The shared capacity of architecture and film to render dimensions of space and time has been the subject of reflection throughout film history. In his essay Montage and Architecture Eisenstein draws an artistic lineage between film and architecture as its "ancestor". Film, he notes, is the only art form "capable of fixing the total representation of a phenomenon in its full
I present my theory of a ‘meta-hegemony’ to examine the hierarchy of dominance in Indian cinema. This concept asserts that Bollywood dominates Indian cinema and culture whilst being subservient to a larger global Hollywood hegemony. I will investigate the meta-hegemony’s three distinctive facets within the internal contours of Indian cinema. The first feature is Bollywood’s monopoly over the Indian film industry’s modes of production, distribution, exhibition and capital generation. The second is Bollywood’s ideological propagation of a post-globalization master narrative through its role as national cultural signifier of India’s neo-liberal turn. The third facet of the meta-hegemony is Bollywood’s validation by the state as an instrument of soft power signifying Bollywood’s branding as national and global commodity. In the process, I posit the emergence of a New Wave of independent Indian cinema as a counter-narrative to Bollywood’s articulation of consumer capitalism. Ultimately, I argue that Bollywood’s brand of soft power is indexical of India’s transition to neo-liberalism and indicative of the nation’s agonistic arbitration between the traditional and the material.
This essay focuses on changing discourses of heritage with reference to concepts of place broadly defined. Our virtual case study is Wim Wenders' series of documentaries entitled Cathedrals of Culture. In this series of 3D films, Wenders invited five other directors to give voice to their favourite buildings. The directors chose classic examples of Western heritage located primarily in European cities. Our contribution explores the human constructions assigned to these buildings and the implications of the anthropomorphisation of buildings for the concept of heritage. With reference to categories of tangible and intangible heritage, we ask whether giving voice to material artefacts challenges the material dominance of architecture for heritage, deepening our sense of place and constituting a step forward for a more dialogical approach to heritage generally. We query the extent to which this filmic anthology reinforces a hegemonic authorised heritage discourse or delivers a postmodern version of ‘spirit of place’. We ask whether this filmic adventure in 3D could effectively generate a new and (re)newed sense of place in other heritage contexts. Our hypothesis is set in the framework of various ICOMOS and UNESCO international charters.
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