About Me

Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize Winner, Les Misérables , Ladj Ly, France 2019

About Me:

I have been in the Cinema Department at City College of San Francisco, my hometown, since 2013 and am one of the top 10 senior faculty. There are choices for this class as far as instructor, and everyone comes with their own special set of skills so I want to write what you can expect from my class and why you should take it.

I am not only an expert in film studies (Phd in Cinema Studies) and filmmaker (San Francisco State Graduate Film Department) but I attend the Cannes Film Festival every year as an accredited journalist. Furthermore, I am a voting member of the Society of Cinema and Media Studies, FIPRESCI - International Association of Film Critics, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, (galeca.org) and Alliance of Women Film Journalists. In my capacity as an international film expert, I am invited to lecture in South Korea, France, Italy, Sweden, Germany, and the USA.

Every year, I watch what world class directors are making - the most current and the freshest films in the world. This year the first black female director, the young French- Senegalese director Rita Diop was awarded the Grand Prix at Cannes - Grand Prize ! At these festivals, I attend the film markets about what the current trends in different countries are such as Stockholm, Cannes, Udine Far East Film Festival, Venice. And attend several kinds of festivals in San Francisco.

I been invited to serve on juries and speak with directors, actors producers and distributors at these festivals where not only new films but some of the best classic work is shown and finds a younger audience. I have interviewed many top directors and actors such as Roman Polanski (The Piano), David Lynch (Mullholland Drive) , Agnès Varda (Faces, Places), Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction) , Jane Campion (The Piano), Julie Dash (Daughters of the Dust), Jane Fonda (China Syndrome) , Nam June Paik (Old Boy), Kimberley Peirce (Carrie) and Nadine Labaki (Capernaum). What you will learn in this class will always be connected to today's films as the industry and players expand.

You will learn about the camera and how motion is created, how scenes are put together through editing, how the director populates scenes with props, lights, costume and makeup and arrangement of how actors move through scenes. This will be shown through classic as well as today films.

Some of you may make or want to make films - this course will help you tremendously. It will give you the tools and the language of film and help you to evaluate directors whose style may become one of your major influences. If you want to write about film and continue on with films studies, you will be guided through several writing exercises to perfect your skills. If you want to improve your knowledge of film to better understand it, you are the person everyone will want to go to the movies with

This is an online class and I want you to know about your instructor beforehand so that you can make an informed decision about who to study with. I will coach and mentor you through this course so that you will learn and know the language of film.

Welcome to my course! Cine21 - Introduction to Film Studies.

Bong Joon Ho, Palme d'Or 2019 for "Parasite"

Bong Joon Ho, director of "Parasite"

72:e Palme d'Or winner "The Parasite" , South Korea

Mati Diop Grand Prix Winner at 72nd Cannes Film Festival

Matti Riop, France, Grand Jury Prize winner, Cannes 2019 First black female director to be invited to Cannes official Selection.

Screenwriter Guinevere Turner on left - wrote "Charlie Says in 2013!. With cast: Matt Smith. and Hannah Murray, Sosie Bacon Marianne Rendon and director Mary Harron in Venice 2018. Matt Smith plays Charles Manson. Nominated for Golden Lion.