Comprised of essays from some of the leading scholars and practitioners in the field, this is the first book to investigate 21st-century radical film practices across production, distribution and exhibition at a global level.

A newly, always, and again-relevant corner of contemporary and historic media culture—global radical film culture—is provocatively explored by its theorists and practitioners in Contemporary Radical Film Culture. Contributing to and driving these debates and practices while attending to the affordances of re-emergence through networking and networks, the authors, all members of the Radical Film Network, build new connections and learn from empowering histories because of the crises of our times, and in hopes of informing the future.

Alexandra Juhasz, Distinguished Professor of Film, Brooklyn College, CUNY

This first major collection of radical moving-image practices in the 21st century marks an aggressive new phase in the resistance against capitalist commodity culture. Remarkable for its intelligence, originality, accessibility, and especially for its global comprehensiveness, it will be of great value for activists, scholars and teachers, and indeed everyone interested in the struggle for a more equal and less exploitative socialist world.

David E. James, Professor, Division of Cinema & Media Studies, University of Southern California

A newly, always, and again-relevant corner of contemporary and historic media culture—global radical film culture—is provocatively explored by its theorists and practitioners in Contemporary Radical Film Culture. Contributing to and driving these debates and practices while attending to the affordances of re-emergence through networking and networks, the authors, all members of the Radical Film Network, build new connections and learn from empowering histories because of the crises of our times, and in hopes of informing the future.

Alexandra Juhasz, Distinguished Professor of Film, Brooklyn College, CUNY

This first major collection of radical moving-image practices in the 21st century marks an aggressive new phase in the resistance against capitalist commodity culture. Remarkable for its intelligence, originality, accessibility, and especially for its global comprehensiveness, it will be of great value for activists, scholars and teachers, and indeed everyone interested in the struggle for a more equal and less exploitative socialist world.

David E. James, Professor, Division of Cinema & Media Studies, University of Southern California

This timely collection, impressive in its broad scope, testifies to the diversity and vitality of radical film culture round the world today. The articles span a time period from the mid 20th century to the present, using case histories drawn from five continents and interrogating a range of processes by which films are made, seen and received. The focus is on politics and practice, a core question being how can image culture help promote a society which is more egalitarian, more sustainable and more caring than that we currently inhabit? While the editors and nearly all the contributors have academic posts involving some writing and teaching, most are practitioners as well and this mix of interests results in a combination of intellectual rigour and practical relevance which makes this an important book both for academics and media activists.

Margaret Dickinson, Director, Marker Ltd.

Steve Presence is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at UWE Bristol, UK. His research spans activist film culture, documentary and the UK film and television industries, and he is currently working on an AHRC-funded study of the UK’s feature documentary film industry. He convened the Radical Film Network in 2013.

Mike Wayne is Professor in Film and Media Studies at Brunel University, UK. His research covers radical film practices, media and cultural studies, Marxist theory and questions of class inequality and its cultural impacts.

Jack Newsinger is Assistant Professor in Cultural Industries and Media at the University of Nottingham, UK. He has published widely on cultural and media policy, cultural labour and diversity, and has been involved in the Radical Film Network since 2015.