Contemporary French Cinema

Like its French-language companion volume Le Cinéma français contemporain: Manuel de classe, Alan Singerman and Michèle Bissière's Contemporary French Cinema: A Student's Book offers a detailed look at recent French cinema through its analyses of twenty notable and representative French films that have appeared since 1980. Sure to delight Anglophone fans of French film, it can be used with equal success in English-language courses and, when paired with its companion volume, dual-language ones.

Clips from each film covered in the textbook are available to qualified instructors in a password protected Vimeo collection. Instructors wishing to access clips from the films for course use may request access by using the online form here. The film clip request page also includes a complete list of the films covered.

SKU
28076g

A Student's Book

Alan J. Singerman and Michèle Bissière

September 2018 - 440 pp. - Imprint: Focus

Grouped product items
Format ISBN Price Qty
Paper 978-1-58510-893-0
$45.00
Examination 978-1-58510-893-0
$5.00

An eBook edition is available for $33.75, click here for more information and purchasing options. Ebook examination copies are also available to qualified course instructors.

Like its French-language companion volume Le Cinéma français contemporain: Manuel de classe, Alan Singerman and Michèle Bissière's Contemporary French Cinema: A Student's Book offers a detailed look at recent French cinema through its analyses of twenty notable and representative French films that have appeared since 1980. Sure to delight Anglophone fans of French film, it can be used with equal success in English-language courses and, when paired with its companion volume, dual-language ones.

Additional Resources:

Clips from each film covered in the textbook are available to qualified instructors in a password protected Vimeo collection. Instructors wishing to access clips from the films for course use may request access by using the online form here. The film clip request page also includes a complete list of films covered. 

Acclaim for Le Cinéma français contemporain: Manuel de classe
 
"From Le Dernier Métro to Intouchables, Bissière and Singerman cover the latest trends of French cinema, emphasizing context and analytical method as Singerman did in Apprentissage du cinéma français (Focus 2004). The authors offer a selection of films most French cinephiles will applaud, and they incorporate insights from some of the best critical work on French cinema. Students of French film will also find all the bibliographical pointers they need to dig deeper, and instructors will appreciate the pedagogical components included in the chapters."
      —Jonathan Walsh, Department of French Studies, Wheaton College, Massachusetts
 
"This remarkable book comes to us from two seasoned teachers and critics and beautifully complements an earlier work, Alan Singerman's Apprentissage du cinéma français. The time period covered, more targeted here than in the preceding text, is admirably well chosen, and the breakdown by broad category, each offering multiple options, guides the teacher while offering a choice among an abundance of interesting films. The preliminary chapters, both succinct and informative, give students an excellent overview of French cinema as a whole and of the technical knowledge needed for film analysis. Each of the subsequent chapters offers an indispensable introduction discussing the plot, director, production, actors, reception, and context of the film in question and also provides a very useful filmography and bibliography… an exemplary work."
      —Brigitte E. Humbert, Department of French and Francophone Studies, Middlebury College

"A great book about French movie analysis that students and instructors can rely on. I appreciate the thematic classification of selected movies, and the variety of movies within each topic. The length of the introduction preceding each section is just right and it didn’t come at the expense of film analysis. We watched four movies listed in this book and two other contemporary movies not listed here, and my approach was inspired by the methodology of this textbook. My students agree that, with all the information and questions provided about each movie, there is no need to get outside sources. I don’t think this textbook has weaknesses."
      —Khadija Khalife, International Languages and Cultures, University of Portland

 

About the Authors:

Alan Singerman is Richardson Professor Emeritus of French, Davidson College.
 
Michèle Bissière is Professor of French, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte.