More than half a century after his death, Soviet filmmaker Aleksandr Rou remains a cinematic icon across Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Dubbed ‘King of the Fairy Tales’ and ‘The Main Storyteller of the Country’, Rou revolutionized Soviet fantasy and fairy-tale cinema during a remarkable directorial career spanning from 1938 to 1972.

Deftly navigating the shifting ideological landscapes of the Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras, Rou created an idiosyncratic succession of weird, witty and wonderful films that celebrated and perpetuated the nation’s folkloric traditions while constantly refreshing them for new generations of appreciative young audiences. In English-speaking countries, by contrast, Rou’s films remain relatively little known. With streaming platforms now increasing their accessibility to western viewers, this book provides a timely introduction to his unique and exhilarating blend of mirth and magic.

'This book takes us on a journey through the fairy-tale films of Alexander Rou, one of the Soviet Union's most prolific and inventive filmmakers of the genre. Deborah Allison's always engaging and enjoyable writing provides the cultural and technical contexts as she reveals the features that make up Rou’s personal style, whilst also highlighting the narratives, actors and special effects in Rou's work. To put it in fairy-tale language: this is a beautifully woven carpet, whose intricate pattern emerges as we read and takes us on a flight into Rou’s fairy-tale world.'

–Birgit Beumers, Professor emerita in Film Studies, Aberystwyth University

The conceptualization of gender from Old to New Nollywood seems to shift between rigid masculinities alongside subjugated females and assertive females confronting masculine aggressions, respectively. This article articulates New Nollywood’s approach to representing gender-related issues like violence and sexual exploitation and challenging women’s silence in corporate and domestic spaces. The paper argues that the narration of gender archetypes in Kunle Afolayan’s Citation and Biyi Bandele and Kenneth Gyang’s Blood Sisters – both New Nollywood films – challenge the African patriarchal context in the corporate and domestic spaces where the films are set.

Review of: The Non-Professional Actor: Italian Neorealist Cinema and Beyond, Catherine O’Rawe (2024)

London: Bloomsbury Academic, 249 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-50139-435-5, h/bk, £90

Review of: Quo Vadis?, Cabiria and the ‘Archaeologists’: Early Italian Cinema’s Appropriation of Art and Archaeology, Ivo Blom (2023)

Turin: Edizione Kaplan, 312 pp.,

ISBN 978-8-89955-966-3, p/bk, €40.00

Review of: Fashioning Submission: Documenting Fashion, Taste and Identity in WWII Italy through Bellezza Magazine, Silvia Vacirca (2023)

Sesto San Giovanni: Mimesis International, 219 pp.,

ISBN 978-8-86977-421-8, p/bk, £17.99

Review of: Italian Americans in Film: Establishing and Challenging Italian American Identities, Daniele Fioretti and Fulvio Orsitto (eds) (2023)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 309 pp.,

ISBN 978-3-03106-464-7, p/bk, $149.17

Review of: Italian Political Cinema: Figures of the Long ’68, Mauro Resmini (2023)

Minneapolis, MN and London: University of Minnesota Press, 302 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-51791-138-6, p/bk, $28.00

Review of: C’era una volta in America: Storia del cinema italiano negli Stati Uniti, 1946–2000, Damiano Garofalo (2023)

Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino Editore, 246 pp.,

ISBN 978-8-84987-732-8, p/bk, €17.31

Review of: Comunicazioni sociali, Special Issue: ‘Gender and Labour in the Italian Audiovisual Industries: Critical Research Approaches and Methods’, Rosa Barotsi, Gloria Dagnino and Carla Mereu Keating (eds) (2023)

Milan: Vita e pensiero, 124 pp.,

ISSN 0392-8667, p/bk, €101.00

Review of: Basilicata and Southern Italy between Film and Ecology, Alberto Baracco and Manuela Gieri (eds) (2023)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 286 pp.,

Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-13572-9

Softcover ISBN: 978-3-03113-572-9

eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-13573-6