CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA: SAMPLE SYLLABI
FLM 250: Contemporary World Cinema Fall, 2018
Prof. Cartelli CA 263
SYLLABUS
Required Texts:
Shekhar Deshpande & Meta Mazaj, World Cinema: a Critical Introduction
Paul Julian Smith, Amores Perros (BFI Modern Classics)
Recommended Text:
Ed Sikov, Film Studies: an Introduction
Course Practices, Papers & Grading Procedures:
Though we will be doing a considerable amount of reading from the required texts and Canvas, the primary texts in this course are the 13 films that will be screened in TR B-02 most Monday evenings this Fall, which will be available before and afterwards on a restricted reserve basis for viewing in Trexler library. Restricted reserve means that DVDs cannot be taken out of the library at any time for any reason. Students who remove reserve copies of films from the library may be held in violation of the Academic Integrity Code. In some cases a single viewing of a film may satisfy your needs, but in many instances you will need to view films—or selected sections of films—more than once, and you should prepare in advance to do so. (Ripping, that is, copying films into your hard-drives for future reference, in the library from library DVDs, may prove helpful.)
You will also do a considerable amount of analytic writing in this course, ranging from three 2-page “response papers” to three longer essays. You may also expect one or two in-class writing assignments. 2-page papers will collectively account for 30% of your final grade, 4-page papers for 40%. A final 6-page paper will account for the remaining 30 points, with the quality of your class participation and intensity of engagement with course subject matter contributing to the calculation of your final grade. All papers must be carefully written, edited, proofread, and submitted on time, without exception. Failure to submit any paper may result in a failing grade for the course.
Course Goals
–To develop the ability of students to respond thoughtfully and critically to film art in some of its more challenging global forms and formats.
–To demonstrate the ways in which film production and reception are connected to social, ethnic, local, national, regional, and global networks of exchange and meaning.
–To offer insight into the specific cultural, political, and religious concerns of films now being made in Europe, Latin America, East Asia, and the Middle East in particular.
–To appreciate the extent to which so-called arthouse films operate as charged sites of social and cultural expression, offering privileged insight into the values, beliefs, and behaviors of the people and nations they purport to represent.
–To indicate how serious film assumes some of the same responsibilities formerly delegated to great works of literature in representing the human condition in all its beauty, ugliness, and spaces between.
Online Databases & Resources
For books on world/global cinema: http://subjectguides.library.american.edu/c.php?g=179016&p=1176490
For film production information, critical reviews, and user reviewers:
For a good selection of streaming foreign films freely accessible to Muhlenberg students: http://search.alexanderstreet.com.muhlenberg.idm.oclc.org/feat
Class Schedule
Aug 27 Intro to Course: What is World Cinema? From regional & national
cinemas to world, global, & transnational cinema. First film prep.
Screening: Fire at Sea (dir. Rosi, Italy, 2016, 114m), 7-9 p.m.
Read WC, Intro & Chapter 1 (1-33) and Rosi interviews (Canvas) for next
class.
Aug 29 Discuss film. For next class, read WC, pp. 37-69, esp. 62-5 on subtitles;
“The Use & Abuse of Subtitles” & “To Read or Not to Read” (Canvas). Also browse The Class pdf (Canvas).
MODULE #1: Africa in France/France in Africa
Sep 3 Discuss readings & prep next film. Intro to Africa in France/France in
Africa. Screening: The Class (dir., Lauren Cantet, 2009, France, 130m), 6:45-9 p.m. Read WC, 386-91 and Class pdf for next class.
5 Discuss film & readings. Read four Canvas entries on Claire Denis & Beau Travail for next class.
Sep 10 Discuss readings & prep film/France Outre-mer. Screening: Beau
Travail (1999, dir. Denis, France, 90m), 7-8:45 p.m.
12 2-page response paper due on last scenes of film/Discuss film. Read
Ngaire Woods, “Mission Unaccomplished in Africa” and Chapter 9 from Trash: African Cinema Viewed Below (Canvas), and WC, pp. 210-15 over weekend.
Sep 17 Discuss readings + new film prep: Abderrahmane Sissako & African
Cinema. Screening: Bamako (dir., Sissako, Mali/France, 2006, 115m), 7-9 p.m. ReadGabara, “Abderrahmane Sissako: Second & Third Cinema in the First Person” before composing your response paper over the weekend.
