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Cinephilia ( ; also cinemaphilia or filmophilia) is the term used to refer to a passionate interest in , , and . The term is a of the words ' and , one of the four ancient Greek words for love.

(2025). 9789053567685, Amsterdam University Press. .
A person with a passionate interest in cinema is called a cinephile ( ), cinemaphile , filmophile , or, informally, a film buff (also movie buff'''). To a cinephile, a film is often not just a source of entertainment as they see films from a more critical point of view.

In English, cinephile is sometimes used interchangeably with the word cineaste ( ), though in the original French the term () refers to a .


Definition
In a review of a book on the history of cinephilia, Mas Generis writes: "Cinephilia, despite its transparent etymological meaning—love of cinema—is a term that resists ready and shared understanding." Generis also introduces a quote from Annette Michelson that states that there is, "No one such thing as cinephilia, but rather forms and periods of cinephilia." As described by Antoine de Baecque and Thierry Frémaux, "The definitive essence of cinephilia is a culture of the discarded that prefers to find intellectual coherence where none is evident and to eulogize the non-standard and the minor."Keathley, Christian. Cinephilia and history, or, The wind in the trees. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2005.

Film historian Thomas Elsaesser writes that it "reverberates with nostalgia and dedication... more than a passion of going to the movies and only a little less than an entire attitude towards life".


History

Pre-war cinephilia
Since the beginning of the , there have been and publications in which people who felt passionately about cinema could discuss their interests and see rare and older works. At the beginning of the , there were more and more people interested in seeing older films, which led to the establishment of organizations such as the Cinémathèque Française, the first major archive devoted to film preservation.


Post-war French cinephilia
A notable cinephilic community of the 20th century was the one that developed in Paris in the decades following World War II. An influx of foreign films that had been withheld during the Occupation, as well as the screening programs of local and the Cinémathèque Française, generated interest in amongst the city's intellectual . In general, the cinephiles of the period set a template for future like-minded groups by having keen enthusiasm for both older and contemporary films.Le fantôme d'Henri Langlois. Dir. Jacques Richard. DVD. Kino Video, 2004.

Influential film clubs of the period included Objectif 49, whose members included and , and the Ciné-Club du Quartier Latin (Cinema Club of the Latin Quarter). Revue du Cinéma, a magazine published by members of the two clubs, later evolved into the influential film magazine Cahiers du cinéma.

Many of the people who attended the screenings became film critics and later filmmakers, founding the film movement known as the French New Wave. André Bazin, François Truffaut, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, , , , , , and others were regulars, and several, most notably Truffaut, maintained their ties to the community after they had achieved fame.

The community fostered an interest in and films that had been neglected, forgotten or simply unknown in the West, and led to the development of the . The directors the French cinephiles of the period had strong interests in included F. W. Murnau, , Sergei Eisenstein, , , , , , D. W. Griffith, the Lumière brothers, and Georges Méliès, whose films would be screened from on special occasions.


Filmgoing in the 1960s and 1970s
With the popular success of the French New Wave, film-going became fashionable in Europe and America. and independently run cinemas specializing in foreign films became increasingly common. In the United States, New York City was often seen as the center of cinephile culture, due to the wide variety of films available to see at any given time. This culture was also helped by the popularity in America of figures such like , and . Certain writers and critics, including Sontag, would later come to view this as the "" of film-going in the US. Directors such as , , Michelangelo Antonioni and enjoyed a great deal of popularity in the US and influenced the young generation of film enthusiasts who would become the , including , Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola and . Due to growing public interest in films from other countries, specialty such as and New Yorker Films began importing and subtitling foreign movies.

The era also saw the growth of college film societies. Though some, like at the University of Chicago, had existed since the 1930s, the 1960s saw directors of all generations regularly make appearances at college campuses, whether to revisit their old films or to discuss new ones. The Melbourne Cinematheque, founded in 1948 in Melbourne, Australia, began as the Melbourne University Film Society (MUFS), and was renamed Cinémathèque in 1984.

