Module Information
Module Identifier
SP27020
Module Title
CUBAN CINEMA OF THE REVOLUTION: CRISIS, NATIONAL IDENTITY AND THE CRITIQUE OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
Academic Year
2012/2013
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Mutually Exclusive
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 9 hours |
| Seminars / Tutorials | 7 hours plus 4 hours student presentations |
| Workload Breakdown | Lecture and seminar attendance = 20 hours; - Lecture and seminar preparation (research and reading) = 100 hours; - Essay research and writing = 50 hours; - Independent film viewing = 30 hours |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 2000 word essay | 40% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x student presentation | 20% |
| Semester Exam | 2 Hours Written examination | 40% |
| Supplementary Exam | 2 Hours written examination | 100% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Track the historical development of Cuban cinema
2. Understand the relationship between film and society in Cuba
3. Have a detailed knowledge of the Cuban Revolution
Aims
This module aims to deepen students' understanding of the trajectory of political, social and cultural change in Cuba since 1959, as seen through the prism of filmic production from the island from 1960-2010.
Brief description
It examines the origin and development of the Cuban film institute and tracks the processes of change and development throughout Cuba's revolutionary cinematic history.
Content
The module is structured chronologically:
Week 1 - Reading Film and Film analysis
Session 1 - Reading film (lecture)
Session 2 - Film analysis (practical) -
Reading: Stuart Hall (2000), 'Cultural Identity and Cinematic Representation.' Robert Stam and Toby Miller (eds.), Film and Theory. An Anthology. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 704-14.
Reading: Interview with Garcia Espinosa by Dennis West 'Reconciling Entertainment and Thought'. 1988.
Week 2 - Before the crisis
Film: De cierta manera (1974, Sara Gomez)
Session 1 - Context and Lecture on Film
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading: 'One Way Or Another: Dialectical, Revolutionary, Feminist', from Jump Cut no. 20, May 1978 - Julia Lesage
Week 3 - Before the crisis
Film: !Plaff! (o demasiado miedo a la vida) (1988, Juan Carlos Tabio)
Session 1 - Context and Lecture on film - Cuban cinema before 1989
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading: 'The World According to Plaff. Reassessing Cuban Cinema in the late 1980s', by Gilberto Moises Blasini. (copy in box file). From Chon A. Noriega (ed.) (2000). Visible Nations. Latin American Cinema and Video, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp. 193-216 (in HO library. Classmark: PN1993.5.L3.V8
Week 4 - On the threshold of change
Films: Mujer transparente (1990, Various directors) and Alicia en el pueblo de maravillas (1991, Daniel Diaz Torres).
Session 1 - Context and lecture - change in USSR, change in Cuba, change in ICAIC
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading (Mujer transparente): Barbara Reiss. 'The emerging feminist discourse in Cuban cultural production as seen through Mujer transparente' (copy in box file).
Reading (Alicia): Interview with Daniel Diaz Torres by Dennis West
Week 5 - In the throes of crisis
Film: Guantanamera (1995, Tomas Gutierrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabio)
Session 1 Context and lecture - crisis in Cuba and the film industry
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading: Article by Edna Rodriguez Mangal
Week 6 - In the throes of crisis
Film: Entre ciclones (2003, Enrique Colina)
Session 1 - Context and lecture
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading TBC
Week 7 - National identity
Film: Miel para Oshun (2001, Humberto Solas)
Session 1 - Context and lecture - national identity in cinema
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading TBC
Week 8 - Crisis ove? The focus on national identity
Films: Suite Habana (2003, Fernando Perez)
Session 1 - Context and lecture - national identity and the postmodern reaction to crisis
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading TBC
Week 9 - Student presentations
Week 10 - Student Presentations
Week 1 - Reading Film and Film analysis
Session 1 - Reading film (lecture)
Session 2 - Film analysis (practical) -
Reading: Stuart Hall (2000), 'Cultural Identity and Cinematic Representation.' Robert Stam and Toby Miller (eds.), Film and Theory. An Anthology. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 704-14.
Reading: Interview with Garcia Espinosa by Dennis West 'Reconciling Entertainment and Thought'. 1988.
Week 2 - Before the crisis
Film: De cierta manera (1974, Sara Gomez)
Session 1 - Context and Lecture on Film
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading: 'One Way Or Another: Dialectical, Revolutionary, Feminist', from Jump Cut no. 20, May 1978 - Julia Lesage
Week 3 - Before the crisis
Film: !Plaff! (o demasiado miedo a la vida) (1988, Juan Carlos Tabio)
Session 1 - Context and Lecture on film - Cuban cinema before 1989
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading: 'The World According to Plaff. Reassessing Cuban Cinema in the late 1980s', by Gilberto Moises Blasini. (copy in box file). From Chon A. Noriega (ed.) (2000). Visible Nations. Latin American Cinema and Video, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp. 193-216 (in HO library. Classmark: PN1993.5.L3.V8
Week 4 - On the threshold of change
Films: Mujer transparente (1990, Various directors) and Alicia en el pueblo de maravillas (1991, Daniel Diaz Torres).