19 ————-YOM KIPPUR: NO CLASS————-
MODULE #2: Europe East & West: the New Europe
Sep 24 2-page paper due/Discuss film/Prep screening: Graduation (dir.,
Mungiu, Romania, 2016, 128m), 7-9:15 p.m. Read WC, pp. 105-31, esp. 120-23, and pp. 329-33 for next class.
26 Discuss readings and film/Read entries on Michael Haneke for next class
(Canvas).
Oct 1 Discuss readings & prep film. Screening: Code Unknown (2000, dir.,
Haneke, 2002, France/Austria, 113m), 7-9 p.m.
3 Discuss film and next paper assignment. Read at least chapters 1-3 of BFI
book by Paul J. Smith on Amores Perros for next class.
Oct 8 ————–FALL BREAK: NO CLASS————
10 4-page paper due on Code Unknown/Discussion of ideas circulated in
your papers. Intro to New Latin-America Cinema. Start discussing and working through Smith book on Amores Perros. Finish reading book for next class. Also read Canvas file on mexicanidad and WC, 364-71.
MODULE #3: NEW LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA
Oct 15 Discuss readings. Screening: Amores Perros (dir., Gonzalez Inarittu,
2000, Mexico, 153m), 6:45-9:30 p.m.
Oct 17 Discuss film/Read WC, pp. 313-40, esp. 322-28, and interview with
Lucrecia Martel (Canvas) for next class.
Oct 22 Screening: La Ciénaga (dir., Martel, Argentina, 2001, 107m), 7-9 p.m.
24 Discuss film/Read WC, 225-38; 256-60 over weekend.
MODULE #4: NEW ASIAN CINEMA
Oct 29 2-page paper due/Intro to New Asian Cinema. Screening: Chungking
Express (dir., Wong, Hong-Kong, 1994, 102m): 7-9 p.m.
31 Discuss film/Read WC, 260-81; 291-301 over weekend.
Nov 5 Discuss readings/Film prep. Screening: The World (dir., Jia Zhang-ke,
China, 2005, 139m.), 6:45-9:15 p.m.
7 Discuss film/Read five Canvas entries on Apichatpong Weerasethakul
over weekend.
Nov 12 Discuss readings/Film Prep/Screening: Uncle Boonmee (dir.,
Weerasethakul, Thailand, 2010, 113m), 7-9 p.m.
14 Discuss film. Write Boonmee papers over weekend.
Nov 19 4-page paper due/Roundtable discussion of New Asian Cinema. Intro to
Middle Eastern Cinema. Read WC, 313-18; 330-40; 117-20 over break.
=================THANKSGIVING BREAK====================
MODULE #5: Middle-Eastern Cinema
Nov 26 Iranian Cinema/Film prep. Screening: A Separation (dir., Farhadi, 2011,
Iran, 123m), 6:45-9 p.m.
28 Discuss film. Read WC, 319-22 and Ceylan interview (Canvas) over
weekend.
Dec 3 Discuss readings. New Turkish Cinema/Film prep. Screening: Once Upon
a Time in Anatolia (dir., Ceylan, 2011, Turkey, 150m), 6:45-9:30 p.m.
5 Discuss film & final paper assignment/Course evaluation.
Dec 12 Final 6-page paper due: 4 p.m. Place all papers in hanging file-holder
outside my office (CA 263) or in my mailbox in English/Music office (CA 255).
FLM 250: Contemporary World Cinema Fall, 2015
Prof. Cartelli CA 263
SYLLABUS
Required Texts:
Shohini Chaudhuri, Contemporary World Cinema
John Hill & Pamela Gibson, World Cinema: Critical Approaches
Ed Sikov, Film Studies: an Introduction
Paul Julian Smith, Amores Perros (BFI Modern Classics)
Course Practices & Grading Procedures:
Though we will be doing a considerable amount of reading from the required texts and Blackboard, the primary texts we will be examining in this course are the 12 films that will be screened on most Wednesday evenings this Fall, which will be available before and afterwards on a restricted reserve basis for viewing in Trexler library. Restricted reserve means that DVDs cannot be taken out of the library at any time for any reason. Students who remove reserve copies of films from the library may be held in violation of the Academic Behavior Code. In many cases a single viewing of a film may satisfy your needs, but in some instances you will need to view these films—or selected sections of these films—more than once, and you should prepare in advance to do so. (Ripping, that is, copying films into your hard-drives for future reference, may prove helpful.)
