FI940-30 Contemporary Latin American Cinema
Introductory description
n/a
Module aims
This module will offer an exploration of contemporary Latin American cinemas through a detailed focus on a selection of national contexts (which may include Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, for example). By charting the industrial, financial, aesthetic and cultural specificities of these cinemas since the early 2000s, the module will explore the way in which they fluctuate between the poles of the national and the transnational, and the local and the global. In so doing, the module will utilise such cinemas as a way of unpacking and reflecting on a wide range of questions and ideas, including:
representations of national history and contemporary issues, transnational modes of funding and address, global
circuits of distribution and exhibition, and questions of national and regional (i.e. Latin American) identity. Films
studied will encompass a range of traditions, genres and styles, including popular film, art cinema and documentaries.
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.
- develop independent critical thinking and the capacity to analyse related films and themes beyond those studied 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,
- • 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
Study time
Type | Required |
---|---|
Lectures | 9 sessions of 1 hour (3%) |
Seminars | 9 sessions of 1 hour (3%) |
Other activity | 27 hours (9%) |
Private study | 255 hours (85%) |
Total | 300 hours |
Private study description
Reading, viewing, seminar preparation, essay preparation and writing.
Other activity description
Screenings
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group A
Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
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6000 word essay | 100% | Yes (extension) | |
This essay is designed to enable students to demonstrate the skills that they have developed in |
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Reassessment component is the same |
Feedback on assessment
Detailed written feedback will be given on the essay, along with individual tutorials before submission and after
grading.
There is currently no information about the courses for which this module is core or optional.