The British Film Institute (BFI) announces its new publication Electric Shadows: A Century of Chinese Cinema. It is the latest in a series of BFI Compendiums following 39 Steps to the Genius of Hitchcock (2012) and Gothic: The Dark of Heart of Film (2013).

The book is an accessible introduction to the long and illustrious history of Chinese cinema from the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan over the past century.

According to BFI, it’s a perfect companion to BFI Southbank’s A Century of Chinese Cinema season, a celebration of 100 years of filmmaking in China programmed in partnership with TIFF, running from June to October 2014.

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Through a range of illustrated new essays, written by many of the foremost authorities in the field, the history of Chinese cinema is revealed. From the early silent films to Shanghai’s Golden Age, from the restrictions of the Cultural Revolution to the ‘Fifth Generation’ films of the 1980s, from the independent spirit of the 1990s to the blockbusters of the new millennium.

Along the way it tells the parallel stories of Hong Kong and Taiwan’s cinema, and China’s great genre cinema, from the wildly-popular ‘wuxia’ swordplay epics and kung fu spectacles to crime thrillers and eerie ghost tales.

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The book’s contributors are Chris Berry, Michael Berry, Peggy Chiao, Tony Rayns, Bérénice Reynaud, Yingjin Zhang, John Berra, Kevin B. Lee, Yuqian Yan, Victor Fan, Peter Rist, Grady Hendrix, Cui Zi’en, Li Zhen, Edward Anderson and Robin Baker.

There are additional contributions from filmmakers Tsui Hark (Once Upon a Time in China), Jia Zhangke (A Touch of Sin, Still Life) Ann Hui (Boat People), Feng Xiaogang (Back to 1942, Aftershock) and Stanley Kwan (Center Stage).

The book is now available to buy from the BFI Shop, amazon.co.uk and other outlets.

Photo courtesy: BFI