| Course Description |
In this course, we will consider French-language cinema as an inherently global
phenomenon, which stems both from the transnational nature of the medium itself, and the
legacy of the former French empire. From the very beginning, the Lumière brothers sent
cameramen and projectionists to faraway locations—from India to Indochina, or from Mexico to
Morocco. If early French ethnographic and narrative cinema functioned as a form of soft power,
by the mid-20 th -century, filmmakers were on the frontlines of anti-colonial militantism,
documenting, for instance, the horrors of the Algerian War. In the wake of decolonization, great
African directors tackled the challenges of emergent nations, as well as the complex neocolonial
networks that kept them tied to European metropoles. Today, filmmakers from around the
world—from Iran to Cambodia—turn to live-action film and animation in French—despite their
complicated relationships to both the language and France’s former empire. This course will
include units on: ethnography and docufiction; colonial and anticolonial cinema; historical
violence and memory; banlieue, beur, and Black identities; and emergent queer filmmakers.
Taught in English, with films in French (and other languages) with English subtitles. Required
readings will be available in English, with some optional readings in French for French majors
and minors. Satisfies the Global Core requirement. Students may receive credit for the French
major / minor if they submit their papers in French.
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