Film & Media Studies

One of the key features of postmodernist thinking is the assertion of the fuzzy boundaries between reality and fiction: the realization that in everyday lives fictions, projections or hypothesis-building constantly interact with objects and facts of life (you can call this constructivist thinking); the realization that people’s identities are negotiations between social demands and imaginary projects; the realization that people’s senses of reality are heavily influenced by certain hegemonic (dominating) posits in terms of gender, labor (and consumption), media, race and ethnicity. Brian McHale has characterized the resultant tensions, as they are enacted in literature as “worlds in collision.” Cinema, as an art of montage and suturing, seems predetermined to enact these clashes. In this seminar we will explore the fuzzy boundaries discussing postmodern obsessions such as identities, surfaces, worlds, play, parody, high & low, consumer culture, media, gender performances and difference.

This course approaches media and popular culture as a dynamic field of production, consumption, and contestation. After an initial phase of understanding forms of popular culture, the focus is put primarily on case studies from Japan, along with some comparative examples. This coures examines historical and contemporary meaning-making processes in context, introducing academic vocabulary and approaches while providing tools to examine popular culture and media.  There will also be in-class screenings. By the end of the term, students should be able to think cross-culturally, critically, and collaboratively about not only media and popular culture but also everyday life and the world in which we live.

This course explores Spanish cinema from its origins to the present day including viewings of some of the most representative films of each era.

This course examines the principles and concepts of immersive media. 

This interdisciplinary course offers a captivating exploration of the dynamic portrayal of French youth from the post-World War I era to the present day. Delving into the multifaceted experiences of French youth, it examines how literature, cinema, and societal structures intersect to shape the coming-of-age journey. While the course distinguishes between three pivotal periods in the history of French youth – the interwar period leading up to World War II and its aftermath, the transformative era from May 1968 to the 1990s, and the contemporary landscape from the 2000s to the present – the approach to primary material remains predominantly thematic. Throughout these epochs, the course analyzes how representations of youth have evolved, exploring themes of identity, rebellion, sexuality, and societal expectations. This exploration is guided by questions such as: how do educational institutions shape the experiences and identities of French youth, as depicted in literature and cinema? How do themes of rebellion and revolution intersect with coming-of-age narratives throughout French history? In what ways do representations of youth in cultural artifacts contribute to our understanding of historical events, such as May 1968? How do cultural artifacts produced by and for youth communities challenge mainstream portrayals? Through novels, graphic novels, films, songs, and first-hand experiences of initiatives targeting young people in Paris and its suburbs, the course provides a comprehensive understanding of French youth culture. Analyzing these materials fosters a nuanced comprehension of French youth culture and its representation in various media, equipping students with tools to critically evaluate portrayals of youth in contemporary society. 

This course examines the fundamentals and principles of dramatic writing for screen, providing an immersive experience in the principles of screenplay writing with particular attention paid to visual language, narrative structure, characterization and dialogue, script critiques and the process of rewriting.

Combining images, words/texts, audio, infographics, and art works, this course instructs on how to create short films/documentaries, photo-stories/essays, sound slides, and multimedia research/contents. An overview of the theories, principles and practices related to visual media methods is provided. Furthermore, the course provides exposure to basic scriptwriting, interviewing, photo and video editing, subtitling, photo/video journaling, typography, page and poster designing. Data citation and ethics in media production are also addressed. 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course analyzes the connections between artistic practices and political issues in relation with the development and expansion of digital technologies. The course gives a historical-political perspective on the evolution of digitization from the birth of the internet to platform capitalism through a visual approach drawing on the main artistic movements that reflected on new technologies. The course is articulated into three parts. First, the course frames a political genealogy of the digital technologies, highlighting the philosophical issues they pose. For this reason, a brief history of the evolution of internet until the burst of platform capitalism is presented. Then, the course focuses on some of the main cultural paradigms about the technological innovation (Californian ideology, Transhumanism, Accelerationism, etc…) to analyze the way they frame the relationship between the digital and the human. Finally, the course explores how artists embedded and renewed such paradigms in their practices and how art changed thanks to the introduction of digital tools (artificial intelligence, NFT, etc.)

Through a detailed examination of a number of recent and contemporary French films, this course fosters an understanding of the network of forces that have shaped French film production since major changes to cultural policy were implemented in France by the socialist Mitterrand administration in 1981. Students profile some of the ways in which French cinema reflects and interacts with French culture and society, and evaluate this in the light of social, political, and cultural shifts in late 20th and 21st century French life. The course is research-based and requires a significant commitment to independent study.

Through movies and other visual materials, this course examines important issues in modern society from a cross-disciplinary perspective. Each lecture features guest speakers who work in the field of making films, videos, and broadcasting. The course reviews specific production methods and a future vision of movies in class discussions.