Course Description
A survey of feminist film criticism and theory, as well as the valuable contributions of key women directors.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Students will be required to read the full run of the feminist film journal CAMERA OBSCURA, will be assigned brief summaries of specific issues, and will make short presentations on development of feminist film studies as seen from CAMERA OBSCURA'S perspective. A 15-page research paper is required. Note: There is no graduate degree in Film Studies; hence the graduate students come from a wide range of departments and programs, often with little training in film.
Athena Title
Women and Film
Prerequisite
FILM 2120
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Women and Film introduces students to the history and criticism of feminist theory and filmmaking. European and American critics, historians, and directors are studied for how feminist practice and theory have developed. Exemplary films by women directors are evaluated in relation to their historical and critical contexts, giving students a working understanding of the issues at stake within writing about films as well as making them from a feminist perspective.
Topical Outline
I. Women and Film: Early European Women Directors A. Germaine Dulac and French Impressionism B. Leni Riefenstahal: Aesthetics, Ideology, Politics II. Classical Era Hollywood and its Alternative A. Dorothy Arzner as Test Case B. Maya Deren and the Avant-Garde III. Radical Feminist Film Practice A. Chantal Akerman's Counter-Cinema B. Margarethe von Trotta and New German Cinema C. Feminist Theory and Narratives 1. Marleen Gorris 2. Jennie Livingston IV: Feminism and Independent Cinema A. Nancy Savoca and Female Perspective B. Sally Potter and Feminist Literary Adaptation C. Julie Dash and African American Representations D. Jane Campion's Romances E. Maggie Greenwald Reworks Genre
Syllabus