UK/2021—directed by Mark Cousins | 167 minutes

“What sets it soaring is the discerning guide at its helm, one whose curatorial exultation and rigor are also calming and reassuring - a welcome voice in cacophonous times.”  -Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter 

A decade after The Story of Film: An Odyssey, his brilliant documentary about the state of moviemaking in the 20th century, filmmaker and author Mark Cousins returns with an epic portrait of cinematic innovation from around the globe. Here, Cousins turns his sharp, meticulously honed gaze on world cinema from 2010 to 2021, using sequences from a vast range of works — including Frozen, Joker, and Cemetery of Splendour — as launchpads to explore recurring themes and motifs, from the evolution of film language to technology’s role in moviemaking today to shifting identities in 21st-century world cinema.

With insights on everything from Deadpool and It Follows to Black Panther and Lover’s Rock, Cousins seeks out creators and communities often under-represented in traditional film histories, including Asian and Middle Eastern works, as well as boundary-pushing documentaries and films that see gender in new ways. As the pandemic begins to ebb, Cousins ponders what comes next in the streaming age: how have we changed as cinephiles, and how moviegoing will transform in the digital era to our collective joy and wonder.

“Monumental and amazingly ambitious. An unashamed celebration of cinema as an art form.”  -Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian