Spring 2016
HISP 162b New Latin American Cinema. From Revolution to the Market.
Professor Fernando J. Rosenberg
Shiffman 204 Office hours: Wednesday 1 to 3pm or by appt.
e-mail: ferosen@brandeis.edu
We will study and compare two pivotal periods of film production, both of which
were considered “new waves” of Latin American cinema. On the one hand, the new
cinemas of the 1960s and 1970s, which accompanied moments of radical change
and movements of revolutionary insurrection. On the other hand, the film boom of
the 1990s and 2000s, in which aesthetic experimentation intersected with new
realities of neoliberal policies and market globalization.
Parallel to these historical conjunctures that we will study in detail through their
cinematic manifestations, the class will explore the more theoretically charged topic
of the cinematic real—the conditions of film-art realistic predicament. This line of
inquiry will be guided by questions such as: What are some of the different notions
of reality at play? What does it mean to capture reality in cinema? What is the
relation between the image and the commodity? How do revolutionary filmmakers
attempt to intervene in reality or historicity? How the force of the real might itself
intervene or disrupt cinematographic reality projections? What are the possible
relations between the audio-visual, sensual experience of cinema, and the sensorial
construction of the real?
Learning goals
-Students will be able to identify and understand what are arguably the two central
periods of Latin American cinema
-By exposing the class to films and film cultures that are removed from the North
American commercial mainstream, the class will expand students’ cultural and
artistic horizons
-As these periods are directly connected, both in their content and in their modes of
distribution and production, with two differentiated historical periods, students will
get acquainted with the political and social underpinnings of filmmaking and
viewing
-Students will be introduced to the analysis of film art not only in terms of the film
content and form, but also regarding factors of production and circulation
-Students will become familiarized with key terms of film theory and lexicon, with
the expectation that this knowledge would deepen their visual literacy
Recommended reference texts
John Charles Chasteen Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America
Thomas Elsaesser. Film theory: an introduction through the senses
Required material: All films and critical texts will be available either on Latte, or in
some other website, or on library reserve
-Evaluation:
20% Weekly mini-essays in response to films and texts, or substantial forum
discussions previous to class
20% class attendance, participation, and general preparedness for class discussion
30% Two mini-essays (4 pages each, elaborating an original reading of film/text)
30% Final paper (6/7 pages). Fecha de entrega, 10 de mayo
Disabilities:
If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University
and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see
me immediately.
Academic integrity:
You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. Please consult Brandeis
University Rights and Responsibilities for all policies and procedures related to
academic integrity.
Language and prerequisites:
This class is conducted in Spanish, and although some of the material is available
only in English, the discussions and written assignments are to be completed in
Spanish. An upper-level command of the language, usually assumed of students who
have successfully completed HISP 109 /100/111, is a requisite for being able to
participate in the class. However, students who master the language and who
demonstrate an adequate level of academic competence and interest in the class,
might be able to sign up with permission of the instructor.
On reserve
Film Manifestos and Global Cinema Cultures: A Critical Anthology. Ed. MacKenzie,
Scott
Film art: an introduction. David. Bordwell
The Social documentary in Latin America. Julianne Burton
January
13 Definiciones. Cine político, cine militante, tercer cine. Del (neo) realismo al nuevo
cine
Bibliografía optativa
http://www.lafuga.cl/cine-militante-i/13
18 MLK day No classes
20 Tire dié, de Fernando Birri (film) and Buenos Aires, de José Kohon (film)–
Cinema and Underdevelopment (manifesto) o Manifesto Tire die (latte)
25 El cine fuera del cine
La hora de los hornos, de Fernando Solanas y Osvaldo Getino – Hacia un tercer cine
(manifesto)
27 idem. Artículo Robert Stam “Hour of the Furnaces and the Two Avant Gardes”
(Latte)
February
1 Estética del hambre – Estética de la violencia (manifestos de Glauber Rocha)
3 Realismo delirante
Film de Glauber Rocha Terra em transe (youtube link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX4BLrGwWGQ
8 Glauber Rocha Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol (youtube link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q0sYG3aZ7g
10 Cine y revolución en Cuba.
Por primera vez (documental corto en youtube) y “Por un cine imperfecto”
(manifiesto) de Julio García Espinosa; “Por un cine imperfecto, quince años después”
15 to 19 Winter break
22 Memorias del subdesarrollo de Tomás Gutierrez Alea (Latte)
Sugerencias Chanan, Michael. Cuban cinema (selection)
Chasteen Born in Blood (selection)
24
29 Tercer cine y derrota. La batalla de Chile, de Patricio Guzmán
March
2 Transiciones. Memoria obstinada, de Patricio Guzmán
7 Viaje y reparación I
Central do Brasil, de Walter Salles
9 Viaje y reparación II Guantanamera, de Tomás Gutierrez Alea
14 Violencia y redención.
Amores perros, de Alejandro González Iñarritu
Bibliography: Falicov, Tamara. ‘Cine en Construcción’/‘Films in Progress’: How
Spanish and Latin American filmmakers negotiate the construction of a globalized
art-house aesthetic. Transnational Cinemas, 2013, Vol.4(2), pp.253-271
Recommended: “Neoliberalism” from Born in Blood and Fire
16 Cidade de Deus by Fernando Meirelles.
Recommended Mike Davis “Planet of Slums.”
21 Historias menores. Masculinidad y comunidad I
El bonaerense, de Pablo Trapero
23 Historias menores. Masculinidad y comunidad II
El oso rojo, de Adrian Israel Caetano
28 March recess – No class
30 Bolivia, De Adrian Israel Caetano
April
4 Nuevo documental. Suite Habana, de Fernando Perez
6 tba or catch up class
11 idem
13 idem
18 Sexualidad/familia. XXY de Lucia Puenzo
20 Sexualidad/familia. La cienaga, de Lucrecia Martel
22 to 29 Spring recess
May 2 Last day of classes