Gwybodaeth Modiwlau
Module Identifier
FM24720
Module Title
Transnational Cinema
Academic Year
2013/2014
Co-ordinator
Semester
Intended for use in future years
Pre-Requisite
Completion of Part 1
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 x 2 hour lectures/seminars |
| Other | 10 x 3 hour viewings |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 3,000 word Essay: Apply a critical reading to one of the themes and compae/contrast approaches | 60% |
| Semester Exam | 2 Hours 1 x 2-hour Exam: scene analysis | 40% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 3,000 word Essay (on a different topic) Apply a critical reading to one of the themes and compae/contrast approaches | 60% |
| Supplementary Exam | 2 Hours 1 x 2-hour exam: scene analysis | 40% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Engage critically with film production and its cultural traditions;
2. Evaluate the importance of national identity for cinema;
3. Assess how filmmakers straddle borders;
4. Understand critical responses to films in different cultural contexts;
5. Apply theories of migration ("accented" cinema);
6. Analyze cinematic languages and styles
Aims
1. To develop an understanding of production aspects in filmmaking.
2. To explore the concepts of "national" and "transnational" cinema.
3. To assess the impact of co-production and globalization of the product "film"'
4. To facilitate an understanding of different visual and cultural traditions and their impact on story-telling and film-making.
2. To explore the concepts of "national" and "transnational" cinema.
3. To assess the impact of co-production and globalization of the product "film"'
4. To facilitate an understanding of different visual and cultural traditions and their impact on story-telling and film-making.
Brief description
Co-productions have always existed in film history, but in recent years the concept of transnational cinema has gained importance. With the migration of film-makers, wih film finance coming from different countries, and with films being ade in several countries, concepts of "national" cinema have been challenged. This module explores a wide range of films, from blockbusters to auteur cinema, coming from filmmakers with diverse ethnic backgrounds. The films are analyzed and compared, focusing on the way in which migration or exile has changed a filmmaker's perspective on his/her own culture, on another culture, on film narrative and film language.
Content
The module will covr five comparative case studies that represent different forms of transnational cinema. Issues of national/transnational will be explored through two films in each section, so there is scope for comparison. Listed here ae examples only (films may change).
1. German/Turkish Cinema
Fatih Akin: Head On (Germany, 2004)
Nuri Bilge Ceylan: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Turkey, 2011)
Compare and contrast the portrayal of life offered by a German-Turk and a turkish director, one set in Germany and the other in Turkey.
2. Iranian Exiles
Abbas Kiarostiami: Shirin (Iran, 2008) and Cerified Copy (france, Italy, Belgium, 2010)
Compare two films by the same director before and after emigration.
3. At Home and Abroad in Afghanistan
Siddiq Barmaq: Osama (Afghanistan, Ireland, Japan, 2003)
Atiq Rahimi: The Patience Stone (France, Afghanistan, 2012)
Compare two films about life in Afghanistan, both by Afghan directord, one living at home and the other abroad.
4. Russian/American Blockbusters
Timur Bekmambetov: Night Watch (Russia, 2004) and Abraham Lincoln: The Vampire Hunter (US, 2012)
Compare two blockbusters by a director/producer working in Russia and in America.
5. Mexican Borders
Alejando Gonzalez Inarritu: Amoes Perros (Mexico, 2000) and Babel (France, USA, Mexico, 2006)
Compare the work of Inarritu in Mexico and Hollywod (auteur vs. blockbuster).
Week 1: What is "Transnational Cinema"
Week 2: German-Turkish Cinema: the case of Fatih Akin
Week 3: Issues of national identity in transnational cinema
Week 4: Migration: the filmmaker at home and abroad (case 2)
Week 5: Migration: the filmmaker at home and abroad (case 2 & 3)
Week 6: Migration: the filmmaker at home and abroad (case 3)
Week 7: Entertaining Russians and Americans
Week 8: Entertaining Russians and Americans
Week 9: Between Mexico and Hollywood
Week 10: transnational cinema: a question of auteur cinema vs. blockbuster?
1. German/Turkish Cinema
Fatih Akin: Head On (Germany, 2004)
Nuri Bilge Ceylan: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Turkey, 2011)
Compare and contrast the portrayal of life offered by a German-Turk and a turkish director, one set in Germany and the other in Turkey.
