With new forms of production, distribution and viewing growing steadily over the last two decades, it is the anthology film form that will prevail in the age of new technologies and growing world cinema. This book shows how film theory could be understood in the light of these developments through an examination of key concepts such as auteurism, spectatorship, intertextuality and the utility of short films. Shekhar Deshpande discusses films from around the world, including Emmanuel Benbihy's Paris, I Love You (2006) and New York, I Love You (2009).

Deshpande expands upon Mark Betz's seminal work in this area by focusing on one particular kind of "omnibus" film, where specific collective projects are commissioned for the purpose of including them in a feature-length film structured around a common theme. Anthology Film and World Cinema fills a significant gap in the field by restoring the genre to its proper place, situating it firmly within the current developments in film theory and analyzing its specific achievements.