Vol 9, No 3 (2017)

The article explores the domain of cinematographic art which akin to science tends to reveal the meaning and peculiarities of human existence by means of displaying its ethnographic variety. The movement in question has no special designation yet and is referred to as “ethnographic cinema”, “ethnocinema” or “audiovisual anthropology”. The evolution of the ideological motivations of this movement is considered through the lens of the “West/East” dichotomy as imprinting of the Others image. Special attention is given to the notion of “cul tural anthropology” and its implementation in the films made by such masters of the documentary as G. Jacopetti and C. Marker.

The article examines the numinous as an important factor of the sacral sphere. It treats the basic points concerning the numinous presented in Rudolf Otto’s work “The Sacrum. The Irrational in the Idea of the Divine and its Relation to the Rational”. Special attention is paid to the interpretation of the term “numinous” and the study of significant features of the numinous such as tremendum, majestas, mysterium, fascinans, sanctum. The author seeks to show the importance of the numinous as a phe nomenon in A. Tarkovsky’s art and to examine the specifics of its realisation in various films.

The article touches upon the issues concerning the mythological structures in a fiction film. It gives grounds for the thesis that by using its intrinsic means of addressing the audience cinema is able to create new image-bearing systems having a direct influence on a society.

The article proves that out of all possible means of argumentation the humanities and film studies in particular mostly use the so-called non-universal or contextual ways of it. The authors insist upon the rationality of contextual argumentation. tte article treats of particular contextual arguments typical of humanitarian knowledge: those concerning tradition, common sense, authority, taste, fashion etc.

Chinese animation as one of the prominent animation schools in the world has its own peculiarities, poetics and national flavour. Its experience is of significant interest for national and world culturology and analysis of world animation evolution. The main role in the origin of the national animation school belongs to brothers Wan who defined the outlook of the Chinese animation, elaborated its technological base and created the studio system. tte article deals with the evolution of technical devices and thematic changes in brothers Wan films whose art determined the formation of the Chinese animation school.

The article analyzes the films by British and Indian filmmakers centered on problematic relationship between the Western and the Eastern cultures. The filmmakers of both countries are perfectly aware of the fact that the shortest way to the spectator’s heart is appealing to emotions that touch people of any nationality which is reflected in the analyzed screen works.

In the second decade of the 21st century, the interconnection and even interdependence between the qualitative characteristics of modern screen produce and screen arts in general and those of rapidly developing innovative technologies becomes increasingly obvious. tte affinity of different academic problems pertaining to the analysis of film industry, in humanities and science in particular, raises a lot of questions. One of them deals with revealing the factors necessary for the international recognition of a fundamental project and its subsequent implementation. This issue is illustrated in the article by the history of terrestrial television which has evolved from analogue broadcasting to digital, multi-program, interactive TV.