You will also do a considerable amount of analytic writing in this course, ranging from 2-page “response papers” to longer formal essays. You may also expect one or two in-class writing assignments and pop quizzes. 2-page papers will collectively account for 20% of your final grade, 5-page papers for 50%. A final 6-page paper will account for the remaining 30 points, with the quality of your class participation, performance on quizzes, and intensity of engagement with course subject matter contributing to the calculation of your final grade. All papers must be carefully written, edited, and proofread, and submitted on time, without exception. Failure to submit any paper may result in a failing grade for the course.
Course Goals
–To develop the ability of students to respond thoughtfully and critically to film art in some of its more challenging global permutations.
–To demonstrate the ways in which film production and reception are connected to social, spatial, ethnic, national, and global networks of exchange and meaning.
–To offer insight into the specific cultural, political, and religious concerns of films now being made in Europe, Latin America, East Asia, and the Middle East in particular.
–To appreciate the extent to which so-called art-house films operate as charged sites of social and cultural expression, offering privileged insight into the contest of values and beliefs of the people and nations they purport to represent.
–To indicate how serious film assumes some of the same responsibilities formerly delegated to great works of literature in representing the human condition in all its beauty, ugliness, and spaces between.
ON-LINE DATABASES & RESOURCES
For books on world/global cinema: http://subjectguides.library.american.edu/c.php?g=179016&p=1176490
For film production information, critical reviews, and user reviewers:
For a good selection of streaming foreign films freely accessible to Muhlenberg students: http://search.alexanderstreet.com.muhlenberg.idm.oclc.org/feat
Class Schedule
Aug 31 Intro to Course: What is World Cinema? From regional & national
cinemas to world, global, & transnational cinema. For next class,
familiarize yourselves with Sikov book, browse The Class Presskit, and read two brief entries on suburban French immigrants (Blackboard).
Sep 2 Discuss readings & prep first film: France & the “New Europe.”
Screening: The Class (dir., Lauren Cantet, 2009, France, 130m), 7-920 p.m. Read Chaudhuri, Introduction & chapter 1 and Hill & Gibson, chapters 1 & 6 over weekend.
Sep 7 Discuss film & readings. Read Blackboard entries on Claire Denis & Beau
Travail for next class, including chapter 6, Remapping World Cinema
(Blackboard).
9 Discuss readings & prep film: France Outre-mer. Screening: Beau Travail
(1999, dir. Denis, 1999, France, 90m), 7-8:45 p.m.
Sep 14 2-page response paper due on last scenes of film/Discuss film. Read
Blackboard entries on Michael Haneke for next class.
16 Discuss readings & prep film. Screening: Code Unknown (2000, dir.,
Haneke, 2002, France/Austria, 113m), 7-9 p.m.
Sep 21 Discuss film. Discuss paper assignment. Read at least chapters 1-3 of BFI
book by Paul J. Smith on Amores Perros for next class.
23 ————-YOM KIPPUR: NO CLASS————-
Sep 28 5-page paper due on Code Unknown/Discussion of ideas circulated in
your papers. New Spanish-language films: Latin-America & Spain. Start discussing and working through Smith book on Amores Perros. Finish reading book for next class + read interview with Gonzalez Inarritu.
30 Discuss readings. Screening: Amores Perros (dir., Gonzalez Inarittu,
2000, Mexico, 153m), 7-9:45 p.m.
Oct 5 Discuss film. Read interview with Lucrecia Martel for next class &
Remapping World Cinema, chapter 3 (Blackboard).
7 Film prep. Screening: The Holy Girl (dir., Martel, Argentina, 2004,
104m), 7-9 p.m. Read bio & interview with Almodovar (Blackboard) for next class. Also read entry for Almodovar in Hill & Gibson: 107-110.
Oct 12 ————–FALL BREAK: NO CLASS————
14 2-page response paper due/Discuss film. New film prep: the Almodovar
phenomenon. Screening: Talk to Her (dir., Almodovar, Spain, 2002, 114m), 7-9 p.m. Read chapter 6, Hill & Gibson over weekend.
Oct 19 Discuss film. Read Chaudhuri, chapter 5; Hill & Gibson, chapter 20; and
start reading Andrew, “Time Zones & Jet Lags,” chapter 4, World Cinemas, Transnational Perspectives (Blackboard) for next class.
