Module: FTV5001-20 Key Movements in World Cinema

Level: 5

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor: Suman Ghosh

Module Tutor Contact Details: S.Ghosh@bathspa.ac.uk

1. Brief description and aims of module:

This module offers a detailed study of some of the key movements in international mainstream and arthouse film outside Europe and the USA. It includes, for example, sessions on Japanese cinema, Cinemas of China and Hong Kong, Indian Cinema, Middle-Eastern Cinema (Turkey, Egypt and Iran), Mexican film and the cinemas of Latin America. In each case, films are studied with reference to their cultural and industrial contexts, as well as their reception by ‘domestic’ and ‘international’ audiences.

The module also profiles the emergence of arthouse film cultures after World War II which facilitated the appreciation of non-English language films significantly, and will take an in-depth look at their subsequent impact. It offers students an opportunity to study some of the most culturally significant and influential works of World cinema including the work of ‘auteur’ directors such as Akira Kurosawa, Satyajit Ray and Luis Bunuel as well as contemporaries like Takeshi Kitano, Zhang Yimou, Wong Kar Wai and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

The module challenges traditionally held and increasingly contested distinctions between mainstream and arthouse film. It analyses the culture-specific nature of film narrative and explore the alternative narrative styles that distinguish these films.

This module aims to equip students with an in-depth understanding of the range, and conventions of non-American film cultures. It does this by:

1. Identifying traditions of mainstream and arthouse film in these contexts

2. Analysing the industrial and cultural practices in which they are embedded

3. Applying theoretical tools and critical skills to undertake an in-depth reading key film movements

2.Outline syllabus:

• Cinemas of Latin America

• Transnational Film Culture

• Third Cinema

• Classical Japanese film

• Contemporary Chinese and Taiwanese film

• North African Cinema

• Indian cinema

This outline syllabus is indicative of the range of film cultures studied and details are subject to addition and alteration in order to encourage provision for specialist knowledge and research-led teaching.

3.Teaching and learning activities:

This module will aim to provide you with a historical and cultural account of both mainstream and art-house film traditions from a variety of contexts. Key concepts relating to the narrative, industrial and aesthetic traditions of film and to their national/transnational identities will be discussed in lectures, which will also examine the ideological and political underpinnings of these traditions. These points will then be debated in the ensuing seminars through the analysis of relevant (reading and film-based) textual material. Lectures and seminar discussions will be supported by the use of appropriate audio and visual material and a suitable range of background reading, with reference to additional reading and film material as may be required. These, and additional resources to encourage debate and research both within and outside the classroom will be made available through Minerva.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: Course Work

• Description: Essay (3,750 words)

• % Weighting: 75%

Assessment Item 2:

• Assessment Type: Course Work

• Description: Presentation of Student Research (1250 words equivalent)

• % Weighting: 25%