Comprehending Cinema

Comprehending Cinema is a collection of in-depth interviews and panoramic essays that model a generalist approach to modern audiovisual media, prioritizing remarkable cinematic accomplishments that can get lost within our overwhelming modern mediascape. It offers a reading adventure dedicated to opening the door to exciting new kinds of film experience.

Scott MacDonald is author of A Critical Cinema: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers (5 volumes), The Garden in the Machine (2001), and 15 other books, most recently Avant-Doc: Intersections of Documentary and Avant-Garde Cinema (2015); The Sublimity of Document: Cinema as Diorama (Avant-Doc 2) (2019); and William Greaves: Filmmaking as Mission (2020). Named an Academy Scholar by the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences in 2011, he has taught film history at Utica College of Syracuse University, Bard College, Colgate University, Harvard University, and currently teaches film history and programs F.I.L.M. at Hamilton College.