Oct 21 New Asian Cinema: new film prep. Screening: The World (dir. Jia Zhang-
ke, China, 2005, 139m.), 7-9:30 p.m. Finish reading Andrew, “Time Zones & Jet Lags,” over weekend.
Oct 26 Discuss reading & film. Read Hill & Gibson chapters 4 & 18, for next
class. Recommended e-reserves: Genocide in Cambodia Documents from
the Trial of Pol Pot and Ieng Sary and Children of Cambodia’s killing fields memoirs by survivors (Blackboard)
28 New film prep. Screening: The Missing Picture (dir., Rithy Panh,
Cambodia/France, 2013, 92m), 7-8:45 p.m.
Nov 2 2-page response paper due/Discuss film. New film prep/Read Gabara, “Abderrahmane Sissako: Second & Third Cinema in the First Person,”
chapter 18, Global Art Cinema (Blackboard) & Hill & Gibson, chapter 24 for next class. Recommended: Ngaire Woods, “Mission Unaccomplished in Africa,” chapter 6, The Globalizers: the IMF, the World Bank & Their
Borrowers (Blackboard).
4 Possible guest presenter/North African Cinema. Screening: Bamako (dir.,
Sissako, Mali/France, 2006, 115m), 7-9 p.m.
Nov 9 Discuss film & readings. Read Smolin, “Nabil Ayouch: Transgression,
Identity, & Difference,” chapter 10, Ten Arab Filmmakers (Blackboard) for next class.
11 Screening: Horses of God (dir., Ayouch, Morocco/France, 2012, 115m),
7-9 p.m.
Nov 16 Discuss film. Read Chaudhuri, chapter 4, “Iranian Cinema,” for next class.
18 New film prep. Screening: A Separation (dir., Farhadi, 2011, Iran, 123m), 7-9:15 p.m.
Nov 23 5-page paper due Discuss film/Closely read chapters 1 & 2, Remapping
World Cinema (Blackboard) by end of break. Expect to do a written in-class critical response to arguments advanced by authors on Monday, Nov. 30.
=================THANKSGIVING BREAK====================
Nov 30 In-class writing assignment & discussion of Remapping World Cinemas
chapters/Read Chaudhuri, chapter 3, & material on Nuri Bilge Ceylan on
Blackboard, esp. Film Quarterly interview.
Dec 2 Turkish Cinema/Ceylan filmography/film prep. Screening: Once Upon a
Time in Anatolia (dir., Ceylan, 2011, Turkey, 150m), 7-9:45 p.m.
Dec 7 Discuss readings & film.
9 Roundtable discussion of world cinema, the state of the art. Course
evaluation & final exam/assignment prep.
Dec 14 Final paper due: 4 p.m. Place all papers in hanging file-holder outside my
office (CA 263) or in my mailbox in English/Music office (CA 255).
FLM 250: Contemporary World Cinema Fall, 2012
Prof. Cartelli CA 263
SYLLABUS
Required Texts:
Shohini Chaudhuri, Contemporary World Cinema
Ed Sikov, Film Studies: an Introduction
Paul Julian Smith, Amores Perros (BFI Modern Classics)
Course Practices & Grading Procedures:
Though we will be doing a considerable amount of reading from the assigned texts and Blackboard, the primary texts we will be examining in this course are the 11 films that will be screened on all but three Mondays this Fall, which will be available afterwards on a restricted reserve basis for viewing in Trexler library. [Restricted reserve means that DVDs cannot be taken out of the library at any time for any reason. Students who remove reserve copies of films from the library may be held in violation of the Academic Behavior Code.] Though in some cases a single viewing of a film may satisfy your needs, in most instances you will need to view these films—or selected sections of these films—more than once, and you should prepare in advance to do so.
You will also be asked to complete a variety of writing assignments ranging from short, impromptu in-class writing assignments to longer, formal papers. In-class writing will generally be subject-specific, meaning that I will ask you to focus on one aspect of the film or of film art in each assignment. Such exercises will encourage you to engage in a practical application of terms specific to film production and to film criticism and analysis. The terms in question will be introduced during the first week of class and incrementally thereafter. Your ability to apply this critical vocabulary will also be tested throughout the semester in your participation in class discussions.
