CMLT 280: Film Art in a Global Society
Class Hours/Location: MWF 12:00-12:55 / Tawes Hall, room 205
Instructor: Lauren Albright
Email: lalbrigh@umd.edu
Office: Tawes 2130
Office Hours: Mondays at 10:00 am or by appointment
Textbook: World on Film (WOF) by Martha P. Nochimson
(This text will be supplemented by articles posted to ELMS)
Course Description
This course is in international film cultures and world cinema. It will familiarize you with and allow you to
examine a broad panorama of works from various countries. Our main focus will be on films made
geographically outside of the US. They represent considerable aesthetic, cultural and ideological diversity that,
at times, differ greatly from the economic and formative dominance of Hollywood cinema. As representatives
of a particular national style and creativity, some films pay little regard to Hollywood’s standards and yet still
manage to reciprocally influence American cinema, as we shall see.
Acknowledging that film as a medium does not exist in a geographical vacuum, we will engage the question of
which films get labeled as “world cinema” and what determines their entry into the global forum. As film has
become a part of an enormous multinational system of TV networks, new technologies of production and
distribution, and international co-production, the concept of “world cinema” has become increasing important in
recent years although its meaning is unsettled. We will use and study it to assert the importance of placing the
national within global perspectives, and see how “world cinema” raises a distinct set of problems and critical
approaches from national cinema studies.
Screenings:
No official screenings will be held for the class. It is your responsibility to watch the films listed on your own.
Films are available on reserve at Non-print Media Services in Hornbake Library, where you can view them
onsite. Many titles will also be available as streaming content via ELMS. Plan the viewing in advance and make
sure you have seen the entire film before we discuss it in class.
Course Warnings
1. Most of the films in this course are in non-English languages and are subtitled. They demand more
attention than if you were simply “going to the movies” to catch the latest Hollywood blockbuster.
Please note that certain films have been chosen to expand your social awareness. They may contain
graphic scenes of violence or sexual encounters that you may find offensive. Others address religious
concerns that may not be in accord with your own beliefs. When faced with a film that challenges your
principles, try to reflect upon how your cultural background influences your response to the film. Also
be advised that disagreeing with a film’s politics or message is not grounds for skipping a screening.
Part of your participation grade will come from a film journal, which I will check weekly. You are
expected to note the director, release date, actors, and basic plot points of the movies we watch for class.
2. Do not surf the web or text messages during class. Besides being rude and distracting to those
around you, it also means that you are not paying attention and you will miss important concepts
required for assignments or exams.
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3. Attendance and active participation are extremely important to your success. Complete the
readings and watch the films before the first day of class for that week. Bring the readings to each class
meeting. If you have to miss a class, it is your responsibility to obtain the notes/assignments for that day.
If you miss a quiz or an exam for an excused reason, you must contact me by the next class period to
schedule a make-up. More than four missed classes (in a row or over the course of the semester) will
have a negative impact upon your final grade.
4. Unexcused late work will be docked a half-letter grade for every day late. If you are struggling with
a deadline – please talk to me. I can work with you if I know what is going on in advance.
5. While this is not a composition course, you will have an essay to write and I expect you to be able to
write up to the university standards set by your English 101 classes. If you have not yet taken
English 101 or are otherwise concerned about your writing abilities, please talk to me sooner rather than
later. The Writing Center on the first floor of Tawes is also available to help you with any part of the
writing/revision process. For more information, see their website at
http://www.english.umd.edu/academics/writingcenter.
University/Departmental/Course Policies
1. Emails related to the course should contain “CMLT 280” in the subject line. During the workweek you
can normally expect a response within twenty-four hours, and during the weekend generally by Sunday
night. I will do my best to get back to your email as quickly as possible, but if 30 students email me with
questions about their papers 24 hours before the paper is due, chances are I will not get to all of them.
Do not wait until the last minute to ask questions.
2. Academic Honesty: Academic honesty is a good thing because it increases the chances that you learn
something and avoids the pain, the time wasted on procedural stuff, and the damage to your future, if
you get caught cheating. Please note that the internet is a nifty tool for finding plagiarism as well as for
committing it. For any questions about academic honesty, see University policies at:
http://www.shc.umd.edu/code.html or http://www.testudo.umd.edu/soc/dishonesty.html
3. Special Needs: If you have specific physical, psychiatric or learning impairments that require
accommodations, please let me know within the first two weeks of the semester so that your needs may
be appropriately met. You must meet with the Disability Support Services in the Shoemaker building
(301.314.7682 or http://www.counseling.umd.edu/DSS/) and provide me with their paperwork
indicating how I can best facilitate your academic success.
