Intertextuality

"Derived from the Latin intertexto, meaning to intermingle while weaving, intertextuality is a term first introduced by French semiotician Julia Kristeva in the late sixties. In essays such as "Word, Dialogue, and Novel," Kristeva broke with traditional notions of the author's "influences" and the text's "sources," positing that all signifying systems, from table settings to poems, are constituted by the manner in which they transform earlier signifying systems. A literary work, then, is not simply the product of a single author, but of its relationship to other texts and to the strucutures of language itself. "[A]ny text," she argues, "is constructed of a mosaic of quotations; any text is the absorption and transformation of another"

source: http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0278.html

My understanding of intertextuality in film, is a sort of "paying homage" during a scene or throught a film to a scene or film made prior to the film that is using it through intertextuality. Here is a YouTube clip made by an Australian teacher, describing in detail the meaning of intertextuality and providing an example of it in modern cinema:

Intertextuality is an interesting concept, as it can be seen as both plagirism or a form of flattery when done in cinema, but it also shows that throughout the times regardless as time moves on that some social issues are relevant despite the time period. I see intertextuality as a good thing and will be prompting my group to use this when it comes to our media coursework as it will provide a strong foundation for a good piece of work.