This important anthology addresses established notions about Third Cinema theory, and the cinema practice of developing and postcolonial nations. The "Third Cinema" movement called for a politicized film-making practice in Africa, Asia and Latin America, one which would take on board issues of race, class, religion, and national integrity. The films which resulted from the movement, from directors such as Ousmane Sembene, Satyajit Ray and Nelson Pereira dos Santos, are among the most culturally significant, politically sophisticated and frequently studied films of the 1960s and 1970s. However, despite the contemporary popularity and critical attention enjoyed by films from Asia and Latin America in particular, Third Cinema and Third Cinema theory appears to have lost its momentum.

Introduction Rethinking Third Cinema. Anthony R. Guneratne Third Cinema Theory and Beyond Beyond Third Cinema: The Aesthetics of Hybridity Robert Stam Challenging Third World Legacies: Issues of Gender, Culture and Representation Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures Ella Shohat The Erotics of History: Gender and Transgression in the New Asian Cinemas Sumita Chakravarty Alternative Cinemas in the Age of Globalization Authorship, Globalization and the New Identity Politics of Latin American Cinema: From the Mexican 'Ranchera' to Argentinian 'Exile' Marvin D'lugo Video Booms and the Manifestations of 'First' Cinema in Anglophone Africa N. Frank Ukadike The Relocation of Culture: Social Specificity and the Third Question What's 'Oppositional' in Indonesian Cinema? Krishna Sen The Seductions of Homecoming: Place, Authenticity, and Chen Kaige's 'Temptress Moon' Rey Chow Receiving/Retrieving Third (World) Cinema: Alternative Approaches to Spectator Studies and Critical History Theorizing 'Third World' Spectatorship - The Case of Iran and Iranian Cinema Hamid Naficy Rethinking Indian Popular Cinema: Towards Newer Frames of Understanding Wimal Dissanayake