"The volume is divided into three parts, focusing respectively on historical periodizations, categories that share formal characteristics, and structural elements involved in the production, distribution, and reception of the works themselves. In historical terms, topics range from the birth of Chinese cinema at the beginning of the twentieth century to the present moment, and include discussions of several periods that have hitherto not yet received much detailed analysis—including Manchurian cinema from the 1930s and 1940s, and Mainland Chinese cinema from the Maoist period. In formal terms, topics range from familiar cinematic genres such as the opera film and the war film, to newer techno-formal configurations such as small-screen and large-screen cinemas. In structural terms, topics range acting and directing to the practices of reenactments and remakes. Neither the volume as a whole, its three main parts, nor any of its individual chapters pretends to present an encyclopedic overview of its corresponding topic. Instead, our objective is to explore the interpretive spaces that open up at the interstices of various existing conceptions of the shape of the field. It is here, we contend, that we may find the key to a richer understanding not only of a singular “Chinese cinema,” but more importantly of an eclectic body of mutually overlapping Chinese cinemas." (Publisher description)