Introductory description

n/a

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Indicative screenings: City of God (Cidade de Deus, Fernando Meirelles & Katia Lund, 2002); The Second Mother (Que horas ela volta?, Anna Muylaert, 2015); Nannies (Consuelo Lins, 2010); Battle in Heaven (Batalla en el cielo, Carlos Reygadas, 2004); Roma (Alfonso Cuáron, 2018); La ciénaga (Lucrecia Martel, 2001); XXY (Lucía Puenzo, 2008); Wild Tales (Ralatos salvajes, Damián Szifron, 2014).

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• situate the contemporary cinemas of the case studies within their respective national contexts as related to the socio-political, cultural and cinematic histories of the selected countries.
• situate the contemporary cinemas of the case studies within a regional (i.e. Latin American) and international frame of reference, including global film trends and culture.
• understand how national and transnational modes of funding currently interact with each other and have an impact on film form and aesthetics.
• describe and analyse contemporary Latin American cinemas in terms of their cultural, political, thematic and aesthetic resonances.
• offer critical, in-depth and contextually-informed textual analyses of the films explored on the module.

Indicative reading list

• Cynthia Tompkins (2013) Experimental Latin American Cinema: History and Aesthetics. Austin: University of Texas Press.
• Deborah Shaw (2003) Contemporary Cinema of Latin America: Ten Key Films. New York and London: Continuum. .
• Lisa Shaw and Stephanie Dennison, (2007) Brazilian National Cinema. Abingdon and New York: Routledge.
• Lúcia Nagib (2007) Brazil on Screen: Cinema Novo, New Cinema, Utopia (London and New York: I. B. Tauris).
• Stephanie Dennison and Lisa Shaw, Popular Cinema in Brazil (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004)
• Deborah Martin & Deborah Shaw (2017) ‘Introduction’ in Deborah Martin and Deborah Shaw (eds) Latin American Women Filmmakers (London/New York: I.B. Tauris).
  Maria M. Delgado et al. (eds, 2017) A Companion to Latin American Cinema (Chichester: Wiley and Sons).
• Luisela Alvaray (2017) ‘Transnational Networks of Financing and Distribution’ in Marvin D’Lugo, Ana M. López & Laura Podalsky (eds) The Routledge Companion to Latin American Cinema, pp. 251-265.
• Tatiana Signorelli Heise (2012) Remaking Brazil: Contested National Identities in Contemporary Brazilian Cinema. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
• Juan Poblete (2004), ‘New National Cinemas in a Transnational Age’, Discourse 26.1&2.
• Debora Shaw (2013), The Three Amigos: The Transnational Filmmaking of Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro González Iñarritú and Alfonso Cuáron (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
• Dolores Tierney (2018) New Transnationalisms in Contemporary Latin American Cinemas (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press).
• Gonzalo Aguilar (2008), New Argentine Film: Other Worlds (New York: Palgrave)
• Joanna Page (2009) Crisis and Capitalism in Contemporary Argentine Cinema (Durham and London: Duke University Press).

Research element

Students will have to write an essay that will involve research into concepts, contexts and texts.

Subject specific skills

This module will develop skills of audio-visual literacy, through close textual and/or contextual analysis in relation to the moving image and sound. It will also develop understandings of historical, theoretical and conceptual frameworks
relevant to screen arts and cultures.

Transferable skills

• critical and analytical thinking in relation
• independent research skills
• intercultural skills
• team work
• clarity and effectiveness of communication, oral and written
• accurate, concise and persuasive writing
• audio-visual literacy