Timothy Corrigan is Professor of Cinema Studies, English, and History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of New German Film and A Cinema without Walls and an editor of Critical Visions in Film Theory.

Winner of the SCMS Katherine Singer Kovács Book Award

"The editors have similarly assembled a diverse and interdisciplinary group of renowned authors and practitioners, focusing here on the essay film's heterogeneous forms and practices. As such, this volume is a welcome addition to a growing body of literature that investigates the place of subjectivity and "the personal" within documentary filmmaking. It should also be of interest to a range of humanities students and scholars, together with nonfiction and experimental filmmakers." -- Tanya Goldman, Cinema Journal

"The Essay Film is the most compelling and spirited monograph to surface yet on the topic."--Rick Warner, Critical Quarterly

"For media artists, scholars and students of cinema, Corrigan's reflections offer a passionate and convincing testimony to the transformative power of the essay film. Not since I read Roland Barthes' Mythologies have I come across a book that provides such a strong articulation of the visual thinking process."--Lynne Sachs, filmmaker

"Timothy Corrigan writes persuasively and vividly in offering up this coherent overview of the sprawling international phenomenon of the essay film. By providing a concise historical context, which ranges from Michel Montaigne to Michael Moore, he allows us to see the continuum and value of this idiosyncratic and vital form of expression."--Ross McElwee, Director, Sherman's March

"Inventively and insightfully, Timothy Corrigan establishes the essay film as a cinematic form of 'thinking out loud.' His eloquent book provides something similar: it is a richly productive meditation on meanings that interweaves voices, subjectivities, and resonant reflection. This essential volume now determines future consideration of this key genre."--Dana Polan, author of Scenes of Instruction: The Beginnings of the U.S. Study of Film