Acclaimed British director Michael Winterbottom is known for the diversity of his prolific output of films. His films span a wide range of genres in mainstream and art house cinema alike, from western to science-fiction. Working within different genres gives Winterbottom a framework within which to explore favored themes, while incorporating new ideas and taking on new challenges. At the same time, his manner of undermining familiar generic qualities and frustrating audience expectations also refreshes the genres he explores. The Cinema of Michael Winterbottom, by Deborah Allison, explores Winterbottom's contributions to contemporary cinema by using ideas of genre as a critical tool. This text focuses on eight Winterbottom films, and examines how he adopts, inflects, and challenges the main attributes of the films' associated genres, creating a personal and idiosyncratic style of filmmaking. The potency and integrity of his authorship unites films as generically diverse as the road film (Butterfly Kiss), western drama (The Claim), science fiction (Code 46), and the docudrama (The Road to Guantanamo.).