This survey course explores the changing landscape of contemporary global cinema from a transnational perspective. Students examine the socio-political, religious, and cultural dimensions and the aesthetics of film cultures from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America, treating cinema as both an art form and a narrative medium for the human condition and cultural expression.
Screenings of selected international films are paired with readings from cultural theorists and film scholars, and lectures and discussions with guest filmmakers before and after each screening anchor the inquiry. Along the way, students consider what makes each film culture distinctive, from story and production to direction and themes, and from the historical and cultural assumptions on screen to questions of place, space, and medium specificity.
Course Goals
Students will:
Develop critical and creative thinking and a deeper appreciation for international cinema
Identify the ideologies, cultural contexts, and themes in international films, and consider the challenges of global interdependence and solidarity
Investigate the historical and cultural roots of the aesthetics and narratives on screen
Evaluate how filmmakers respond to the social issues of their countries
Explore cinema's social function and the methods filmmakers use to adapt and expand the conventions of cinematic storytelling
Topics
Critiquing art and understanding culture: transcultural interpretation of world cinema, national film cultures, Hollywood vs. international cinema vs. art films
Cultural taxonomies and the social justice dimensions in the cinema of the developing world cinema