Course Outline

Course Outline

1.11 Introduction: Defining “Ecocinema” in the Age of the Anthropocene

Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (2018)

Also see the project website at: https://theanthropocene.org/

Readings:

- Rust & Monani, “Cuts to Disolves” (Intro), Ecocinema Theory and Practice, (read 1-5 of 13) https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/soka-ebooks/reader.action?docID=1024590&ppg=205

- Willoquet-Maricondi, “Shifting Paradigms: From Environmentalist Films for Ecocinema,” Framing the World, (read 1-8 of 19) https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=nlebk&AN=388827&site=ehost-live&custid=s4763706&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_43

- Register, L. (2019) “Documentaries Making a Difference.” Bachelor Thesis in ES at Fordham University. https://research.library.fordham.edu/environ_2015/90/. (read pp 6-24/Ch.1 where she presents results from a survey of fellow undergraduates and their documentary viewing habits and insights. (Note: this reading is not due on Perusall until 1.13.)

1.12 Classic Expansive Nature Documentaries – Have They Changed?

Life on Our Planet (2020) (1h54min) (Sir David Attenborough) &

Our Planet (2019) (8-part series, each episode is ~50min) (Sir David Attenborough

-One Planet

-From Deserts to Grasslands

-Jungles

-Forests

-Coastal Seas

-Freshwater

-High Seas

-Frozen Worlds

Also: Our Planet: Behind the Scenes. (2019) (63min). There is a short 9 min clip on behind the scenes for the grasslands episode

Blue Planet (2001) (8-part BBC series) (Sir David Attenborough)

Blue Planet II (2017) (Sir David Attenborough)

Planet Earth – A Celebration (2020) 1hr highlights

Readings:

- Jones et al (2019) “Nature documentaries and saving nature: Reflections on the new Netflix series Our Planet.” People & Nature. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/pan3.10052

- Chris, Cynthia (2006) Conclusion. Watching Wildlife.

1.13 Activist/Conservationist Biopic Nature Documentaries

Mission Blue (2014) on Ocean Activist Sylvia Earle

Also see: https://mission-blue.org/

Jane (2017) on conservationist Jane Goodall

The historic Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees (1965) (50min), narrated by Orson Wells,

7min PBS feature on the film

Readings:

- Bouse, Derek (2000). “The Problem of Images.” Ch 1. in Wildlife Films.

- Earle, S. (2012). Mission blue: Protect and restore the oceans, earth's blue heart. Global Dialogue (Online), 14(1), 28-34. (optional)

1.14 Hollywood Big(gish) Box Office Nature Documentaries

March of the Penguins (Luc Jacquet) (2005)

Chimpanzee (2012) (Disneynature)

Readings:

- Molloy, Claire “Nature Writes the Screenplays.” Ecocinema Theory and Practice

-Vivanco, Luis “Penguins are good to think with.” Ecocinema Theory and Practice

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/soka-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1024590

1.15 Hollywood Climate Change Films in the early 2000s: Documentary vs. Fiction

An Inconvenient Truth (2006) – Al Gore’s influential documentary.

An Inconvenient Sequel (2017) (1hr37)

The Day After Tomorrow (2004) – Roland Emmerich’s block buster Eco-Disaster Pic

Readings:

-Rust, S. (2013). Hollywood & climate change. Ecocinema theory and practice, 191-211.

- Crespo, I., & Pereira, Â. (2013). “Climate Change Films: Fear and Agency Appeals.” Transnational Ecocinema, 165-186.

1.19 Recent Hollywood Climate Change Films / Eco-Thrillers

The Human Element (2019) James Balog. Also see https://thehumanelementmovie.com/

Years of Living Dangerously (2014, 2016) Also see: https://theyearsproject.com/ and https://theyearsproject.com/about/.

Before the Flood (2016) Leo DiCaprio/Nat’l Geogr.

Racing Extinction (2015)

Readings:

-Barber (2020) “Why does cinema ignore climate change?” BBC Culture online.

-Buckely (2019) “Why is Hollywood so Scared of Climate Change?” New York Times Opinion

-Bunch (2019) “Environmentalists Make Good Movie Villains Because They Want To Make Your Real Life Worse,” Washington Post Opinion

1.20 “Man” and/in Nature

Grizzly Man (2005) Werner Herzog

Possible fiction companion piece: Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, based on Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction book on Chris McCandless who also perished in the Alaskan wilderness.