Session 1 - Context and lecture - change in USSR, change in Cuba, change in ICAIC
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading (Mujer transparente): Barbara Reiss. 'The emerging feminist discourse in Cuban cultural production as seen through Mujer transparente' (copy in box file).
Reading (Alicia): Interview with Daniel Diaz Torres by Dennis West
Week 5 - In the throes of crisis
Film: Guantanamera (1995, Tomas Gutierrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabio)
Session 1 Context and lecture - crisis in Cuba and the film industry
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading: Article by Edna Rodriguez Mangal
Week 6 - In the throes of crisis
Film: Entre ciclones (2003, Enrique Colina)
Session 1 - Context and lecture
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading TBC
Week 7 - National identity
Film: Miel para Oshun (2001, Humberto Solas)
Session 1 - Context and lecture - national identity in cinema
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading TBC
Week 8 - Crisis ove? The focus on national identity
Films: Suite Habana (2003, Fernando Perez)
Session 1 - Context and lecture - national identity and the postmodern reaction to crisis
Session 2 - Class seminar based on reading and questions set
Reading TBC
Week 9 - Student presentations
Week 10 - Student Presentations
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | n/a |
| Communication | Students will develop oral communication in seminars and presentation skills in individual student presentations; written communication will be developed in assessments and exam, in English. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Students will be able to assess their own progress week by week through their increased understanding of the issues raised and the skills developed. |
| Information Technology | Students will use on-line journals and source collections; delivery of course materials and information via e-learning system. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Students will acquire transferable skills (analysis, research, investigation, writing, presentation); in-depth acquaintance with historical analysis as an academic subject. |
| Problem solving | Students will select appropriate reading material; developing evaluative analysis and critical skills and formulating a detailed argument. |
| Research skills | Students will analyse historical information and cinematic representations in their political/historical contexts and synthesize information in an evaluative argument. |
| Subject Specific Skills | n/a |
| Team work | Students will participate in debates and group presentations in seminars. |
Reading List
Recommended TextÁlvarez, José (1995) Un texto a favor de la libertad marxista Confluencia 10:2, pp. 111-23, Photocopy in file Primo search Agosta, Diana (1994) One way or another: the Havana Film Festival and contemporary Cuban film Afterimage. Photocopy in file Primo search Amiot, Julie (2003) Lucía. Elena, Alberto, Díaz, Marina, (2003), The Cinema of Latin America (24 Frames) Wallflower Press, London, pp. 109-116. Class mark: PN1993.5.L3.C5 Primo search Arredondo, Isabel (1997) From Transparent to Translucid: Cuban Filmmakers in 1990 Latin American Literary Review 25, pp. 25-41. Photocopy in file Primo search Aufderheide, P (1989) Cuba Vision: Three Decades of Cuban Film, in Brenner, P., The Cuba Reader. The Making of a Revolutionary Society Grove Press, New York, pp. 498-506 Primo search Barnard, T. (1997) Death Is Not True: Form and History in Cuban Film, in Martin, M. T. (ed.) (1997) New Latin American Cinema, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, pp. 143 154. Class mark: PN1993.5.L3.N5 Primo search Bejel, Emilio (1997) Strawberry and Chocolate, Coming Out of the Cuban Closet South Atlantic Quarterly 46:1 (Winter), pp. 66-84. Photocopy in file Primo search Benamou, Catherine (1999) Cuban Cinema: On the Threshold of Gender in Robin, D. and Jaffe, I (eds), Redirecting the Gaze: Gender, Theory and Cinema in the Third World State University of New York Press, pp. 67-98. Primo search Bunck, J. (1994) Fidel Castro and the Quest for a Revolutionary Culture in Cuba Pennsylvania State Press, Philadelphia Primo search Burto, Julianne (1984) Modernist Form in Land of Anguish and Memories of Underdevelopment. Post Script: Essays in Film and the Humanities 3:2 (Winter), pp. 65-84. Photocopy in file Primo search Burton, J. (1997) Film and Revolution in Cuba: The First Twenty-five Years, in Martin, M. T. (ed.), New Latin American Cinema Wayne State University Press, Detroit, pp 123-142. Class mark: PN1993.5.L3.N5 Primo search Burton, J. (ed.) (1986) Cinema and Social Change in Latin America: Conversations with Film-makers University of Texas Press, Austin Primo search Burton, J. (ed.) (1986) Every Point of Arrival is a Point of Departure (Interview with Humberto Solás), in Burton, J. (ed.) (1986), Cinema and Social Change in Latin America: Conversations with Film-makers