Graça, André Rui NBC; (2017) A study on the commerce, circulation, and consumption of Portuguese cinema (1960–2010). Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Abstract

This thesis proposes an articulation between the history of Portuguese contemporary cinema and broader political and social variables. Thus, the main purpose of the present thesis is to follow and understand the evolution of Portuguese cinema in the period between 1960 (the beginning of the decade of the New Cinema movement) and 2010 (the year of the height of the economic crisis that suddenly left the country in a difficult position), from a socio-cultural and economic perspective. Paying especial attention to post-1974 decades, this project provides an overview of the last 40–60 years and looks in depth at the identity of Portuguese cinema and the reality(ies) in which it has been inserted. This is a work on the development of this cinema, within and outside its national borders, in which the object of study is not a corpus of films (when understood as aesthetic objects), but rather its market context, as well as a political and social situation. It falls within the scope of this thesis to look further into the reasons for the real and the symbolic absence of Portuguese cinema from the national and European contexts, along with its commercial problems. Three vectors of analysis will guide this research: relation with audiences; circulation and problems with distribution; and financial struggles. The driving force of this research project is fueled by the interest in addressing the historical difficulties that Portuguese filmmakers faced during this period in order to understand the origin and characteristics of those obstacles. Indeed, this work aims to identify, debate and clarify the reasons that influenced the evolution of aesthetics and determined the precarious situation in which Portuguese cinema found itself during the past decades. This thesis also analyses cases of success, in order to understand the broader frame from a holistic perspective.

Download activity - last month

Export as XMLCSVJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONCSVXML

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Archive Staff Only

View Item