HUM 215 World Cinema (5 credits)
Distribution Area Fulfilled Humanities; General Transfer Elective
Formerly HUMAN 215
Course Description
World Cinema examines the films and film-making practices around the world. This class explores the production standards and cinema choices of film movements such as German Expressionism, Italian Neorealism, British Social Realism, The French New Wave, Parallel Cinema, 5th Generation Chinese film, Cinema Novo, and Third Cinema.
Course Content
A. International Cinema and Hollywood: how funding impacts content and production
B. The emergence of sound and its impact on international film audiences and film production
C. Production values: differences between nations and their cinemas in terms of lighting; camera angle, placement and movement; set design; acting; use of parallel montage; point of view
D. Viewing positions: how the audience/spectator brings his/her values into interpretation and the problems associated with “Othering” in World Cinema
E. The differences between 1st cinema (entertainment and profit), 2nd cinema (arthouse and auteur filmmaking), 3rd cinema (political, anti-colonial films), and 4th cinema (indigenous cinema) objectives and practices
F. The differences in the protagonist/main character amongst international cinemas (the individual hero versus the multigenerational community as main character)
G. Challenges to the Hollywood narrative formula in terms of time, space, plot and character
H. A focus on world-renowned directors such as Satyajit Ray (India), Ousmane Sembene (Senegal), Fernando Meirelles (Brazil), Emir Kusturica (Serbia), Claire Denis (France), Mira Nair (India), Yimou Zhang (China) and Kidlat Tahimik (Philippines), amongst others
I. Various World Cinema movements such as German Expressionism, Italian Neorealism, British Social Realism, The French New Wave, Cinema Novo, and Parallel Cinema, and their influence on U.S. and world film-making practices
J. World Cinema movements and their influence on global cinema, including the United States
Student Outcomes
1. Describe the various methods of film analysis/aesthetic of international cinemas, detailing how these methods differ from nation to nation, and culture to culture.
2. Analyze and interpret a film from another culture.
3. Examine how cultural differences impact film choices and film making.
4. Analyze the relationship between a film’s themes and its social, political and economic history.
5. Recognize and debate the features of national cinema and their (dis)use of conventional Western narrative film-making practices.
6. Trace the evolution(s) of various national cinemas and film movements, their influences and their impact on other film makers.
7. Compare the history, production and content of world cinema with Hollywood (Western) cinema. Describe the contributions and influence that various world cinema directors and film movements have had on world cinema.
8. Understand and explain how different cultural beliefs lead to different modes of storytelling and expression.
Degree Outcomes
Multiculturalism: Graduates will demonstrate knowledge of diverse ideas, cultures, and experiences, and develop the ability to examine their own attitudes and assumptions in order to understand and work with others who differ from themselves.
Humanities: Graduates acquire critical skills to interpret, analyze, and evaluate forms of human expression, which can include creation and performance as an expression of human experience.
Lecture Contact Hours 50
Lab Contact Hours 0
Clinical Contact Hours 0
Total Contact Hours 50
Potential Methods
A. Formal writings: essays, essay exams, research reports, reading responses
B. Projects: group presentations, individual presentations, multimedia productions
C. Informal writings: journals, in-class responses, brainstorming, freewriting
D. Group discussions and classroom activities
E. Exams and quizzes: short answer, matching, multiple choice
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