Film & Media Studies

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 discusses the most important trends and movements in the history of Czech cinema, to put the films within their historical, political, and cultural contexts, and to explore how Czech films capture the life of the Czech society during various epochs (1960s - 2010s). It explores how to analyze the film form and style and how to employ various approaches to film criticism. As the course focuses on practical application of concepts and theories on film material, it involves watching selected feature films in their entirety (with English subtitles) as well as short extracts illustrating the topic outside of class.

This course examines how documentary films have both represented and revised the past. From the earliest radical Bolshevik pioneers to the home movies of the forties, to the current use of the phone camera to record emergency and war, and even to the wildlife documentary, this course explores how documentary films interpret history, make history and in some cases, have even changed history.

This course invites students to explore and critically reflect upon the current state of German cinema since the year 2000 in a European context. The course is divided into two segments: the first introduces students to historical, cultural and critical paradigms pertaining to the current situation of European cinema; the second focuses on films produced in Germany. The course addresses film and authorship; art cinema and popular cinema; the concept of national cinema and world cinema; the formation of history, memory, and cultural identity in film; film production; and film culture. Students are introduced to a number of key German and European films from the last two decades. They acquire knowledge of theoretical discourses and critical concepts relevant to understanding and appreciating formal aspects of European cinema, and to examining contemporary German films in relation to their historical and cultural contexts. Film screenings are part of the course.

This is a graduate level course that is part of the Laurea Magistrale program in Cultural Anthropology. The course is intended for advanced levels students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course focuses on the history of visual anthropology and on the use of video and photographic techniques in ethnographic research. Students develop a critical view of ethnographic representation related to the use of such techniques. Through the lens of a Cinema of Anthropology, the course offers the instruments necessary for analyzing the content of the visual representation on the one hand, and on the other, the context in which visual representations are produced and received. Examples of context include: who has filmed whom, and why, and how; with what means of production; what is the role of the “director” and of the “spectator” in the filmed/screened reality; and who views these representations and how do they view them. After an introduction to specific cinema genres, the course focuses on questions of production, direction, and visual communication, within the framework of an “aesthetic of resistance” focusing on the visual representation of culture and society, through the screening of documentary films and fiction. The course reflects on the theme of the representation of diversity and on the different cinematic representations associated with anthropology (ethnographic films, documentaries, indigenous cinema). Each lecture focuses on different themes and concepts and is followed by the screening of films, videos, and clips which are then analyzed as a group. Students are encouraged to be active participants in the course through role playing, presentations, and discussions. Students are required to write a 5,000 word essay analyzing a film of their choice (with the consent of the instructor), which can then be presented in the class also as a team project. The thesis must include the concepts of the essential course texts. Students will be expected to demonstrate knowledge of the assigned texts during the final oral exam session. Alternatively, students can choose to present a short ethnographic film accompanied by a 3,000 word essay which explains the filmmaking approach and relates the ethnographic film practice to the content of the course. Finally, another option is to present a film essay - a critical analysis of one or two films that is developed through a visual presentation, with analysis of film clips in a cinematic approach. Further information on the assessment process is provided during the course. The course relies heavily on film, videos, and clips which are screened in class.