DescriptionAlthough exoticism is a prominent trope in French cinema of the 1930s, scholarly examinations of its deployment in narrative cinema have focused almost exclusively on colonial representations. While the colonies were undeniably important to the interwar imaginary, there remain many fiction films whose action takes place outside the realm of Western empire. Despite their lack of formalized imperial ties, these non-colonial exoticist films rely on narrative strategies that convey the ideological and/or cultural superiority of Western values. Thematically and ideologically, then, exoticist cinema merits a more inclusive criteria, one that looks beyond the fact of territorial affiliation with Western empire in order to examine how inter- and transcultural narratives figure the East-West divide on screen. Using films and related contemporary discourse, this project aims to redefine the exotic in order to account for both colonial and non-colonial forms. In addition, this study identifies and analyzes recurring figures, plot devices, and narrative outcomes that dominate French exoticist film cycles between the arrival of synchronized sound in France and the outbreak of World War II in Europe.