Authorship in film has been a persistent theme in the field of cinema studies. This volume of new work revitalizes the question of authorship by connecting it to larger issues of identity--in film, in the marketplace, in society, in culture. Essays range from the auteur theory and Casablanca to Oscar Micheaux, from the American avant-garde to community video, all illuminating how authorship is a complex idea with far-reaching implications. This ambitious and wide-ranging book will be essential reading for anyone concerned with film studies and the concept of the author.