Research Guides: *Film Studies: Getting Started with Film Studies

Best Bets for Film Studies

AFI (American Film Institute) Catalog
National filmography documenting the history of American cinema. Plot summaries, cast and crew lists and very selective production histories of major films. Covers the years 1893-1974 comprehensively, with selected major films from 1975 on. Includes some citations for industry trade periodicals. NO FILM REVIEWS
Film Index International
Cast list, synopsis, reviews, and secondary literature for over 125,000 films. Biographical information and indexes to interviews and secondary articles for more than 800,000 personalities. Based on the BFI (British Film Institute) catalog. Publication dates: 1900 to present.
FIAF Index to Film Periodicals
Contains FIAF's “Treasures from Film Archives”; a detailed index of the silent-era film holdings of archives from around the world, a selection of Reference volumes and the linked full-text of over 60 journals.

Topic Overviews in Film Studies

Cinema and Media Studies (Oxford Bibliographies Online)
These annotated bibliographies gather key resources on a wide range of topics in film and television studies. Featuring more than 110 different subtopics in cinema/media research, the bibliographies try to gather the best research on a topic and explain why a particular article or book might be more useful for your research better than another. Entries cover specific films, specific directors, genres, and themes.

MLA International Bibliography
Includes scholarly articles on film as a literary form.
America: History and Life
Excellent coverage of film both as phenomenon and as historical narrative.

Article Databases for Film Studies

Screen Studies Collection
Film studies journal articles and filmographies. Combined AFI Catalog and Film Index International. Although there is no full-text, the list of reviews is both authoritative and comprehensive.
Includes FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals Database and the detailed and complementary filmographies created by the American Film Institute and the British Film Institute; AFI Catalog and Film Index International.
Communication and Mass Media Complete
Rhetoric, communication, film, television, mass media, and popular culture journal articles. Publication dates: early 20th century to present communication & mass media complete
Art Abstracts
Fine arts journal articles, with some coverage of film as an art form. Publication dates: 1984 to present.
Art Abstracts indexes and abstracts articles from periodicals published throughout the world. Coverage includes English-language periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins, as well as periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and Swedish. In addition to articles, Art Abstracts indexes reproductions of works of art that appear in indexed periodicals.
Academic Search Complete
Full text journals and magazines across disciplines, including magazines focusing on the entertainment and film industries.

News Sources in Film Studies

You can use these databases to find popular press film reviews, such as from film critics in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and the New Yorker, among other news publications.

Nexis Uni
Full-text news and film reviews, with excellent international coverage. Try searching for titles of films to read contemporary critiques.
Global Newsstream
Newspapers, broadcast transcripts, wire service reports and international news sources. Includes New York Times. Publication dates: 1977 to current

Film Studies Librarian

Christopher Schiff

Contact:

Ladd Library 134
(207) 786-6274
cschiff@bates.edu

I am usually at the Research Desk Wed. 1-4, Thurs. 6-9, and Fri. 10-1

Subjects: Africana, American Studies, Dance, Film Studies, Languages and Literatures, Latin, Music, Rhetoric, Theater