PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Commun.
Sec. Media, Creative, and Cultural Industries
This article is part of the Research TopicReframing Transnational Cinema: Evolving Definitions, Regional Perspectives, and Cultural IntersectionsView all 8 articles
Expanding the Concept of Transnational Cinema Through Branded Content in the Digital Age
Provisionally accepted
- Hanyang University, Erica, Ansan, Republic of Korea
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This perspective article offers a conceptual and exploratory framework for understanding how branded content expands the conceptual boundaries of transnational cinema in the digital age. Rather than offering empirical generalizations, it encourages theoretical discussions and future research. While previous studies focused on auteurism and art films, this article argues that branded content shaped by hybridity, technology, and layered narratives can be a distinct cinematic form that crosses borders. Moving beyond Jenkins's triad of immersion, convergence, and extension, this article proposes an affective, technological, and interpretive lens to reframe the global circulation of branded narratives. Hyundai Motor Company's short film Night Fishing (2024) was used as a conceptual illustration that demonstrates how branded content engages transnational audiences through emotional immersion, narrative hybridity, and dual distribution across theatrical and digital platforms. Ultimately, this article suggests that branded content bridges commercial intentions and artistic experiences, thus offering new grounds for conceptualizing transnational cinema in the digital era.
Keywords: Transnational cinema, Branded content, Audience experience, emotional immersion, narrative hybridity
Received: 06 Aug 2025; Accepted: 18 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lee and Kim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Kenneth Chi Ho Kim
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