Footnote #54 - Cult Cinema (with Iain Robert Smith)

Fresh from their discussion of La mujer murcielago/The Batwoman (René Cardona, 1968), Chris and Alex are once again joined by Dr Iain Robert Smith, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at King’s College London, to undertake a 10-minute introduction to cult and cult cinema. Listen as the trio offer a closer look at the politics of ‘cult’ as a critical and cultural category; what it means to negotiate obsessive reception and fandom in the analysis of film, and the extent to which cult operates as a type of cinema; the oppositional quality of cult and its uneven relationship to the mainstream; the implied gender politics of the so-called ‘masculinity of cult’ and questions of inclusion and exclusion; and the enjoyment of both studying and taking part in the kinds of participatory cultures that have shaped the global canon of cult. **Fantasy/Animation theme tune composed by Francisca Araujo** **As featured on Feedspot’s 25 Best London Education Podcasts**