Readings:

-Ladino, Jennifer “Working with Animals: Regarding companion Species in Documentary Film” in Ecocinema Practice

-Henry, Elisabeth. “The Screaming of Silence: Constructions of Nature in Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man,” in Framing the World, 2010.

-Cronon, W. Foreword in: Mitman, G. (2009). Reel nature: America's romance with wildlife on film. University of Washington Press.

-Johnson, D. T. (2014). You Must Never Listen to This": Lessons on Sound, Cinema, and Mortality from Herzog's" Grizzly Man. Nichols, B. Documenting the Documentary [Optional]

1.21 Natural & Anthropocen(tr)ic Meditations / Avant Guard Films

Koyaanisqatsi by Godfrey Reggio (1982) (1hr 26min)

At Sea by Peter Hutton (2007) (59min) Life cycle of a container ship. (1hr)

Also see: Peter Hutton live Q&A about the film at Hampshire College (2010). (30min)

Readings:

Banis (2019) “Why 1982 Experimental Documentary Koyaanisqatsi is Still a Must-See in Times of Climate Change” Forbes. 4p.

Stephens, G. (2010) “Koyaaniskatsi and the Visual Narrative of Environmental Film.” Screening The Past. [long, ok to read just beginning and end a skim a bit in the middle]

Aldredge, M. (2012) “Filmmaker Peter Hutton: It’s not about the Pyrotechnics, it’s about Limitations.” in Gwarlingo (online) [looks long but reads fast and has lots of images]

Raise the Stakes. (2011) “Interview with Reggio” (online only) [Optional]

Hickman, L. (2011) “My Favorite Film: Koyaanisqatsi.” The Guardian. [Optional]

Reggio, G. speaking about the trilogy. (2011) Youtube. (30min) [Optional, French subtitles]

Issue-Based Documentaries:

Note: from this point on, we focused on watching documentaries and discussing them without additional academic resources

1.22 Water Wars & Water Privatization

Flow - For the Love of Water (2008) (1:30min)

Blue Gold (2008) (1h:30min)

Explained: World’s Water Crisis (2020) (18min)

Water Wars (2010) [optional]

The Water Front (on Michigan Water) (2008) (53 min) [Optional]

1.25 Different Takes on the Bolivian Water Wars: Documentary, Feature & Animated Films

The Corporation (2003) – just the 6+ min clip on Bolivian Water Privatization

Even the Rain (Tambien la Luvia) (feature, Spanish Oscar-nominated foreign language film, 1h:42min) (2011),

Abuela Grillo (Animated Short, 12min) (2010)

Bonus: James Bond - Quantum of Solace (1h:47min) (2008) available on Netflix

Readings:

-Andrew Hageman “Ecocinema and Ideology: Do Ecocritics Dream of a Clockwork Green?” In:

Ecocinema Theory and Practice : Theory and Practice, edited by Stephen Rust, et al., Taylor & Francis Group, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/soka-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1024590

1.26 Oil Dependence / Fracking

Gasland (2010) (1h40min) & Gasland II ((2013) by Josh Fox (on fracking)

For contrast, see the oil industry’s clumsy response via TruthLand (35min), and the much smarter yet still problematic pro-fracking documentary FrackNation (2013) by Irish filmmakers and climate crisis deniers McAleer & McElhinney (who also made the 2009 anti-Inconvenient Truth documentary Not Evil, Just Wrong)

Planet Oil (2015) BBC Three-Part Series, each episode is ~1hr:

- How Oil Made Us. Directed by Leven, Russell. BBC Worldwide, 2015.

- The Carbon Wars. Directed by Leven, Russell. BBC Worldwide, 2015.

- Climate Wars. Directed by Declan Healy. BBC Worldwide, 2015.

1.27 Environmental Justice / Indigenous (Water) Rights

AWAKE A Dream from Standing Rock (2017)

The Aqueduct Between Us (2020) (40min)

Bonus option: There is something in the Water (2020) w/Elliot Page.

1.28 Food Justice & Sustainable Agriculture

Food Inc. (2008)

Cowspiracy (2015) (Netflix)

Kiss the Ground (2020) on regenerative agriculture, also see https://kisstheground.com/