University of Texas Press, Austin, pp. 143-160. Primo search Burton, J. (ed.) (1986) Julio García Espinosa. Theory and Practice of Film and Popular Culture in Cuba, in Burton, J. (ed.), Cinema and Social Change in Latin America: Conversations with Film-makers University of Texas Press, Austin, pp. 243-257. Primo search Burton-Carvajal, J. (1994) Portrait(s) of Teresa: Gender Politics and the Reluctant Revival of Melodrama in Cuban Film, in Carson, D., Dittmar, L., Welsch, R. (1994) (eds), Multiple Voices in Feminist Film Criticism University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, London, pp. 305-317. Primo search Caballero, Rufo y Del Río, Joel (1995) No hay cine adulto sin herejía sistemática, in Temas 3, julio-septiembre, pp. 102-115. Photocopy in file Primo search Castillo, L. (2006) Tomás Gutiérrez Alea: Dialéctica del documentalista II At: www.habanaradio.cu/singlefile/?secc=13&subsecc=35&id_art=2007010111122 (accessed 030/7/08) Primo search Chanan, M. (2004) Cuban Cinema University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis Primo search Chanan, M. (2000) Cuba and Civil Society, or Why Cuban Intellectuals Are Talking about Gramsci At: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/nepantla/v002/2.2chanan.html Primo search Chanan, M. (1983) Twenty-five Years of the New Latin American Cinema Channel 4 Television and BFI Books, London. Primo search Chanan, M. (2002) We Are Losing All Our Values: An Interview with Tomás Gutiérrez Alea At: www.muse.jhu.edu/journals/boundary/v029/29.3chanan.html Primo search Colina, Enrique (1984) Entrevista a Tomás Gutiérrez Alea sobre Hasta cierto punto Primo search Colina, Enrique (1997) Modernity, masculinity and Imperfect Cinema in Cuba in Screen Vol. 38 No. 4, Winter, pp. 345-359. Photocopy in file Primo search Colina, Enrique (1996) Recent Cuban Fiction Films: Identification, Interpretation, Disorder Bulletin of Latin American Research, Vol. 15, No. 2, Pergamon, London, pp. 177-192. Photocopy in file Primo search Díaz, M. (2003) De cierta manera. One Way or Another. Elena, Alberto, Díaz, Marina, (2003), The Cinema of Latin America (24 Frames) Wallflower Press, London, pp. 141-149. Class mark: PN1993.5.L3.C5 Primo search Dennison, S. and Hwee Lim, S. (eds) (2006) Remapping World Cinema: identity culture and politics in film Wallflower Press, London and New York Primo search DLugo, M. (1997) Transparent Women: Gender and Nation in Cuban Cinema, in Martin, M. T. (ed.) New Latin American Cinema, (Volume Two: Studies of National Cinemas) Wayne State University Press, Detroit, pp. pp. 155-166. Class mark: PN1993.5.L3.N5 Primo search Easthope, A. (ed.) (1993) Contemporary Film Theory Longman, New York. Class mark PN1995.C7 Primo search Eckstein, S. E. (1994) Back From the Future: Cuba Under Castro Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Class mark: HX158.5.E1 Primo search Elena, Alberto, Díaz, Marina (2003) The Cinema of Latin America (24 Frames) Wallflower Press, London. Class mark: PN1993.5.L3.C5 Primo search Fernandes, S. (2006) Cuba Represent! Cuban Arts, State Power and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures Duke University Press, Durham and London. Class mark: NX180.P64.F3 Primo search García Borrero, J. A (1979) For an Imperfect Cinema Trans. Burton, J., in Jump Cut, No. 20, pp. 24-26. Photocopy (not yet in file) Primo search García Borrero, J. A. At: www.cine-cubano-la-pupila_insomne.nireblog.com/post/2007/06/18/laura-1990-de-ana-rodriguez-del-filme-mujer-transparente Primo search García Borrero, J. A. (1986) Theory and Practice of Film and Popular Culture in Cuba, in Burton, J. (ed.), Cinema and Social Change in Latin America: Conversations with Film-makers University of Texas Press, Austin, pp. 243-257 Primo search González, R. Some Historical Themes in Cuban Cinema At: www.cubaupdate.org/art32.htm (accessed 15/03/06) Primo search Gutiérrez Alea, T. (1982) Dialéctica del espectador Ediciones Unión, La Havana Primo search Gutiérrez Alea, T. (1988) The Viewers Dialectic Editorial José Martí, Havana Primo search Gutiérrez Alea, T. (2001) Hasta cierto punto (1983) At: www.clubcultura.com/clubcine/clubcineastas/titon/punto/punto4.htm (accessed 22/02/06) Primo search Hayward, S. (1996) Key Concepts in Cinema Studies Routledge, London. Class mark: PN1993.45.H4 Primo search Hess, John (1999) No Mas Habermas, or Rethinking Cuban Cinema in the 90s Screen 40: 2, pp. 203-7. Photocopy in file (plus reply by Catherine Davies) Primo search Hill and Gibson (eds), Oxford Guide to Film Studies Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 96-105. Class mark: PN1993.5.A1.O9 Primo search Hollows, J., Hutchings, P., Jancovich, M., (eds) (2000) The Film Studies Reader Arnold, London. Class mark: PN1994.F4 Primo search Hoz de la, Pedro (2001) Cuando Jesús Díaz destruía el mundo capitalista, in La Jiribilla, La Habana. At: www.lajiribilla.cu/2001/n8_junio/202_8.html Primo search
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 5