All students are required to write four 5-page papers, each of which will count for roughly ¼ of your final grade, though I will take close account of growth curves in your writing. The quality of your class participation and overall engagement in the course may also contribute significantly to the calculation of your grade.
Class Schedule
Aug 27 Intro to Course: What is World Cinema? Regional & national cinemas,
and the worldwide movement & mixing of people. For next class, familiarize yourselves with Sikov book, and read Introduction of Chaudhuri (1-13).
29 Read Chaudhuri, chapter 1 (14-33) over weekend, and continue reviewing
chapters in Sikov.
Sep 3 Contemporary French Cinema & the New Europe. Film screening: The
Class (dir., Lauren Cantet, 2009, France, 130m), 7-930 p.m., TR B-02.
5 Discuss film. Read Blackboard entries on Claire Denis & Beau Travail
over the weekend.
Sep 10 Claire Denis Filmography. Film screening: Beau Travail (1999, dir. Denis,
1999, France, 90m), 7-9 p.m.,TR B-02.
12 Discuss film. Read Blackboard entries on Michael Haneke over weekend.
Sep 17 Michael Haneke Filmography. Film screening: Code Unknown (2000, dir.,
Haneke, 2002, France/Austria, 113m), 7-9 p.m., TR B-02.
19 Discuss readings & film.
Sep 24 5-page paper due/Roundtable discussion of papers & film. Read bio &
interview with Almodovar (Blackboard) for next class.
26 ————–YOM KIPPUR: NO CLASS———–
Oct 1 New Spanish Cinema. Almodovar Filmography. Film screening: Bad
Education (dir., Almodovar, 2004, Spain, 106m), 7-9 p.m., TR B-02.
3 Discuss film. Read Prologue & chapter 1 of Smith, Amores Perros, and
interview with Gonzalez Inarritu over weekend
Oct 8 Contemporary Mexican Cinema. Film screening: Amores Perros (dir.,
Gonzalez Inarittu, 2000, Mexico, 153m), 7-9:45 p.m., TR B-02. Read rest of Smith book for Wednesday’s class.
10 Discuss film and readings.
======================FALL BREAK======================
Oct 17 Roundtable discussion of Bad Education & Amores Perros
Oct 22 5-page paper due/New Argentine Cinema. Lucrecia Martel
filmography. Film screening: La Cienaga (dir., Martel, 2001, Argentina,
100m), TR B-02, 7-9 p.m. Read interview with director (Blackboard).
24 Discuss film. Read Chaudhuri, chapter 5, East Asian Cinema, & material on S. Korean cinema on Blackboard over weekend.
Oct 29 New Asian Cinema/S. Korean New Wave. Lee Chang-dong filmography.
Film screening: Secret Sunshine (dir., Lee, 2007, S. Korea, 142m), 7-9:30 p.m.
- Discuss film. Read Jia Zhang-ke material on Blackboard over weekend.
Nov 5 Chinese Sixth Generation Filmmakers. Jia Zhang-ke filmography. Film
screening: Still Life (dir., Jia, 2006, China, 111m,) TR B-02, 7-9 p.m.
7 Discuss film. Read Chadhuri, chapter 4, Iranian Cinema, over weekend.
Nov 12 New Iranian Cinema. Asghar Farhadi filmography. Film screening: A
Separation (dir., Farhadi, 2011, Iran, 123m), TR B-02, 7-9:15 p.m.
14 Discuss film.
Nov 19 5-page comparative paper on films as social texts
due/Roundtable discussion of papers & films.
=================THANKSGIVING BREAK====================
Nov 26 Eastern European Cinema. Cristi Puiu filmography. Film screening: The
Death of Mr. Lazarescu (dir., Puiu, 2005, Romania, 153m), TR B-02, 7-9:45 p.m.
28 Discuss film. Read Chaudhuri, chapter 3, Middle Eastern Cinema & material on Nuri Bilge Ceylan on Blackboard over weekend.
Dec 3 Turkish Cinema. Nuri Bilge Ceylan filmography. Film screening: Once
Upon a Time in Anatolia (dir., Ceylan, 2011, Turkey, 150m), TR B-02, 7-9:45 p.m.
5 Discuss film & final paper. Course evaluation.
Dec 10 Final papers due: 4 p.m. Leave paper in my mailbox (CA 255) or in
file-holder outside door to my office (CA 263).
Thomas Cartelli 