2. Iranian Exiles
Abbas Kiarostiami: Shirin (Iran, 2008) and Cerified Copy (france, Italy, Belgium, 2010)
Compare two films by the same director before and after emigration.
3. At Home and Abroad in Afghanistan
Siddiq Barmaq: Osama (Afghanistan, Ireland, Japan, 2003)
Atiq Rahimi: The Patience Stone (France, Afghanistan, 2012)
Compare two films about life in Afghanistan, both by Afghan directord, one living at home and the other abroad.
4. Russian/American Blockbusters
Timur Bekmambetov: Night Watch (Russia, 2004) and Abraham Lincoln: The Vampire Hunter (US, 2012)
Compare two blockbusters by a director/producer working in Russia and in America.
5. Mexican Borders
Alejando Gonzalez Inarritu: Amoes Perros (Mexico, 2000) and Babel (France, USA, Mexico, 2006)
Compare the work of Inarritu in Mexico and Hollywod (auteur vs. blockbuster).
Week 1: What is "Transnational Cinema"
Week 2: German-Turkish Cinema: the case of Fatih Akin
Week 3: Issues of national identity in transnational cinema
Week 4: Migration: the filmmaker at home and abroad (case 2)
Week 5: Migration: the filmmaker at home and abroad (case 2 & 3)
Week 6: Migration: the filmmaker at home and abroad (case 3)
Week 7: Entertaining Russians and Americans
Week 8: Entertaining Russians and Americans
Week 9: Between Mexico and Hollywood
Week 10: transnational cinema: a question of auteur cinema vs. blockbuster?
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | |
| Communication | Students' written communication skills will be developed 9e.g. appropriate language and style, accuracy, precision and ability o be concise). opportunities will be given, through seminar sessions, for students to develop confidence in using their speaking and listening skills when communicating their ideas. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Students will be able to develop their skills of information location and retrieval. Students will be given opportunities to develop note-taking skills. students will develop their critical thinking skills. Through small group discussions and seminars tudents will be given opportunities to develop an awareness of opinions of others and reconsider initial ideas if necessary. |
| Information Technology | Students will be given opportunity to develop their authorial and note-taking skills when planning for oral and written assignments. Students will be given opportunities to develop their skills using electronic search and retrieval sources on the web and on library catalogues. Students will develop their reference skills an their ability o select relevant materials fo the task. Blackboard will be the main form of communication and information sharing in this module. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Students will be given the opportunity to evaluate curent knowledge and skills. Students will be encouraged o take increasing responsibility for managing their own learning. Students will be encouraged o build upon the knowledge gained rom lectures and apply this o other areas. |
| Problem solving | Students should be able o identify tensions and debates in the filed, and will be encouraged to critically reflect on the process by which academics arrive t particular theoretical interpretations of particular films and historiographies. |
| Research skills | Students will be able to deveop their skills of information location and retrieval. students will be able to develop their textual analytic skills, and to learn to analyze texts in a focused and purposeful manner. students will be encouraged to evaluate, interpret and reflect upon a variety of sources. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Film analysis. |
| Team work | Studets will be encouraged to prepare short (unassessed) presentations in small groups to encourage teamwork. |
Reading List
Recommended TextDennison, Stephanie and Song Hwee Lim (eds) (2006) Remapping World Cinema: Identity, Culture and Politics in Film Wallflower Primo search Ezra, E. and T. Rowden (eds.) (2006) Transnational Cinema: the Film reader Routledge Primo search Naficy, Hamid (2001) An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking Princeton UP Primo search Vitali, Valentina and Paul Williemen (2006) Theorising National Cinema BFI Primo search Wayne, Mike (2002) The Politics of Contemporary European Cinema: Histories, Borders, Diaspora Intellect Primo search Bergfelder, Tim (2005) National, Transnational or Supernational Cinema? rethinking European Film Studies Media Culture Society 27.3 pp. 315-331 Primo search Higbee, Will and Song Hwee Lim (2010) Concepts of Transnational Cinema: Towards a Critical Trasnationalism in Film Studies Transnational Cinemas 1.1 pp. 7-21 Primo search
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 5