European Cinema and the Postheroic Narrative: Jean-Luc Nancy, Claire Denis, and Beau Travail

Abstract

What is European cinema? First: European cinema does not exist, except as a bureaucratic dream or a promotional tool for national producers and distributors of art house films. Second: insofar as it is willed into existence, European cinema has over the past three decades been funded mainly by governmental subsidy schemes, public service television, or via the European Union, i.e. the taxpayer. Third: since the end of WWII, national cinema new waves have been created by Europe's leading festivals, such as Cannes and Venice, rather than emerging from their national film cultures, where on the whole, such auteurs and new waves were viewed by the film-going public as too difficult or elitist. Fourth: European cinema today, when considered as a counter-Hollywood, avant-garde or auteur cinema is best subsumed under the umbrella categories of "world cinema," "global art cinema," or "international festival cinema."