FIL-30009 - Module Specification
School of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

World Cinemas in the 21st Century explores global filmmaking in a post-9/11 world, asking what does it mean to live and make art in globalized, interconnected, but often divided planet. The module will introduce students to films and filmmaking styles from around the world, while paying attention to how these works interact with and sometimes inform mainstream Hollywood forms. The films studied use exciting and innovative filmic techniques to address some of the most pressing concerns in the world today: conflict, terrorism, migration and borders, climate change, cities, global inequality, gender, and identity. We will ask question like: how does film represent injustice and violence? Can films ethically capture the lives of others, who may be very different to ourselves? What does it mean to look at the suffering of others in visual media?
The module will pay attention to both the genres of the films presented, including science fiction, satire and comedy, fantasy, and action, as well as their themes. Students will be presented with an eclectic and diverse range of readings that probe some of the most pressing issues of life as a global citizen in the 21st century, drawn from film studies as well as media, politics, philosophy and the visual arts.
Linking film analysis to media and politics, students will gain a theoretical grounding in issues around contemporary world film and global audiences, as well as interrogating their own personal responses to the texts presented. Students will examine journalism and media images and photography alongside these films, to consider the role that media representation plays in our understanding of global identities in the 21st century. Specific texts on the module may include: Children of Men (2002), City of God (2002), Pan¿s Labyrinth (2006), The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), Waltz with Bachir (2006), Omar (2013), Timbuktu (2014), and Parasite (2019).

This module will:
1. Allow students to examine the relationship between film, national histories, and contemporary political events
2. Develop students' understanding of cinemas that represent war, decolonisation, terrorism, migration, and immigration in the 21st century
3. Introduce students to the connections between photography, cinematic, and media images of conflict
4. Allow students to study the generic and stylistic features of contemporary world cinemas
5. Encourage critical analysis of cinematic and theoretical material and reflection on the practice of criticism

Intended Learning Outcomes

demonstrate an understanding of issues of global production and distribution trends as they pertain to film: 2
demonstrate an understanding of and ability to apply key concepts in contemporary theory
: 1,2
demonstrate an understanding of historical and political issues and apply understanding to film analysis
: 1,2
critically engage with different registers of image, such as photographs, animation, fiction, both standard genre films and less familiar film-making traditions: 1,2
1,2

Study hours

24 hours - seminars
15 hours - preparing presentation
32 hours - working on essay
24 hours - watching films
55 hours - seminar preparation (reading)

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment