies. Between contemporary cinephilia and past generational histories stands, however, a seismic shift provoked by medium (r)evolution. In Cinephilia and History, or The Wind in the Trees Christian Keathley returns to pivotal moments in classic film theory and looks at modes of watching cinema repressed by historical discourse. The potential of this approach is further explored by Rashna Wadia Richards's study of classical Hollywood cinema as a collection of open-ended, cinephilic moments. Laura Mulvey's Death 24 x a Second: Stillness and the Moving Image is perhaps the most decisive contribution in terms of a potential cinephilic historiography.