At the same time, the Parisian cinephilic culture became increasingly politicized. Critics, and by extension the cinephiles who followed their work, began to emphasize political aspects of films and directors. Though many of the major figures of the post-war community has been originally aligned with the political right—including most of the Cahiers du cinéma group—by the late 1960s Cahiers and the young cinephile public in general had aligned with various forms of the Left, with some figures, such as , aligning with . In this very politicized climate, cinema was often seen as directly connected to . Many members of this new generation of cinephiles would become critics and , including , , and André Téchiné.

Though most of the world's major film festivals had existed for decades by this point—including the Berlin International Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival—the period saw the establishment of festivals in nearly every major city. The New York Film Festival, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival were all started during this time. The Toronto International Film Festival, often seen as second only to the Cannes Film Festival in terms of importance, was founded towards the end of this period, in 1976.

Films championed by cinephiles and Western intellectuals as "cutting-edge" and "revolutionary" from the 1960s-1970s included 's Cannes-winning epic If...., Humberto Solás's Lucía and 's Antonio das Mortes alongside multiple works by Godard and the documentaries of . WR, Sex, and the Art of Radical Juxtaposition|Current|The Criterion Collection


Home video and the late 20th century
As television, tapes, The Nineties (A Book) - Google Books (pg.107) and later streaming digital access The at-home cinephile experience: Pandemic has made watching good cinema difficult but not impossible|The Spokesman-Review became more common, cinephilia became less associated with filmgoing in theatres (much to the dismay of cinephiles like Kael and Sontag). What Pauline Kael Failed to See About Young Film Lovers|The New Yorker

While Japanese films have enjoyed worldwide distribution in the mid 20th century, the late 20th century saw an increase in interest amongst cinephiles in cinema from other Asian countries, especially China, , and, later, .


Contemporary cinephilia
Since the beginning of the 21st century, has become a large part of cinephile culture. In the English-speaking world, established critics and theorists like , , Jonathan Rosenbaum, , Wheeler Winston Dixon and , as well as non-professional cinephiles like played key roles in building interest in films or theories amongst cinephiles by writing and communicating through blogs. and have become popular ways to stir discussion, allowing cinephiles from different countries and cultures to discuss ideas about film. The social networking and service MUBI caters specifically to cinephiles, allowing its members access to films that sometimes haven't been distributed theatrically or on video in their home countries. Home video distribution labels and distributors such as The Criterion Collection, Masters of Cinema, Facets, Vinegar Syndrome and Kino cater to cinephiles, often including large amounts of supplemental and critical material with their releases. Another major development in contemporary cinephilia came in the form of the social cataloging application formed in 2011 known as . Letterboxd's rise from social platform to Hollywood powerhouse - Los Angeles Times Hosting approximately 10 million users, Letterboxd is the largest community of online cinephiles to date, allowing users to share their taste in films using a five-star system.

As was the case with the French cinephilia of the post-war era, the international cinephilic community that has developed on the Internet often emphasizes films and figures that do not have strong critical or popular recognition, including many directors who work within , in what is sometimes dubbed . These include , Fast & Furious & Elegant: Justin Lin and the Vulgar Auteurs|Village Voice , , , The Farrelly Brothers, , , , , M. Night Shyamalan, Vulgar Auteurism: A Guide Or: The "Mann-Scott-Baysians"-MUBI Brian De Palma and .

Filmmaker James N. Kienitz Wilkins's 2023 still image film Still Film argues about the nightmarish effects of cinephilia using 35mm presskit photos for blockbusters from the 1980s-90s. BAM|Still Film + At the Movies Nightmare Cinephilia|Current|The Criterion Collection

A notable series of by Canadian filmmaker entitled Art & Trash focuses on , and (particularly outsider and psychotronic movies).


In popular culture
was the host of the podcast Cinephile that used to broadcast on until his leave in 2019.

In 2004, film critic hosted the game show Ultimate Film Fanatic. The Ultimate Film Fanatic - IndieWire The Independent Film Channel Presents: Ultimate Film Fanatic - AMC Networks Inc.

