Film, Host War Traces and Cold War Spaces

Investigates the intertwining of fiction, documentary and memory in film:

- Analyses previously neglected visual material ranging from newsreels from the First World War to amateur footage of Hiroshima before the bombing and television news reports from the 1970s

- Establishes connections between films and events which had never been brought together in the same monograph

This book explores the ways in which film engages with historical events and their impact on present-day landscapes, through a spatial reading of film articulated through the process of charting both creative and coherent cinematic topographies. As the authority of the archive wrestles with the popularity of fictional narratives, this book delves into the debate on the relationship between fiction and documentary in hitherto neglected and surprising contexts. It offers the reader a unique approach to the study of archival footage and documentaries in relation to their fictional counterpart, mainstream films set in the same locations and addressing similar themes, including both live-action films and animations. From images of the places taken during or soon after the facts they represent to the intricacies of retrospective images of the events made years later, the films and footage investigated in this book offer a profound reflection on the ways in which we remember, imagine and experience the past through the complex mediation of film.