With the success of "The Piano" (1993), Jane Campion became revered by many as the leading female film director of the 1990s. In this book, Dana Polan examines the phenomenon of "The Piano" and how it develops from the early shorts and first features. It then examines the director's later work.

A discussion of the frequently controversial film maker Youssef Chahine. THe book aims to illuminate Chahine's work in the context of modern Egyptian culture and its tumultuous post-war history and how such films as "Cairo Station" (1958) dramatized the dilemmas of ordinary Egyptians.

Shyam Benegal is the best known and most prolific contemporary film-maker from India's arthouse or "New Cinema" tradition. This work traces a career with its beginnings in political cinema and a realist aesthetic. It also provides an overview of the director's work.

The book provides a detailed introduction to the essential themes, style, and aesthetics of Pedro Almodovar's films, put in the context of Spain's profound cultural transitions since 1980. With precise and close analysis, the book covers the major concerns of the most successful of all Spanish film directors and makes direct, clear connections to the logic of Almodovar's aesthetic and stylistic choices. By spanning the entirety of Pedro Almodovar's feature-making career, the book emphasizes the director's sensibility to make the outrageous believable and to always give a unique spin to the...