Contemporary World Cinema

This course offers a brief survey of twenty-first century world cinema. Students view, discuss, and write about a range of contemporary films, organized weekly by geography. The course gives special attention to films that represent marginalized groups, regions, and topics that otherwise lack representation in mainstream US cinema. Each week students are required to keep viewing journals, which are shared with the class for further discussion. Additionally, readings relevant to the films are assigned and discussed in class. Further, the course includes a series of workshops devoted to screen capturing and image and video editing, and students are given small film analysis assignments centered around the practice of montage (editing and arranging film and video). Ultimately, each student creates a final visual or video essay about a film, theme, and/or movement featured in, or related to, the films presented during the course.