What is Transnational cinema?
Dictionary Definition: Transnational "Adjective - extending or operating across national boundaries" (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013)
To be precise, transnationality is, by definition, a principle of carrying out, or in the film industry's sense, to distribute across national borders. Transnational cinema aims to move away from branding countries with specific messages and film styles and tries to combine different elements from different cultures of film makers .
When studying transnational cinema, we have to take into account how a film is seen to be transnational. It is not only the storyline of the film but also the crew, actors, directors and production teams that can determine a film to be transnational. For example, America has always outdone any other country when it comes to the film industry and 'it is now hard to imagine a time when American films did not dominate... and harder still to imagine a time when, walking down Main Street, USA, one might find French, Italian and even British films routinely playing in the largest cinemas' (Glancy, M, 2007, para 1). However, with many different cultures and countries releasing films every single year it is now hard to find a completely independent country that does not have ideas or techniques that have stemmed from a different culture. 'The growing number of films, containing traces of transnationality and reflecting the ongoing globalization process form strong indications that we are witnessing a new trend' (Sunde, I, 2009. p. 6).
To be precise, transnationality is, by definition, a principle of carrying out, or in the film industry's sense, to distribute across national borders. Transnational cinema aims to move away from branding countries with specific messages and film styles and tries to combine different elements from different cultures of film makers .
When studying transnational cinema, we have to take into account how a film is seen to be transnational. It is not only the storyline of the film but also the crew, actors, directors and production teams that can determine a film to be transnational. For example, America has always outdone any other country when it comes to the film industry and 'it is now hard to imagine a time when American films did not dominate... and harder still to imagine a time when, walking down Main Street, USA, one might find French, Italian and even British films routinely playing in the largest cinemas' (Glancy, M, 2007, para 1). However, with many different cultures and countries releasing films every single year it is now hard to find a completely independent country that does not have ideas or techniques that have stemmed from a different culture. 'The growing number of films, containing traces of transnationality and reflecting the ongoing globalization process form strong indications that we are witnessing a new trend' (Sunde, I, 2009. p. 6).
Film festivals
Film festivals are now held across the world by many different countries. With film festivals becoming more and more popular and with more films being showcased to hundreds of different audiences we can say that film festivals aid in creating a culture of transnationality.
Slumdog millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire was released in 2009 and directed by the famous English director, Danny Boyle. The story revolves around the life of a young man named Jamal. Throughout the film the audience watch Jamal's life through a series of flashbacks up until the present where he is on the Indian television show 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire'.
Slumdog Millionaire is a fantastic example of a transnational film. Firstly, the director, Danny Boyle, as well as the producer, writer and actor, who plays Jamal, are all English, even though the film itself is set in India and tries to portray accurate traditional lifestyles in the location the film is set. Furthermore, the television show 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' is originally a western television programme that, with popular demand, has now become a television show in countries around the world; thus making Slumdog Millionaire a transnational film.
The term 'Euro-pudding' is commonly used when discussing transnational cinema and film. The term is used when films use international casts and foreign locations for a sense of exoticism.
However, unlike a lot of other big production films, Slumdog Millionaire can be seen as a transnational film that does not use its foreign location for an exotic purpose. Instead, the film has been analysed to have a realistic, gritty and almost pornographic view on the poverty in India, thus making Slumdog Millionaire a true transnational films that aspects of different cultures all in one film.
Slumdog Millionaire is a fantastic example of a transnational film. Firstly, the director, Danny Boyle, as well as the producer, writer and actor, who plays Jamal, are all English, even though the film itself is set in India and tries to portray accurate traditional lifestyles in the location the film is set. Furthermore, the television show 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' is originally a western television programme that, with popular demand, has now become a television show in countries around the world; thus making Slumdog Millionaire a transnational film.
The term 'Euro-pudding' is commonly used when discussing transnational cinema and film. The term is used when films use international casts and foreign locations for a sense of exoticism.
However, unlike a lot of other big production films, Slumdog Millionaire can be seen as a transnational film that does not use its foreign location for an exotic purpose. Instead, the film has been analysed to have a realistic, gritty and almost pornographic view on the poverty in India, thus making Slumdog Millionaire a true transnational films that aspects of different cultures all in one film.