DescriptionIn this dissertation I investigate the role played by cinephilia both as a moving historical force behind film reviewing and as the engine behind several contemporary developments in the way we think and write about cinema. To do so, in the first chapter I evaluate the major attempts to theorize cinephilia and identify certain defining trends. In the second chapter, I examine the output of film reviewers in the United States with the premise that their work is evidence of the practical workings of cinephilia. In order to broaden the traditional focus on Anglo-European contexts, in the third chapter I study cinephilic film reviewing in Cuba, where social consciousness sometimes emerges with greater force. Finally, in the fourth chapter I survey the latest stage in the development of cinephilia, in which savvy film reviewing melds with technological developments. I conclude that the DVD, digital paratexts, and the blogosphere have dramatically changed both the face and reach of film studies.