AJ57011 Topics in Culture: Film

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2010
Extent and Intensity
0/0/0. 10 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Timetable
Fri 10:00–11:35 G32
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course focuses on selected feature films made by major Canadian filmmakers during the last third of the 20th century. Students taking the course will get acquainted with ten key films that in their day represented notable artistic achievements and have remained an integral part of the canon of Canadian cinema ever since. During the course students will learn about various problems Canadian filmmakers are facing when confronted with their mighty Hollywood competition and they will assess the opportunities such a marginal position paradoxically represents. Cutting across a variety of genres, the selected films also invite thinking about a variety of wider contextual aspects. In other words studnets will be lead to understand not only the films as such, but also a variety of social, political and institutional issues that the films result from and reflect. A no less important aim of the course is to provide the course participants with a theoretical framework for a better understanding and appreciation of the film medium.
Syllabus
  • Program: Session: 1. Shebib - Going Down the Road (1970) Jutra - Mon Oncle Antoine (1971) (accessible online at www.nfb.ca) Recommended: Owen – Nobody Waved Goodbye (www.nfb.ca) 2. Egoyan - Family Viewing (1987) Rozema - I Have Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987) 3. Cronenberg – Videodrome (1983) Scott - Strangers in Good Company (1990) (www.nfb.ca) 4. Arcand - Decline of the American Empire (1986) Girard - 32 Short Films about Glenn Gould (1993) 5. Krishna – Masala (1991) Kunuk – Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner (2001)
Literature
  • MELNYK, George. One hundred years of Canadian cinema. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004, x, 361. ISBN 0802084443. info
  • Canada's best features : critical essays on 15 Canadian films. Edited by Eugene P. Walz. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2002, xxxv, 383. ISBN 9042012099. info
  • GITTINGS, Christopher E. Canadian national cinema : ideology, difference and representation. 1st ed. London: Routledge, 2002, ix, 338 s. ISBN 0-415-14281-4. info
Teaching methods
The course is based on individual preparation (watching the selected film films and regular reading), as well as regular seminar attendance. All students wishing to successfully complete the course are expected to view all the main items on the viewing list, read all the assigned reading, and actively participate in the discussions in class.
Assessment methods
The grade is based on the studnets' performance in class (in-class quizzes or response papers, involvement in discussions - 40%) and on the result of the written exam (60%). Students who miss more than one session automatically fail the class.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 5x2.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2012, Spring 2015, Spring 2017, Spring 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2010, recent)
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