Cinephilia and History, or The Wind in the Trees

"Cinephilia and History, or The Wind in the Trees" is in part a history of cinephilia, in part an attempt to recapture the spirit of cinephilia for the discipline of film studies, and in part an experiment in cinephilic writing. Cinephiles have regularly fetishized contingent, marginal details in the motion picture image: the gesture of a hand, the wind in the trees. Christian Keathley demonstrates that the spectatorial tendency that produces such cinematic encounters - a viewing practice marked by a drift in visual attention away from the primary visual elements on display - in fact has clear links to the origins of film as defined by Andre Bazin, Roland Barthes, and others. Keathley explores the implications of this ontology and proposes the 'cinephiliac anecdote' as a new type of criticism, a method of historical writing that both imitates and extends the experience of these fugitive moments. Raised in south Florida, Christian Keathley earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from University of Florida, Gainesville. He holds an M.F.A. in Filmmaking from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Film Studies from the University of Iowa. His production work has been screened at the San Francisco Cinematheque, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the North Carolina School of the Arts. His scholarly work has appeared in "Art Papers", "Film Comment", and "Framework", and in the volumes Directed by Allen Smithee and "The Last Great American Picture Show". He is currently Assistant Professor in the Film & Media Culture Program at Middlebury College, Vermont.