Few topics in the study of film produce as much controversy as authorship. Critics, historians, and theoreticians heatedly debate film authors, arguing vociferously about the nature of film authorship and questioning whether films even have authors at all. evaluates these debates in a rigorous and accessible manner. Generously illustrated, the book analyzes the historical development and theoretical underpinnings of the concepts of film authorship and the auteur. It then examines recent theories of film authorship and proposes a reconceptualization that grounds the topic firmly in empirical analyses of film production.