This course offers an introduction to the study of cinema and audiovisual media. Beginning with the assumption that cinema is an art form but also the product of a media industry, lectures will frame the medium within both of these contexts. The aim is to provide students with the tools for film analysis, and help them orient themselves in the world of cinema.

The first part of the course aims to offer a foundation of historical and aesthetic knowledge, identifying and expanding on a series of important moments in the development of film language, from its birth to its maturing as an art form. The focus of this part will therefore be on specific styles and their cultural, historical and geographic backgrounds. The second part will concentrate rather on the largest and most significant cinema industries, in the past and in the present. The objective will be to examine their structures, the various approaches to production, distribution and exportation, and the roles played by stars and genres. In this part will, through some instances of textual analysis, students will learn to understand critically the role played by films in specific production contexts.

The course will be divided into two macro themes: 

In both sections, we will consider styles and production contexts in different international contexts and historical moments. In the two parts of the course, we will address the following questions:

1. Film as an aesthetic form:

• The invention of film narrative and its refusal in European avant-gardes
• The aesthetic definitions of (neo)realism around the World Wars
• The director as an artist and as an auteur: the case of Akira Kurosawa
• Generations of filmmakers and the rebellions of the new waves
• The slippery concept of the "independent" filmmaker.

2. Cinema as an industry.

• Changes and attempts at control in Hollywood
• The golden age of B-movies in Europe
• Mixing genres in Bollywood and its impact across the globe
• The videotape revolution in Nollywood and the world
• Digital streaming, redefining the rules.

1. Knowledge and understanding: students will obtain a foundation of critical historical and theoretical knowledge regarding the role played by cinema in society, and its politics.

1.1. Students will gain this understanding through lesson participation and through discussion of the course's themes, as well as through film analysis guided by the lecturer.

2. Applying knowledge and understanding: the knowledge obtained during this course will be applied to film analysis, enabling students to identify and recognize the main historical trends and the effects of directors' stylistic choices. 

2.1. Students will gain this ability in classes, in the guided analysis of films, and through discussions in small groups.

3. Making judgements: students will learn to express informed, autonomous judgments on the politics of audiovisual culture, and on the socio-historical processes that have influenced the production of some of the most important films of world cinema.

3.1. Students will gain the ability to make critical judgments through participation in discussions in class and debates with the lecturer and with their colleagues, as well as through personal study surrounding the lessons. 

4. Communication: students will learn to express themselves in Italian (and/or English) on the course's themes, moreover applying the appropriate specialist vocabulary of film studies.

4.1. They will develop this ability through class discussions and exchanges with colleagues, as well as the lecturer, in addition to small, informal presentations in class.

5. Lifelong learning skills: students will learn to engage and interact with the history of cinema and to analyse cinematographic texts, connecting these elements in autonomous reflections on the politics of this medium.

5.1. These abilities will be enabled through the use of various learning tools, allowing students, at the end of the course, to nagivate autonomously in the history of cinema. In addition, discussion and debate with classmates and the lecturer will play a key role, as well as class exercises and personal study.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

As well as lectures and discussions (in class or online), films will be screened on a weekly basis.

The materials used in class will be made available for students online, on the University's blended learning platform. 

Teaching

Lectures on history, theory and concepts of audiovisual media studies, projections, seminars and group discussions on the course's content and the films.

Attendance

Students must attend at least three quarters of classes.

Course books

David Bordwell e Kristin Thompson, Storia del cinema: un'introduzione (Italian edition edited by Elena Mosconi and David Bruni), Milan: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018 (only chapters 3-8; 10-12; 14.1, 14.4 e 14.10; 15.1-15.3; 16; 18.1-2 e 18.5; 19-20 e 23). English edition: Film History: an Introduction, 4th edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018. N.b. if you study the English edition, please check with the lecturer as soon as possible which chapters to study.

And just one (the choice is yours) of the following selection:

Mariapia Comand e Roy Menarini, Il cinema europeo, Bari: Laterza, 2006/2014 (only chapter 7)

Elena Aime, Storia del cinema indiano, Turin: Lindau, 2005 (only chapters 3 and 8).

Alessandro Jedlowski, Nollywood. L’industria video nigeriana e le sue diramazioni transnazionali, Napoli: Liguori, 2015 (only chapters 1 and 4).

Ramon Lobato, Netflix Nations: Geografia della distribuzione digitale, Roma: Minimum Fax, 2020 (only chapters 4 and 5). English version: Netflix Nations, New York: New York University Press, 2019).

Students must also watch the following films (N.b. the final list will be confirmed at the beginning of the course):

• Strike / Стачка (Sergej M. Ėjzenštejn, 1925)
• Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica, 1952)
• Rashōmon / 羅生門 (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
• Cléo de 5 à 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962)
• Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
• Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939)
• For a Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964)
• Dilwale (Rohit Shetty, 2015)
• Your Excellency (Funke Akindele, 2018)
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2018)

It is recommended that students also watch the following films:

• The Cabinet of Dr Caligari/ Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920)
• Battleship Potëmkin / Бронено́сец «Потёмкин» (Sergej Ėjzenštejn, 1925)
• The Fall of the Romanovs (Esfir Šub, 1927)
• Un chien andalou (Salvador Dalì e Luis Buñuel, 1929) e L’Age d’or (Luis Buñuel, 1930)
• The Seashell and the Clergyman / La Coquille et le Clergyman (Germaine Dulac, 1928)
• Nosferatu / Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (Friedrich Wilhelm, 1922)
• Rome, Open City / Roma città aperta (Roberto Rossellini, 1945)
• Bicycle Theives / Ladri di biciclette (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)
• Breathless / À bout de souffle (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
• Jules et Jim (François Truffaut, 1962)
• Ikiru / 生きる (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
• Tokyo Story / 東京物語 (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)
• Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)
• Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly / Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (Sergio Leone, 1966)
• Django (Bruno Corbucci, 1966)
• Sholay (Ramesh Sippy, 1975)
• Living in Bondage (Chris Obi Rapu, 1992-93)
• Bird Box (Susanne Bier, 2018)

Assessment

Assessment for the course will consist in an individual oral exam. Students must demonstrate a fundamental understanding of the course's content through the study of texts and the analysis of audiovisual material. Class attendance is an integral part of the evaluation. The exam aims to assess both learning of the course content on behalf of the students and also their ability to express themselves, make argument and apply what they have learned.

Grading:

Excellent grades will be given in presence of: a good critical perspective and in depth knowledge; the ability to link the main subjects addressed during the course; the expert use of appropriate language and terminology.

Good grades will be given in presence of: good mnemonic knowledge of the course content; a relatively good critical perspective and the ability to connect its themes; the use of an appropriate language.

Sufficient grades will be given in presence of: minimal knowledge of the course's themes and the presence of some gaps in understanding; the use of an inappropriate language.

Low grades will be given in presence of: difficulty in understanding the course's topics; notable gaps in knowledge; the use of a clearly inappropriate language.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Blended learning, studying the compulsory texts and films of the course.

Course books

Non attending students must prepare:

David Bordwell e Kristin Thompson, Storia del cinema: un'introduzione (Italian edition edited by Elena Mosconi and David Bruni), Milan: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018 (only chapters 3-8; 10-12; 14.1, 14.4 e 14.10; 15.1-15.3; 16; 18.1-2 e 18.5; 19-20 e 23). English edition: Film History: an Introduction, 4th edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018. N.b. if you study the English edition, please check with the lecturer as soon as possible which chapters to study.

And one of the following volumes:

Mariapia Comand e Roy Menarini, Il cinema europeo, Bari: Laterza, 2006.

Elena Aime, Storia del cinema indiano, Torino: Lindau, 2005.

Alessandro Jedlowski, Nollywood. L’industria video nigeriana e le sue diramazioni transnazionali, Napoli: Liguori, 2015.

Ramon Lobato, Netflix Nations: Geografia della distribuzione digitale, Roma: Minimum Fax, 2020. English version: Netflix Nations, New York: New York University Press, 2019).

Students must also watch the following films (N.b. the final list will be confirmed at the beginning of the course):

• Strike / Стачка (Sergej M. Ėjzenštejn, 1925)
• Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica, 1952)
• Rashōmon / 羅生門 (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
• Cléo de 5 à 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962)
• Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
• Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939)
• For a Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964)
• Dilwale (Rohit Shetty, 2015)
• Your Excellency (Funke Akindele, 2018)
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2018)

It is recommended that students also watch the following films:

• The Cabinet of Dr Caligari/ Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920)
• Battleship Potëmkin / Бронено́сец «Потёмкин» (Sergej Ėjzenštejn, 1925)
• The Fall of the Romanovs (Esfir Šub, 1927)
• Un chien andalou (Salvador Dalì e Luis Buñuel, 1929) e L’Age d’or (Luis Buñuel, 1930)
• The Seashell and the Clergyman / La Coquille et le Clergyman (Germaine Dulac, 1928)
• Nosferatu / Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (Friedrich Wilhelm, 1922)
• Rome, Open City / Roma città aperta (Roberto Rossellini, 1945)
• Bicycle Theives / Ladri di biciclette (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)
• Breathless / À bout de souffle (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
• Jules et Jim (François Truffaut, 1962)
• Ikiru / 生きる (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
• Tokyo Story / 東京物語 (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)
• Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)
• Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly / Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (Sergio Leone, 1966)
• Django (Bruno Corbucci, 1966)
• Sholay (Ramesh Sippy, 1975)
• Living in Bondage (Chris Obi Rapu, 1992-93)
• Bird Box (Susanne Bier, 2018)

Assessment

Assessment for the course will consist in an individual oral exam. Students must demonstrate a fundamental understanding of the course's content through the study of texts and the analysis of audiovisual material. Class attendance is an integral part of the evaluation. The exam aims to assess both learning of the course content on behalf of the students and also their ability to express themselves, make argument and apply what they have learned.

Grading:

Excellent grades will be given in presence of: a good critical perspective and in depth knowledge; the ability to link the main subjects addressed during the course; the expert use of appropriate language and terminology.

Good grades will be given in presence of: good mnemonic knowledge of the course content; a relatively good critical perspective and the ability to connect its themes; the use of an appropriate language.

Sufficient grades will be given in presence of: minimal knowledge of the course's themes and the presence of some gaps in understanding; the use of an inappropriate language.

Low grades will be given in presence of: difficulty in understanding the course's topics; notable gaps in knowledge; the use of a clearly inappropriate language.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.