4. Absences:
a. Inform me in the first two weeks of class of any intended religious observances or sports-related
engagements that will result in absences for the semester. For sporting events, please provide me
with the appropriate documentation from your coach or athletic advisor.
b. For every medically-necessary absence from class, a reasonable effort should be made to notify
me in advance. If absent more than one time, please bring documentation signed by a health care
professional to corroborate the reason. If you are absent on days when tests are scheduled or
papers are due, you are required to notify me and, upon returning to class, bring documentation
of the illness signed by a health care provider.
5. In the case of a University closing due to inclement weather, students should check their email for
notification of how class will proceed. In the case of an extended campus closure, we will continue to
follow the course outline as much as possible. Information on continuing course requirements will be
posted on ELMS and disseminated by email. Students are responsible for all assignments and course
work during this time. If both ELMS and the University-maintained email server become unavailable
during a campus closure, the course content will be shortened as needed and grades will be assigned on
this basis as necessary. If the closure is extended, it is possible that the University will institute formal
policies to deal with the situation.
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Grade Breakdown:
Class participation: 15%*
Midterm Exam: 15%
Sequence Analysis 15%
Video Essay: 25%
Final Paper: 30%
*This includes participation in class, discussion posts, quizzes and other work not specified on this syllabus.
Paper:
You will upload a copy of your paper to ELMS. Make sure to keep copies of your work or back it up with a
thumb drive in case of file corruptions or lost submissions. Please use the most recent edition of MLA to format
your paper. Use 12-point font, one-inch margins and please include a title, date, and the instructor’s name.
Schedule of Screenings and Readings:
NOTE: The syllabus is subject to change. I will post any updates to ELMS under the Announcements tab. It is
YOUR responsibility to keep track of these announcements. Screenings and readings are to be done for the day
they are listed so that you can come into class ready to apply readings to the films watched.
Week 1: Introduction
(M) August 31: Course Overview and Introductions; film terminology
(W) September 2: Art Cinema vs. World Cinema
Readings: Bordwell, “Art Cinema as a Mode of Practice” (ELMS)
Dennison & Lim, “Situating world cinema as a theoretical problem” (ELMS)
(F) September 4: Origins of Film – Hollywood & France
Readings: Bordwell & Thompson, “Early Cinema,” pp 462- 466 (ELMS) & World on Film, pp. 28-31.
In-class Viewing: Assorted "actualitiés" (France. 1895-1905. August and Louis Lumière); A Trip to the Moon
(France. 1902. Georges Méliès); Examples of early Edison Films (US. 1892 -1900)
Week 2: Expressionism and its Specters
(M) September 7: Labor Day
(W) September 9: Readings: WOF 108-123
Viewing: Nosferatu (Germany. 1922, Murnau)
(F) September 11 (Th): The Impact on Hollywood
Readings: Vieria, “The German Influence” (ELMS)
In-class viewing: excerpts of Frankenstein (USA. 1931. James Whale)
Week 3: Culture Clash and Soviet Montage
(M) September 14: What is Montage?
Readings: Readings: WOF 71-91
(W) September 16: Montage with a Marxist Message
Readings: WOF 93-107
Viewing: The Battleship Potemkin (1925. Eisenstein) [PN1997.P68 1998b]
(F) September 18: Kinopravda
Vertov, Kino-eye (ELMS)
In-class excerpts: The Man with a Movie Camera (1929. Vertov)
Week 4: Experimental Film
(M) September 21: Group Presentation & Impressionism
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Readings: Bordwell & Thompson, “French Impressionism & Surrealism” (ELMS)
In-class excerpt: The Smiling Madame Beudet (1923, Dulac)
(W) September 23: Surrealism
Readings: WOF 292-306
Un Chien Andalou (France/Spain. 1929. Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali)
Destino (France/USA. 2003. Dominique Monfery).
