The five senses of Canadian cinema: introduction

Since the 1990s the field of film studies has seen a rise in approaches to cinema that accentuate the idea of the body as a complex site of perception. This special issue of Brno Studies in English originated with the call for submissions that would reflect on these developments and apply them to Canadian cinema. The resulting volume has brought together articles by authors of different generations, who use a variety of critical vantage points to address cinematic works from vastly different genres. These range from experimental avantgarde cinema, to (self)reflective documentaries, through more traditional commercial feature films. This introduction attempts to briefly situate the volume within the relevant theoretical context and present the individual authors and their papers. While highlighting some of the main points the contributors make, it also identifies various thematic and methodological overlaps running through the volume, which are of particular relevance to Canadian cinema and culture.