The project ‘Paranational Cinema – Legacies and Practices’ aims to develop a framework to examine film practices beyond, transversal or opposed to notions of ‘nation,’ ‘nation-state’ and ‘national cinema(s).’ By intervening critically into the ‘national’ as one of the cornerstones of discussing and marketing cinema, the project intends to offer a novel perspective on theoretical debates surrounding national, international, transnational, and global cinema.

What types of cinema does the concept of ‘national cinema’ exclude or fail to do justice to?

How to account for cinemas that emerge before or after the existence of a national framework?

If a film does not belong to a ‘national’ cinema, who is responsible for archiving and preserving it?

To this day, cinema has been developing hand in hand with national concerns. Films have been labeled as ‘national’ in festivals, competitions, markets, and film histories. This symbiosis has relegated many works and cinematic practices to the margins. Since the 1980s, film scholars have elaborated approaches to scrutinize, criticize, complement or surpass the ‘national.’ Concepts such as transnational, global, intercultural, diasporic, and accented cinema have contributed to a shift in perspective.

‘Paranational cinema’ serves as a prism through which works and practices can be observed beyond national criteria. Rather than providing an overarching concept or a clear-cut typology, the project identifies and considers paranational instances by paying particular attention to the contexts in which identities, territories, and narratives are being assembled, dismantled, and renegotiated through cinema.

In micro-studies, curatorial interventions, vignettes and other formats, collaborators, guests, and team members map out these paranational instances in their diverse geographical and cultural, historical and contemporary settings.