(F) September 25: Avant-Garde
Readings: Chapter 17, “The Global Art of Found Footage,” (ELMS)
In-class viewing: Ballet mécanique (Austria. 1924. Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy)
Passage à l’acte (France. 1996. Francis Girod)
Week 5: Samurai vs. Shingeki*** (May change this – depending if it will work out with Lelan’s schedule)
(M) September 28: Readings: WOF 196-223
Viewing: Rashomon (1950. Akira Kurosawa)
(W) September 30: Video Essay Workshop
Readings: Corrigan & White, “Writing a film essay” (ELMS)
(F) October 2: Video Essay Workshop
Week 6: Neorealism & Post Neorealism
(M) October 5: In-class Film Essay Festival
(W) October 7: Neorealism
Readings: WOF 151-173
Viewing: Rome, Open City (1946, Rossellini)
(F) October 9: Group Presentation & Post-Neorealism
Readings: WOF 175-193
In class excerpts: La Dolce Vida (1961, Fellini)
Week 7: Parallel Cinema & Bollywood
(M) October 12: Parallel Cinema
Readings: WOF 238-256
Viewing: Pather Panchali (1955. Satyajit Ray)
(W) October 14: Bollywood
Readings: WOF pp. 258-270
In-class excerpts from Bombay (1995, Ratnam)
(F) October 16: Mid Term Exam
Week 8: New Wave Cinema
(M) October 19: Group Presentation & French New Wave
Readings: WOF 49-68
In-class excerpts: Cleo de 5 à 7 (1962, Varda)
(W) October 21: Troubling the Male Gaze
Readings: Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (ELMS)
Viewing: Breathless (France. 1960. Jean-Luc Godard) [PN1997.A23 2007]
(F) October 23: Rippling Outward
In-class excerpts: A Taste of Honey (UK. 1961, Richardson), Fireman’s Ball (Czechoslovakia. 1967, Forman),
Fear Eats the Soul Up (Germany. 1974, Fassbinder)
Week 9: Post-Colonial Cinema
(M) October 26: “Third Cinema”
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Readings: Jameson, “Third World Literature in the Era of Multinational Capitalism” (ELMS)
(W) October 28: Group Presentation & Senegalese Cinema
Readings: WOF, pp. 280-89, 355-362
In class excerpts: Barom Sarret/The Wagon Driver (Senegal. 1963. Ousmane Sembène)
(F) October 30: Politics and Gender
Readings: WOF 362- 375
Viewing: Moolaadé (Senegal. 2004. Ousmane Sembène) [PN1997.2.M685 2005]
Week 10: Finding National Identity in a Global Village: Brazil
(M) November 2: Group Presentation & Cinema Novo
Reading: Johnson, “Post-Cinema Novo Brazilian Cinema” (ELMS)
(W) November 4: Family Crises
Reading: Deborah Shaw, “National Identity and the Family” (ELMS)
Viewing: Central Station (1998. Walter Salles)
(F) November 6: Children & Violence
In-class excerpts: City of God (2002. Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund)
Week 11: Swedish Cinema & Dogme 95
(M) November 9: Ingmar Bergman
Readings: WOF, pp 315-322
In-class excerpts: Through a Glass Darkly (1961, Bergman)
(W) November 11: Group Presentation & Dogme 95
Reading: Linda Badley, “Danish Dogma” (ELMS)
Viewing: The Idiots (Denmark. 1998. Lars von Trier)
(F) November 13: An American Response
Readings: Britt, “Dogme 95 and disabled identity on film” (ELMS)
In-class excerpts: julien donkey-boy (USA. 1999. Harmony Korine –uncredited)
Week 12: Finding National Identity in a Global Village: Iran
(M) November 16: Exploring Iranian Cinema
Readings: Mottahedeh, “New Iranian Cinema” (ELMS)
In-class excerpts: The Color of Paradise (1999, Majidi)
(W) November 18: The Significance of Film Festivals
Readings: Farahmand, “Disentangling the International Film Circuit…” (ELMS)
In-class excerpts: A Taste of Cherry (2007, Kiarostami)
(F) November 20: Childhood amidst War
Readings: Erfani, “Deafening Silence: Bahman Ghobadi’s Turtles Can Fly and Marginal Politics” (ELMS)
Viewing: Turtles Can Fly (2004. Bahman Ghobadi)
Week 13: Fairy Tales and Fascism
(M) November 23: Mental Escapism
Readings: Atkinson, “Moral Horrors in Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth”
Viewing: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, del Toro)
(W) November 25: Paper Conferences
(F) November 27: Thanksgiving Break
Week 14: Animation
(M) November 30: Disney
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Reading: Bordwell & Thompson, “Animated Films” (ELMS)
In-class excerpts: Snow White (1937, Cottrell et. al) & Steamboat Willie (1928, Iwerks)
(W) December 2: Manga
Readings: Shiro Yoshioka, “Heart of Japaneseness…” (ELMS)
Viewing: Spirited Away (Japan. 2001. Hayao Miyazaki)
(F) December 4: Graphic Novels and Film
Readings: Hamid, “Persepolis,” Cineaste (ELMS)
In class excerpts: Persepolis (France. 2007. Paronnaud & Satrapi)
Final Paper due Friday, December 4th by 11:59 PM (ELMS)
Week 15: Globalization and Transnational Cinema
(M) December 7: Transnational Cinema
Readings: Elizabeth Ezra, “What is Transnational Cinema” (ELMS)
(W) December 9: Application
Readings: Shaw, “Babel and the Global Hollywood Gaze” (ELMS)
Viewing: Babel (France/USA/Mexico. 2006, Alejandro González Iñárritu)
(F) December 11: Review for final Exam
Final Exam: December 18th at 8:00 – 10:00 AM
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