Cinema and/as convergence

Résumé

Considering that we are living in an age of convergences – the technological convergence around the screen, and the spatial and temporal convergence that we see in terms of film content – I wish to argue today that these are based upon a more fundamental convergence, which is the convergence of the world in cinema. Furthermore, I shall argue that this convergence is itself predicated upon an ongoing ideology of divergence, of division, of separation, and of hierarchisation. In short, cinema continues to be business as usual. But perhaps more importantly, business as usual is increasingly becoming cinema.