From Belfast to Bamako: Cinema in the Era of Capitalist Realism

All films are ideological, whether they are configured as purely entertainment, or thought to transcend the world of politics to engage with some universal truth. However, typically when we talk about ‘political cinema’, we are referring to films that engage with political issues explicitly, questioning power and/or contesting dominant perceptions of the world. For these films, the ‘triumph’ of global capitalism and free-market theory has presented particular challenges. First of all, cinema audiences are increasingly configured as consumers, pursuing pleasure and untrammelled entertainment. Second, the scope for political films is greatly reduced when ‘capitalist realism’ means that it is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism (Fisher, 2009: 2).

Editors and Affiliations

1. University College Cork, Ireland

   Barry Monahan

© 2015 Stephen Baker and Greg McLaughlin

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