In the face of renewed competition from Hollywood since the early 1980s
and the challenges posed to Europe's national cinemas by the fall of the
Wall in 1989, independent filmmaking in Europe has begun to re-invent
itself. European Cinema: Face to Face with Hollywood re-assesses the
different debates and presents a broader framework for understanding the
forces at work since the 1960s. These include the interface of "world
cinema" and the rise of Asian cinemas, the importance of the
international film festival circuit, the role of television, as well as
the changing aesthetics of auteur cinema. New audiences have different
allegiances, and new technologies enable networks to reshape identities,
but European cinema still has an important function in setting critical
and creative agendas, even as its economic and institutional bases are
in transition.