FILM 2007 - Contemporary Approaches to Cinema

The study of cinema has been transformed from the earliest days of its inception as a field of serious scholarly inquiry, and this transformation has affected not only the way films are studied, but the language of film criticism more generally, the curation of festivals, the promotion of talents, and even the production of films. How we approach a medium helps to set the terms of debate for what that medium is and should be doing. So, what are the questions we are currently putting to cinema? What are we looking for? Why? In this course, you will encounter a range of critical approaches to film that are helping to define the meaning of cinema for the 21st century: from critical race studies, through queer theory, contemporary feminism, ecological theory, and indigenous studies, on to neo-formalism, affect theory, animation theory, and the emergence of ‘slow cinema’. Screening films in concert with important essays and monographs that have helped reshape the field of cinema studies in recent years, the course will equip you with all the essential ingredients for your own informed and intelligent contemporary approach to film.