Utopias in Nonfiction Film

Utopias in Nonfiction Film is a comprehensive and thorough study of utopian documentaries and nonfiction films, covering an impressive range of films and providing insightful discussions of sidelined movies that deserve critical scrutiny. It is the first major study on utopias in nonfiction film, focusing on the insight that literary utopias are meant as a reaction to the ills of the present and not as entertaining stories.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 324 pages
Publication date: 13 January 2023
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Comprehensive and thorough, Utopias in Nonfiction Film  takes a new direction in its surprising application to documentary that has the potential to shake up the field.

Jane Gaines, Columbia University, USA, states, "Spiegel has introduced a new sub-genre to utopian studies, the documentary film. The book covers an impressive range of films, making the book one of the few truly international and comparative works in utopian studies."

Lyman Tower Sargent, University of Missouri-St. Louis, USA, adds, "Simon Spiegel's magisterial overview of utopian documentaries and nonfiction films is a treasure trove of information and unearths many forgotten and half-forgotten films, providing perceptive discussions of sidelined movies that deserve his (and our) critical scrutiny."

Eckart Voigts, University of Braunschweig – Institute of Technology, Germany, comments, "This book is the first major study on utopias in nonfiction film. Since the publication of Thomas More's Utopia more than 500 years ago, countless books have been written which describe a better world. But in film, positive utopias seem to be nonexistent. So far, research has focused almost exclusively on dystopias, since positive outlooks seem to run contrary to the media's requirement."

Utopias in Nonfiction Film takes a new approach; starting from the insight that literary utopias are first and foremost meant as a reaction to the ills of the present and not as entertaining stories, it looks at documentary and propaganda films, an area which so far has been completely ignored by research. Combining insights from documentary research and utopian studies, a vast and very diverse corpus of films is analyzed. Among them are Zionist propaganda films, cinematic city utopias, socialist films of the future as well as web videos produced by the Is.

This book is a groundbreaking contribution to the study of utopias in nonfiction film, offering a fresh perspective that challenges traditional approaches and opens up new avenues for exploration. It will be of interest to scholars and students of film, literature, and utopian studies alike.

Weight: 445g
Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030798253
Edition number: 1st ed. 2021