identify the economic and cultural factors determining the formation of individual national cinemas, the interconnections between them, and their global circulation, if any;

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The module’s objectives are

- to address questions of trans-national, regional, global, world and Third cinema by
exploring a range of national cinemas, their specificity as well as their inter-connections;
- to examine the diverse aesthetics of a range of national cinemas by engaging with the
economic, political and social contexts that shaped them;
- to study the aspects of production, distribution and exhibition which characterize diverse
national film industries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America;
- to discuss the global circulation of films that have emerged within specific national
formations;
- to familiarise yourself with theoretical frameworks for an understanding of the relations
between the industrial mode of operation of diverse national cinemas and the generic and
stylistic features of the films produced within those specific cinematic traditions

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Having successfully completed the module, you should be able to
- identify the economic and cultural factors determining the formation of individual national
cinemas, the interconnections between them, and their global circulation, if any;
- identify generic currents and formal characteristics within individual national cinemas;
- relate historical (economic, social, cultural, political) factors to aesthetics and generic
patterns;
- discuss proficiently questions and theories of national, trans-national, regional and world
cinema;

- undertake film-historically pertinent analysis of films belonging to a broad range of

national cinemas;

- evaluate different theories and apply them to the understanding and analysis of a broad
range of films and related cultural practices;

- be aware of the diversity and range of films within global genres (such as action cinema
or melodrama);

- evaluate the inter-relationship between films’ aesthetics and social, political and
economic pressures;

- carry out research on a range of cinemas and their broader, historical context;

- expand your understanding of film theory and historiography;

- develop an autonomous and critical interest in, and aspire to the acquisition of further

knowledge of, world history and cultures;

- demonstrate verbally, as well as in writing, the capacity to do all of the above

ESSAY QUESTIONS
Coursework 1 (2,000 words maximum): chose one of the following questions:

1.1 Taking as case study any one of the films listed in the module guide’s filmography,
discuss whether or not that film is part of a national, a trans-national or a regional cinema,
(or all of them at the same time), and why.

1.2 Discuss the pressures that, by the 1920s, led to the categorization of some silent
cinema as ‘national cinema’.

1.3 What set Italian silent melodrama and epic films apart from French and American
serials?

1.4 What were the main characteristics of the film industry in India in the 1910s and
1920s? Discuss by outlining the role of exhibitors, producers and distributors in shaping a
distinct Indian film culture.

1.5 Select any one of the following films and discuss what, in your opinion, makes it a
Neorealist film: La terra trema (L. Visconti, Italy, 1948), Ossessione (L. Visconti, Italy,
1943), Ladri di biciclette (V. De Sica, Italy, 1948), Roma città aperta (R. Rossellini, Italy,
1945), Paisà (R. Rossellini, Italy, 1946), Germania, anno zero (R. Rossellini, Italy, 1948).

1.6 To what extent can Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger be considered bold and
experimental filmmakers? Discuss with reference to at least two of their films.

1.7 There have been several significant film movements throughout French cinema
history, such as the Nouvelle Vague (New Wave), Cinéma du look and the New French
Extremity. Analyse two film examples from one of these movements, discussing how these
films relate to French culture at that time, both in terms of the films’ style and in relation to
historical context.

Coursework 2 (2,000 words maximum): chose one of the following questions:

2.1 Discuss any one of the films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbider, Werner Herzog,
Volker Schöndorff or Wim Wenders listed in this guide’s filmography in relation to the
Oberhausen manifesto.

2.2 Compare the presentation of the Toxteth riots in John Akomfrah’s Riot (1993) with the
presentation of the Tottenham riots in this news report: ‘Tottenham Riot 2011: BBC
London News Coverage’ (broadcast on 7 August 2011 and available at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAV1FisFIas&feature=related (last accessed 7 Sept.
2015)

2.3 What is ‘Third cinema’? Discuss using as a case study a suitable film from the ones
listed in this guide’s filmography.

2.4 Discuss any one of the Brazilian films listed in this guide’s filmography in relation to the
social and political movements that were taking place in Brazil at the time the chosen film
was made.

2.5 Discuss any one of the African film listed in the module guide’s filmography in relation
to post-coloniality, nationalism and national identity.
2.6 Discuss any one of the films directed by Youssef Chahine in the light of the events that
have taken place the Middle East during the last five years. In your opinion, do Chahine’s
films have anything to say to the generation that is living through these more recent
events?

2.7 ‘Melodramas tend to centre on female characters because melodramas are about
social modernisation.’ Discuss this statement by analyzing as a case study any one of the
Indian films listed in the module guide’s filmography.

2.8 Discuss the social and political conditions in which films are made in Iran and how
these affect the films’ narrative and thematic content.

2.9 How do Japanese post-war melodramas address questions of individuated
subjectivity? Discuss with reference to any of the films available from the UEL library
directed by these directors: Mikio Naruse, Hiroshi Shimizu, Yasujirô Ozu, Yasusô
Masumura, Kenji Mizoguchi and Akira Kurosawa. In your discussion, pay particular
attention to the film’s mise en scène.

2.10 Discuss whether any one of the following Japanese films appears to be preoccupied
or not with the dissolution of a sense of national identity: I am waiting (Koreyoshi Kurahara,
1957), Rusty knife (Toshio Masuda, 1958), Take aim at the police van (Seijun Suzuki,
1960), Cruel gun story (Takumi Furukawa, 1964), Woman of the dunes (Hiroshi
Teshigahara, 1964), A colt is my passport (Takashi Nomura, 1967), Tetsuo I and II (Shinya
Tsukamoto, 1988), Dead or alive (Takashi Miike, 1999), Audition (Takashi Miike, 1999).

2.11 Examine South Korean genre cinema’s rise in international popularity and discuss
whether these films engage with Korean history and culture, or whether they are products
of an Americanised and globalised film culture, (or both).

2.12 Outline the emergence of a Shanghai-based Pan-Asian distribution and exhibition
network during the silent cinema period and discuss whether, in your opinion, the Shaw Brothers’ operation in Asia was constitutive of a national, a regional or a trans-national cinema.

2.13 Discuss any one of the films directed by Tsui Hark in the context of the Hong Kong
New Wave