Course Description
A historical survey of cinema and related audio(visual) media,
including radio, television, and digital media, in Latin
America. The course traces the role played by cinema and media
in nation-building in Latin American countries as well as the
relationship between film aesthetics, politics, and
globalization.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be required to read additional essays
from a supplemental reading list. Each graduate student will be
responsible for presenting two mini-lectures, each on a selected
reading, to the class. They will also complete a research paper
of 15-20 pages. Note: There is currently 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
Lat Am Film/Med
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in FILM 4640I, LACS 4640I or FILM 6640I, LACS 6640I
Semester Course Offered
Offered every even-numbered year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- By the end of the course, students should be able to identify and explain broad trends of regional development in Latin American cinema and media, considering economic, aesthetic, and political factors.
- By the end of the class, students should be able to explain how and why particular national cinemas and individual films deviate from these broad trends.
- By the end of the class, students should be able to develop and support hypotheses about how filmmakers viewed their work in relation to national, regional, and/or global contexts.
- By the end of the class, students should be able to write a clear, persuasive research paper that shows their ability to write a detailed visual analysis of a film text that takes into account social and historical context.
Topical Outline
- UNIT 1 – FROM THE SILENT ERA TO NATIONAL INDUSTRIES
Week 1 – Cinema and the Idea of Latin America
Week 2: Silent Cinema and Modernity in Latin America
Week 3: Radio and the Transition to Sound in Argentina
Week 4: The “Golden Age” of Mexican Cinema
UNIT 2 – NEW LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA AND POLITICS
Week 5: From Critical Realism to Political Modernism in Brazil
Week 6: Cinema and Revolution in Cuba
Week 7: Experimental Documentary in Argentina
Week 8: Film and the Return to Democracy in Argentina
UNIT 3 – LATIN AMERICAN FILM AND MEDIA IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Week 9: A “Rebirth” (Retomada) for Brazilian Cinema– Globalized, Commercial Aesthetics
Week 10: Latin American Cinema on the Festival Circuit – Funding and Politics
Week 11 – Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Contemporary Latin American Film
Week 12 – New Media in Latin America: Videogames
Week 13 - Latin American TV Networks: National Monopolies, Transnational Reach
Week 14 – Film Genre and Publics in a Neoliberal Age
Institutional Competencies
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
