New Writings: Decolonising the Exotic Gaze in World Cinema

We are delighted to welcome Daniela Berghahn to discuss her latest book Exotic Cinema: Encounters with Cultural Difference in Contemporary Transnational Film (Edinburgh University Press, 2024). Through close visual readings of the Indigenous film Embrace of the Serpent and the Hong Kong horror movie Dumplings, Daniela will undertake a critical reassessment of the problematic concept of exoticism; demonstrating that these films use the exotic gaze to draw attention to climate change and to critique the material excess of contemporary consumer culture.

We are delighted to share the news that Exotic Cinema: Encounters with Cultural Difference in Contemporary Transnational Film by Daniela Berghahn has won the 2023 Janovics Center Award for Best Book. Here’s what the judges had to say:

“The Jury commends the monograph as an outstanding example of transnational film studies research, which analyzes many films from various continents and regions of the globe. Berghahn’s meticulous scholarship, comprehensive writing, and well-constructed argument are praised for decentering concepts such as the exotic and exoticism, inviting readers to rethink them. The book moves away from the received wisdom of exoticism, too often coupled with orientalism and colonial power, and offers an original and insightful look at what the notion means today. With a profound understanding of the literature in her field, Berghahn offers a courageous critical reassessment of the aesthetic strategies and cultural value of exoticism against competing concepts describing cross-cultural encounters, such as orientalism, colonialism, primitivism, imperialism, and cultural appropriation. Her case studies are meticulously discussed and offer a multifaceted picture not just of individual films but also of their production context and reception.”

Tickets £6.50.

See our UK Asian Film Festival New Writings event on Saturday 4 May.