A comprehensive study uncovering the hidden histories of film and television projects abandoned despite major investment.
Unmade, unseen, and unreleased film and television are a strikingly underexplored aspect of media history, even though significant financial investment and creative labor in these industries are devoted to projects that never reach production or distribution. This groundbreaking collection offers a comprehensive examination of this phenomenon, bringing together interdisciplinary perspectives from film history, gender and sexuality studies, industry studies, archival research, and creative practice.
Each chapter presents a state-of-the-art overview of a key theme, debate, method, or theory, drawing on illuminating case studies from different historical periods and global contexts. Together, the contributions define what it means for a work to remain unmade, unseen, or unreleased, while showcasing innovative research approaches and mapping the scale of unfinished projects in film and television. Serving as both a foundational text for students and a valuable reference for established researchers, the volume's scope will offer an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand the hidden histories of the screen industries.
List of Figures Introduction: Unmade, Unseen and Unreleased Film and Television – an Unresolved Problem James Fenwick and Kieran Foster PART I: THEORIZING THE UNMADE, UNSEEN AND UNRELEASED 1 Creative Failure Peter C. Kunze 2 The Poetics of Phantom Cinema: Waiting for Harry Dickson Philippe C. Met 3 Archival Absences, Silences and Fragments: The Unmade and Film History James Fenwick 4 Batgirl Incorporated: Cancelled Films, Corporate Strategy and Questions of Quality Kieran Foster 5 Posthumous Cinema: Unfinished Films in the Archives Monika Kin Gagnon 6 Phantom Visions of the SnyderVerse: Unproduction and the Fan-Led Battle to Restore Zack Snyder’s DC Extended Universe Films Ryan Greene 7 Queer Histories of the Unmade Sabrina Mittermeier 8 Becoming Unmade Zach Karpinellison PART II: ARCHIVES OF THE UNMADE, UNSEEN AND UNRELEASED 9 Disinterring Johanna ter Steege: Aryan Papers and the Materiality of the Stanley Kubrick Archive Cassie Brummitt and Joy McEntee 10 The Lost Crusade: Lindsay Anderson’s Unmade Sequel to If … (1968) Will Kitchen 11 No Film to Watch: Pare Lorentz and the Atom Bomb Jason Potel 12 Ken Russell’s Unmade Films 1968– 82: A Critical Reflection Matthew Melia 13 The Case of Tizia Jus: An Unmade Film in Post- War Austria Hanja D.mon 14 The Location Outtakes for Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah Sue Vice and Dominic Williams PART III: CREATIVE PRACTICE AND THE UNMADE, UNSEEN AND UNRELEASED 15 Not Showing at This Cinema: Festivals of the Unmade 269 Tim Brown 16 Containing, Transforming, Transcending the Story: Notes from a Scriptwriter’s Journey Marianne Strand 17 The Unfilmables Colm McAuliffe Notes on Contributors Index
James Fenwick is Senior Lecturer in Cultural, Creative and Media Industries at the University of Manchester's Institute for Cultural Practices, and co-editor of the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. Kieran Foster is Assistant Professor in Film and Screen Studies at the University of Nottingham.
