In the late 1990s and early 2000s Latin American films like Amores
perros, Y tu mamá también and Cidade de Deus enjoyed an unprecedented
level of critical and commercial success in the world market.
Benefitting from external financial and/or creative input, these films
were considered examples of transnational cinema. Through a textual
analysis of six filmmakers (Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón,
Guillermo del Toro, Fernando Meirelles, Walter Salles and Juan José
Campanella), this book examines these transnational films and the
subsequent wave of commercially successful 'deterritorialised' films by
the same directors. It argues that although films produced within the
structures of the United States film industry may have been commercially
successful, they are not necessarily apolitical or totally divorced from
key notions of national or continental identity. Bringing a new
perspective to the films of Latin America's transnational auteurs, this
is a major contribution towards understanding how different genres
function across different cultures.