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Encyclopedias & Guides
Dictionaries
Bibliographies, Filmographies & Indexes
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Latin American Films at UNC-Chapel Hill

Encyclopedias & Guides

All of the resources listed are available in Davis Library.
Search the UNC Libraries Catalog to find location and availability.

Cien Años de Cine Mexicano, 1896-1996 (1999)

Davis Reference CD-ROM 10-559
(ask at desk for assistance)

This CD-ROM consists of essays, a panoramic timeline of Mexican cinema, film clips, a searchable index, biographical sketches, information about film awards and festivals, information about cinema institutions, and a bibliography of more than 600 entries.

This CD can serve as an excellent introduction to Mexican cinema as well as a more in-depth study. The "Panorama" section provides an interesting interactive overview. Click on the arrows at the bottom of the screen to view film clips, short vignettes and bio sketches. For more detailed research, the CD contains more than 30 essays.

Cine Documental En América Latina (2003)
Paranaguá, Paulo Antonio, and José Carlos Avellar

Davis PN1995.9.D6 C517 2003

This resource contains extensive (6-20 page) biographies of fifteen Latin American documentary film makers, as well as a chronological list of major films in this genre from 1921 to 2002. Also included is a selection of essays on the subject and a thirty-page bibliography of related sources.

Enciclopedia do Cinema Brasileiro (2000)
Ramos, Fernao and Miranda, Luiz Felipe (eds.)

Davis Reference PN 1993.5 .B6 E53 2000 c.1

This is an excellent resource if you can read Portuguese. It is organized alphabetically with directors, film titles, actors/actresses and all terms related to Brazilian cinema intermingled. Each actor and director entry includes a filmography section as well as a biographical entry. The film entries include a fairly in-depth summary. The same holds true for other Brazilian cinema related terms.

Encyclopedia of Contemporary Latin America and Caribbean Cultures (3 vols.) (2000)
Daniel Balderston, Mike Gonzalez, and Ana M. Lopez (eds.)

Davis Reference F 1406 .E515 2000

This is a good general resource for Latin America culture. Entries are written by university faculty from all of the Americas. Included in volume 1 is a several page essay on Latin American cinema from the "Golden Age" to the post-modern era. Other interesting, short pieces such as "Cinema as a gun" are included. Volume 2 has entries for "Film" and "Film festivals", etc. Bolded words or phrases indicate that there is an entry for that word or phrase.

Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture (5 vols.) (1996)
Tenenbaum, Barbara A.

Davis Reference F 1406 .E53 1996

Similar to the above title, this is a general reference resource for Latin American studies. The essay on cinema gives an historical overview. Also of note is an essay on the Cinema Novo of Brazil.

Footage: The Worldwide Moving Image Sourcebook (1997)

Davis Reference PN 1993.4 .F667 1997 c.1

This resource is used to "research, screen and license footage." That is, this is one source to look at if you are doing in depth research and need the actual footage. This resource is not geared toward commercial feature length cinema. Rather, it is a place to locate cultural, sports, historical, or stock footage, for example. There is a geographical index to search for footage by a specific country.

Guide to Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino-Made Film and Video (1998)
Ranucci, Karen and Feldman, Julie (eds.)

Davis Reference PN 1995.9 .L37 G85 1998

The book is "intended as a directory to help U.S. viewers become familiar with the quality and quantity of work produced in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Latino diaspora." Films ranging from very short, community-produced documentaries to feature films are evaluated and arranged by country. The evaluators are often university faculty in fields such as Latin American History and Cinema Studies. There is also an online component to this resource at http://www.lavavideo.org/. The International Media Resource Exchange (IMRE) has organized the Latin American Video Archive (LAVA). Both the print and online resources are particularly useful if you are interested in films that do not fit into the feature film category.

Historia del cine cubano: Cien años, 1897-1998 (2002)
Noguer, Eduardo G.

Davis PN1993.5.C8 N64 2002

Although this resource is somewhat confusing to use, it does contain basic information about hundreds of Cuban films, as well as some US films about Cuba. One notable feature is the wealth of photographs provided, including both movie stills and promotional posters.

Latin America and the Caribbean: A Critical Guide to Research Sources (1992)
Covington, Paula H. (ed.)

Davis Reference Z1601 .L3225 1992

This title contains a four page essay by Randal Johnson on Latin American cinema, its history and current research trends. Importantly, this title contains an excellent ten page annotated bibliography by Gayle Williams with a general section followed by country specific sections. Sources cited are in English as well as Spanish and Portuguese.

Oxford History of World Cinema, The (1996)
Geoffrey Nowell-Smith (ed.)

Davis Reference PN 1993.5 .A1 O96 1996

Contains two essays by Michael Chanan. The first focuses on the early years of Latin American cinema while the other is of the exclusively modern period.

Quien es Quien en el Teatro y el Cine Espanol e Hispanoamericano (1990)

Davis Reference PN2787 .Q546 1990

This two volume set is in Spanish but a possible starting point if you have a name. It is arranged alphabetically and includes entries for people such as directors, actors/actresses, cinematographers, and producers. As the title states, the volumes also include entries relating to theater. A feature to note in this set is an index of pseudonyms. It was published in 1990 so much is not included, but as a source for 20th century research, it's worth a look.

TLA Film, Video, and DVD Guide: The Discerning Film Lover's Guide 2002-03 (2001)
Bleiler, David

Davis Reference PN1998 .T465

This resource is useful for very brief (one paragraph) reviews of films by critics. It's much more of the thumbs up or thumbs down approach with the films rated by a 4 star rating system. It is definitely not an in-depth resource or comprehensive of Latin America but a decent starting point if you are just looking for a film to watch. There is a "countries of origin" index.

Variety: International Film Guide 2003: The Ultimate Annual Review of World Cinema (2003)
Cowie, Peter (ed.)

Davis Reference PN 1993.3 .I544

This film guide is put out by Variety magazine, a publication that focuses on film and theater. Davis Library holds the International Guide back to 1990. It is certainly not a comprehensive source of Latin American film as not all countries are covered each year, it can be useful as a highlight of the past years' cinema. Country entries tend to be only a page or so and to focus on the big names and events of the past year.

World Film Directors (2 vols.) (1987)
Wakeman, John (ed.)

Davis Reference PN 1998.2 .W67 1987

Brief (2 page) biographies of major film directors arranged chronologically. Volume one covers 1890-1945 with volume 2 covering 1945-1985. Both volumes contain entries for Latin American directors.