Simin Nina Littschwager is an independent scholar and film maker based in Wellington, New Zealand. She holds a PhD from Victoria University of Wellington, where she has previously taught undergraduate courses in film studies.
Setting out to examine 'what happens with the body in the mind-game film', Simin Littschwager moves beyond existing accounts that treat such 'complex' film narratives primarily as cognitive puzzles, demonstrating instead how 'mind games' can lead into an intensified engagement with bodily experience. Deftly weaving together phenomenological concepts and detailed film analysis, Littschwager sheds new light on some of the most significant and talked-about movies of the past twenty years. It is a testament to her insight and intellectual resourcefulness that the exploration of these familiar works is so very fresh and engaging. * Dr Allan Cameron, Senior Lecturer in Media, Film and Television, University of Auckland, New Zealand * Among the proliferating literature on mind-game/puzzle films, Littschwager's Making Sense of Mind-Game Films impresses by its clarity of exposition and singularity of focus. Tracing what she calls 'the ruptures between body, mind and world' that mind-game films exemplify in their story worlds and embody in their affective impact, she advances our understanding beyond the cognitive challenges and narratological puzzles that other writers have highlighted. * Thomas Elsaesser, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands *