The national and the transnational in contemporary Greek cinema

Abstract

Due to its limited exportability, Greek cinema has often been examined as a national phenomenon, the cinematic influences from Western and other cinemas often being derided as weaknesses. The search for an elusive Greekness has often disappointed critics of 1950s and 1960s popular cinema, while the artistic New Greek Cinema of the 1970s and 1980s has self-consciously tried to define itself in national terms. Focusing on contemporary Greek cinema, and in particular on films with box office success, this paper explores the extent to which contemporary Greek films display transnational configurations.