A Companion to Chinese Cinema features a collection of original readings that offer a comprehensive overview of the evolution and current state of Chinese cinema. Essays consider Chinese cinema from a variety of historical and geo-political centers—Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taiwan—and offer a critical examination of major accomplishments of Chinese film studies in various categories—film history and geography, industry and institution, media and arts, genre and representation, issues and debates.

This collaborative project brings together specialists across a range of disciplines to consider Chinese cinema from a variety of methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks. This interdisciplinary approach allows for an unprecedented breadth of innovative ideas that facilitate a better understanding of Chinese cinema as it relates to artistic projects, social practices, political institutions, and expanding international markets. A Companion to Chinese Cinema offers an important analysis of a growing force in international cinema.

Yingjin Zhang is Professor of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies at University of California, San Diego, and Visiting Chair Professor at Shanghai Jiaotong University, China. He is the author of The City in Modern Chinese Literature and Film (1996), Screening China (2002), Chinese National Cinema (2004), and Cinema, Space, and Polylocality in a Globalizing China (2010); co-author of Encyclopedia of Chinese Film (1998); editor of China in a Polycentric World (1998) and Cinema and Urban Culture in Shanghai, 1922-1943 (1999); and co-editor of From Underground to Independent (2006) and Chinese Film Stars (2010).