The book series Lil Cinephile is a spin-off of the successful Cinephile: A Card Game created by author Cory Everett (who was once a contestant on the aforementioned Ultimate Film Fanatic). 'Lil Cinephile Book Series Returns with Sci-Fi, Kung Fu, Midnight – TheWrap About — Cinephile "I can't believe nobody has made this yet!": Corey Everett's 'lil Cinephile Collection|ACMI


Films about cinephilia
  • The Projectionist (1970)
  • Fade to Black (1980)
  • The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
  • (1989)
  • Close-Up (1990)
  • (1999)
  • Cinemania (2002)
  • The Dreamers (2003)
  • Film Geek (2005)
  • Hugo (2011)
  • Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)
  • (2015)
  • Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
  • I Like Movies (2022)
  • Film Geek (2023)
  • Still Film (2023)
  • Kim's Video (2023)
'Film Geek' Review: A Cinephile's Guide of New York - The New York Times Kim's Video|Quad Cinema Tohline|A Supercut of Supercuts: Aesthetics, Histories, Databases|Open Screens Still Film. 2023. Written and directed by James N. Kienitz Wilkins|MoMA BAM|Still Film Still Film - TIFF


Cinephilia and filmmaking
Throughout the history of cinema, there have been numerous directors who developed their understanding of cinema through filmgoing and participation in cinephile communities and organizations instead of within the formal settings of either a or a .

The directors of the French New Wave, who learned about filmmaking by attending screenings at and discussing movies amongst themselves, are often seen as models for cinephiles. Their intellectual , which equated an interest in cinema with strong understandings of , and sometimes , has continued to have influence on cinephiles.

On the other hand, many directors emphasize their lack of cinephilia or interest in movies as in the cases of , and , while each acclaimed by cinephiles, often emphasized their disinterests in cinema when interviewed.


Cinephobia
There have also been different forms of cinephobia (fear or hatred of cinema) from the fear of "losing" celluloid film in the digital age through anxieties about moral values on the big screen to the point of censorship. Cinephilia / Cinephobia: New Mediations of Desire and Disgust-University of Pittsburgh


Telephilia
Telephilia is the term used to refer to a passionate interest in . Coined by The New York Times critic Frank Rich as a pejorative term, telephilia was defined as "the pathological longing of Americans, no matter how talentless, to be on television". This early definition was reflective of the negative attitude contemporary critics had toward television, which was frowned upon as inferior to film until the advent of quality television in the 1980s and 1990s. With the rise of quality television, anti-heroic series like and were cited as improving television content thus earning critical praise.

Telephilia is also said to rival cinephilia for relevance, as production values are higher than ever before on shows such as , and Homeland. Despite this development, there are still intellectuals

(2012). 9780791481875, State University of New York Press. .
who consider telephilia as inferior to cinephilia, particularly in cases of obsessions for modern television programs belonging to genres such as and .
(2025). 9780791467336, State University of New York Press.
This is also explained by the view that highlighted the unattainable nature of the cinema, which makes it more desirable and extraordinary since it features a regime of presence-yet-absence filmic image, allowing a form of cinematic stardom capable of triggering a series of psychic mechanisms.
(2025). 9780231163323, Columbia University Press.
This is contrasted with television, which is perceived to be more present and immediate—with its stars "famous only in so far as he or she makes frequent television appearances." Some observers, however, note that there is now a destabilization of traditional notions of what constitutes cinephilic tendency due to the availability of film on technology.
(2025). 9783319636788, Palgrave Macmillan.


List of cinephiles

Film directors


Other cinephiles


See also
  • – film equivalent of a literary author
  • – love of high-fidelity sound reproduction
  • – A latter-day resurgent focus on mainstream directors of modern popcorn cinema
  • – love of books
  • – love of comic books
  • The Snob's Dictionary – a humorous look at snobbery by author Dave Kemp
  • – love of high-quality image reproduction
  • Postmodern film and television – similar in content
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000 – Cult TV show featuring films considered the worst
  • The Incredibly Strange Film Show – Another cinema-based series featuring notable cult filmmakers
  • -based TV channel which featured popular and obscure films that was also the subject of a


External links

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