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Palgrave Macmillan

Nonprofessional Film Performance

  • Book
  • © 2023

Overview

Authors:
  1. Miguel Gaggiotti

    1. Department of Film and Television, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

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  • Offers the first comprehensive study of performances by nonprofessional actors in fiction cinema
  • Examines and compares performance in films ranging from early silent cinema to contemporary works
  • Discusses iconic filmmakers such as Sergei Eisenstein, Roberto Rossellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini

Part of the book series: Palgrave Close Readings in Film and Television (CRFT)

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About this book

This book offers a critical account of film performances by nonprofessional actors. Nonprofessional actors — actors without previous acting training or experience — have performed in films since the days of the Lumière brothers. Generally associated with currents such as Early Soviet Cinema, Italian Neorealism and New Argentine Cinema, nonprofessional actors also feature prominently in the works of celebrated directors including Pier Paolo Pasolini, Robert Bresson and Joanna Hogg. Since the turn of the century and the rise of digital filmmaking, the performances of nonprofessional actors have remained a staple of independent cinemas from all over the world, including films associated with the loose trend often referred to as Slow Cinema. Despite their enduring presence in acclaimed and widely discussed films, nonprofessional actors have received scant scholarly attention. This book proposes to analyse exemplary nonprofessional performances from across the history of cinema as a means of illuminating their significance and celebrating the performers’ contributions to the films.

Keywords

Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
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  2. Introduction

    • Miguel Gaggiotti
    Pages 1-30

  4. Contemporary Approaches

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 155-155
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    2. Misael Saavedra in La libertad: The Work of Gestures

      • Miguel Gaggiotti
      Pages 157-183

    3. Lluis Serrat and Lluis Carbó in Honor de Cavalleria: Nonprofessional Performance and the Quixotic

      • Miguel Gaggiotti
      Pages 185-215

    4. Honor Swinton Byrne in The Souvenir: Self-Consciousness and Privilege

      • Miguel Gaggiotti
      Pages 217-250

    5. Conclusion

      • Miguel Gaggiotti
      Pages 251-266

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 267-272
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Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Film and Television, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Miguel Gaggiotti

About the author

Miguel Gaggiotti is a filmmaker and Lecturer in Film and Television at the University of Bristol, UK. His writings on film have been published in Screen, Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism and The Routledge Companion to European Cinema, among others.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Nonprofessional Film Performance

  • Authors: Miguel Gaggiotti

  • Series Title: Palgrave Close Readings in Film and Television

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32382-9

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-32381-2Published: 28 June 2023

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-32384-3Published: 29 June 2024

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-32382-9Published: 27 June 2023

  • Series ISSN: 2634-6133

  • Series E-ISSN: 2634-6141

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 272

  • Number of Illustrations: 45 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Close Reading, Screen Performance

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