Počátky kinematografie, vynález filmu, kinematograf, kinetoskop, zootrop, Lumièrovci, Méliès, Brightonská škola, Porter, Film d’Art, Pastrone opora s. 10–16
Thomas Alva Edison, Biograph, Vitagraph, Edwin Porter, David Wark Griffith, Mack Sennett, groteska opora s. 17–22
– UFA, Lubitsch, expresionismus, Kabinet doktora Caligariho, Carl Mayer, kammerspiel, Murnau, Upír Nosferatu, Lang, Metropolis, Victor Sjöström, Mauritz Stiller, Svensk Filmindustri opora s. 23–30
– CINÉMA PUR, Gance, Napoleon, polyekran, impresionismus, Dulacová, Epstein, Clair, Mezihra, surrealismus, Buñuel, Andaluský pes opora s. 31–37
– Sovětský revoluční film, Sovkino, Protazanov, Kuleshov, Ezenštejn, Dziga Vertov, Dovženko opora s. 38–46
– Fox, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Universal, United Artists, First National a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Ernst Lubitsch, Alfred Hitchcock, Cecil B. DeMille opora s. 47–54
– Roberto Rossellini, Cesare Zavattini, Luchino Visconti, Victorio De Sica, Michelangelo Antonioni, Cahiers du cinéma, Levý břeh, Alain Resnais, Agnès Varda, Jacques Demy, François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais opora s. 55–64
– Nový Hollywood, Mike Nichols, Dennis Hopper, Sam Peckinpah, Steven Spielberg, Robert Altman, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Terrence Malick opora s. 65–79
– Carl Theodor Dreyer, Alf Sjöberg, Ingmar Bergman, Alexander Kluge, Jean-Marie Straub, Volker Schlöndorff, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, Laurence Olivier, David Lean, Carol Reed, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson, Free Cinema, Terry Gilliam, Nicolas Roeg, Ken Loach, Peter Greenaway opora s. 80–94
– polská škola, Andrzej Wajda, Aleksander Ford, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Roman Polanski, Jerzy Skolimowski, Kino morálního neklidu, Krzysztof Zanussi, Agnieszka Holland, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Félix Mariássy, Miklós Jancsó, István Szabó, novi film, Aleksandar Petrović, Dušan Makavejev, Emir Kusturica, Gregorij Čuchraj, Michail Kalatozov, Andrej Tarkovskij, opora s. 95–106
– Nagis Ošima, Hiroshi Tešigahara, Šóhei Imamura, Akira Kurosawa, Shinj’ Cukamota, Takeši Kitano, Wu Tchien-Ming, Čchen Kchaj-ke, Zhang Che, King Hu, Ann Hui, Tsui Hark, Wong Kar-wai, Patrick Tam, Im Kwon-taek, Kim Ki-duk, Chan-wook Park, Chou Siao-sien, Edward Yang, Tsai Ming-liang, Stan Lai, Ang Lee, Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Glauber Rocha, Humbert Solás, Ousmane Sembène, Idrissa Ouedraog opora s. 107–123
– David Lynch, James Cameron, Oliver Stone, Spike Lee, Tima Burtona, Ridley Scott, Terry Gilliam, David Cronenberg, Steven Spielberg, Danny Boyle, Sam Mendes, Quentin Tarantino opora s. 124–130
– Walter Ruttman, Leni Riefenstahl, Frank Capra, Jean Rouch, direct cinema, cinéma verité, Georges Mélies, Man Ray, pur cinema, Fernand Léger, absolutní film, Vikinga Eggeling, Hans Richter, Oskar Fischinger, Walt Disney, Ladislas Starevič opora s. 131–141