Towards a New Cinema?

Abstract

Global digitalisation has not only affected filmmaking but has changed creative expectations by redefining conventional forms of storytelling. Some scholars refer to cinema as if it’s in the throes of death, while others believe it to be suspended in a type of digitally animated limbo. Forward-thinking filmmakers talk of the emergence of a new language. Towards A New Cinema? questions how new technologies, accessible to professionals and non-professionals alike, and the diversity of creative processes are transforming and influencing film aesthetics (and practice). This essay argues that proliferating digital modes of cinema merit examination, elaboration, and encouragement, even in cases where screenings in theatres are no longer the predominant format for exhibition. To this end, it considers several works by contemporary filmmakers that test novel aesthetic forms, namely through the expanded shot, mobile phone filmmaking, the intermedia screen, and the oneiric. Examples from filmmakers such as Bi Gan, Sean Baker, Jane Shoenbrun, and Bertrand Mandico explore the expansive possibilities towards a new cinema, one that is a fully intentional artistic expression through the maximisation of the artist’s creative powers. Finally, the essay highlights how human intentionality in digital artistic practice may prevent the degradation of cinema as an art form.