Cinephilia

Cinephilia (ˌsɪnɪˈfɪliə; also cinemaphilia or filmophilia) is the term used to refer to a passionate interest in films, film theory, and film criticism. The term is a portmanteau of the words cinema and philia, one of the four ancient Greek words for love. A person with a passionate interest in cinema is called a cinephile (ˈsɪnɪfaɪl), cinemaphile, filmophile, or, informally, a film buff (also movie buff). To a cinephile, a film is often not just a source of entertainment as they see films from a more critical point of view. In English, "cinephile" is sometimes used interchangeably with the word cineaste (ˈsɪniæst,_ˈsɪneɪæst), though in the original French the term cinéaste (sineast) refers to a cinephile who is also a filmmaker. In a review of a book on the history of cinephilia, Mas Generis writes: "Cinephilia, despite its transparent etymological meaning—love of cinema—is a term that resists ready and shared understanding." Generis also introduces a quote from film scholar Annette Michelson that states that there is, "No one such thing as cinephilia, but rather forms and periods of cinephilia." As described by Antoine de Baecque and Thierry Frémaux, "The definitive essence of cinephilia is a culture of the discarded that prefers to find intellectual coherence where none is evident and to eulogize the non-standard and the minor." Film historian Thomas Elsaesser writes that it "reverberates with nostalgia and dedication... more than a passion of going to the movies and only a little less than an entire attitude towards life". Since the beginning of the silent era, there have been film clubs and publications in which people who felt passionately about cinema could discuss their interests and see rare and older works. At the beginning of the sound era, there were more and more people interested in seeing older films, which led to the establishment of organizations such as the Cinémathèque Française, the first major archive devoted to film preservation. A notable cinephilic community of the 20th century was the one that developed in Paris in the decades following World War II.