Dana Polan
Dana Polan is the author of eight books in film and media and approximately 200 essays, reviews, and review essays. He is a former president of the Society for Cinema Studies, the professional society for film, and a former editor of its publication, Cinema Journal. He holds a Doctorat d'Etat in Letters from the Sorbonne Nouvelle and a Ph.D. in Modern Thought from Stanford. He has been knighted by the French Ministry of Culture for contributions to cross-cultural exchange, and in 2003, was selected as one of that year's two Academy Foundation Scholars by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His recent books include Scenes of Instruction: The Beginnings of the U.S. Study of Film (UC Press, 2007), The Sopranos (Duke University Press, 2009), and The French Chef (Duke University Press, 2011). He has done eight DVD commentaries including, most recently, In a Lonely Place (Criterion Collection).
