“The cinema isn’t a slice of life, it’s a slice of cake”—Alfred Hitchcock. “If you make a popular movie, you start to think where have I failed?”—Woody Allen. “A film is the world in an hour and a half”—Jean-Luc Godard. “I think you have to be slightly psychopathic to make movies”—David Cronenberg. This compendium contains more than 3,400 quotations from filmmakers and critics discussing their craft. About 1,850 film people are included—Buñuel, Capra, Chaplin, Disney, Fellini, Fitzgerald, Griffith, Kael, Kurasawa, Pathé, Sarris, Schwarzenegger, Spielberg, Waters and Welles among them. The quotations are arranged under 31 topics such as acting, animation, audience, budget, casting, critics, costume design, directing, locations, reviews, screenwriting, special effects and stardom. Indexing by filmmakers (or critics), by film titles and by narrow subjects provides a rich array of points of access.

“The cinema isn’t a slice of life, it’s a slice of cake”—Alfred Hitchcock. “If you make a popular movie, you start to think where have I failed?”—Woody Allen. “A film is the world in an hour and a half”—Jean-Luc Godard. “I think you have to be slightly psychopathic to make movies”—David Cronenberg. This compendium contains more than 3,400 quotations from filmmakers and critics discussing their craft. About 1,850 film people are included—Buñuel, Capra, Chaplin, Disney, Fellini, Fitzgerald, Griffith, Kael, Kurasawa, Pathé, Sarris, Schwarzenegger, Spielberg, Waters and Welles among them. The quotations are arranged under 31 topics such as acting, animation, audience, budget, casting, critics, costume design, directing, locations, reviews, screenwriting, special effects and stardom. Indexing by filmmakers (or critics), by film titles and by narrow subjects provides a rich array of points of access.

Written by experts in the field, this dictionary covers all aspects of film studies, including terms, concepts, debates, and movements in film theory and criticism, national, international and transnational cinemas, film history, film movements and genres, film industry organizations and practices, and key technical terms and concepts in 500 detailed entries. Most entries also feature recommendations for further reading and a large number also have web links. The web links are listed and regularly updated on a companion website that complements the printed book. The dictionary is international in its approach, covering national cinemas, genres, and film movements from around the world such as the Nouvelle Vague, Latin American cinema, the Latsploitation film, Bollywood, Yiddish cinema, the spaghetti western, and World cinema. The most up-to-date dictionary of its kind available, this is a must-have for all students of film studies and ancillary subjects, as well as an informative read for cinephiles and for anyone with an interest in films and film criticism.

“Compelling and sometimes controversial words from the visionaries behind the camera . . . from Charlie Chaplin to Kathryn Bigelow to Akira Kurosawa.” —Cool Hunting No saint, no pope, no general, no sultan, has ever had the power that a filmmaker has; the power to talk to hundreds of millions of people for two hours in the dark. —Frank Capra Inspiring everything from pop culture earthquakes to popular revolutions, filmmakers have demonstrated an uncanny ability to move the masses. But the drama they project on screen is only half the picture. Stretching from its earliest days of two-reel silent films to the latest 3D digital blockbusters, film history provides a cast of characters ready to spill witty bon mots, outrageous pronouncements, and heartfelt reflections. The Filmmaker Says is a colorful compendium of quotations from more than one hundred of history’s most influential and opinionated creators of filmed entertainment. Paired like guests at the ultimate film geek dinner party, a celebrated filmmaker of today might sit next to a silent-era giant as this raucous crew argues, compliments, and disagrees with each other about every step of the moviemaking process.