Contemporary Spanish Cinema offers an essential analysis of the main trends and issues in Spanish film since the death of Franco in 1975. While taking account of cinema during the Franco dictatorship, the book focuses principally on developments in the last two decades. Acknowledging the sheer breadth and diversity of Spanish film production since the ending of the regime and the transition to democracy, this study includes chapters on Spanish film's obsessive concern with the past on popular genre film (including the comedy and the thriller), on representations of gender and sexuality and the work of women film professionals, both behind and in front of the camera, as well as on film produced in Spain's autonomous communities, particularly in Catalonia and the Basque Country.