FAVh015 Cinema of Hong Kong

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2019
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Jiří Flígl (lecturer), Mgr. Šárka Jelínek Gmiterková, Ph.D. (deputy)
Mgr. Jana Čuprová (assistant)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Šárka Jelínek Gmiterková, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Thu 26. 9. to Thu 21. 11. each odd Thursday 15:00–18:50 C34; and Thu 28. 11. 15:00–18:50 C34
Prerequisites
There are none.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 18 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course focuses on postwar Hongkong cinema - as a specific phenomenon, as a studio system and as a commercial cinema with distinct authorial and local tendencies. The lectures will explore the central topic of local identity and how it is translated into the commercial output in Hongkong; and also the issue of ties between China and Hongkong on multiple levels (political, social and cultural).
These lectures complement the compulsory course on the history of world cinemas after the year 1945 (FAVBPa09).
Learning outcomes
Student will be able to:
- identify key aspects of the cinema of Hongkong in the sphere production, individual auteurs and aesthetics
- identify main auteurs, their major films and general tendencies in Honkgong cinema (both contemporary as well as from a historical perspective)
- compare film and television audiovisual production
Syllabus
  • Lecture 1
  • - Establishing Hongkong cinema and creating its specific local identity. Ties and relations with Chinese cinema and the phenomenon of Cantonese films.
  • Lecture 2
  • - Studio system and the competition between Cathay and Shaw Brothers studios in the 1960s. Modern studios emerging in the 1970s, tied with individual auteurs and stars.
  • Lectue 3 - Hongkong new wave in the 1980s - both in cinema as well as in television - and its subsequent assimilation into the middlebrow culture.
  • Lecture 4
  • The golden era of Hongkong cinema in the 1980s and early 1990s. Main companies, creators and stars. Genre production and its success on the international video market.
  • Lecture 5
  • Cinema in the shadow of the handover of Hongkong to China.
  • Lecture 6
  • Hongkong cinema post 1997 and its polarisation on local film versus Chinese coproductions.
Literature
  • Poshek Fu and David Desser (eds.)(2000): The Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
  • Stephen Teo (1997): Hong Kong Cinema: The Extra Dimensions. London: BFI.
  • Esther C.M.Yau (ed.)(2001): Hong Kong Cinema in a Borderless World. University of Minnesota Press: Mineapolis and London.
  • Yingjin Zhang (2004): Chinese National Cinema. London: Routledge.
  • Lisa Odham Stokes and Michael Hoover (1999): City on Fire: Hong Kong Cinema. London and New York: Verso.
  • Hong Kong new wave cinema (1978-2000). Edited by Botang Zhuo. Chicago, USA: Intellect, 2008, 262 p. ISBN 1841501484. info
  • BORDWELL, David. Planet Hong Kong : popular cinema and the art of entertainment. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000, xii, 329. ISBN 0674002148. info
Teaching methods
The course consists of 6 lectures, followed by screenings.
Both lectures and screenings are scheduled for Thursdays from 15:00 to 18:50 on the following dates: September 26th, October 10th, October 24th, November 11th, November 21st and November 28th.
Assessment methods
Written essay on any film produced in Hong Kong after 1945. The paper should be at leas 5 pages (cca 1300 words) long.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
Teacher's information
Jiri Fligl has finished the Higher School of Journalism and during his following studies at the Film History and Theory department at the Charles University in Prague, through his interest in Far East cinema, he began working for film festivals. In 2006 he started working for Febiofest as a Section Programmer. In the following years he was collaborating with Fresh Film Fest, Karlovy Vary IFF, Filmasia the Summer Film School and The Shockproof Film Festival. He published articles, reviews and essays about cinema, TV series and videogames in the print magazines Cinepur, A2, E15 and online at Aktualne.cz. He co-funded and contributed to Rejze.cz, the online site dedicated to Asian films. Between 2010 and 2018 he was working as Programming Editor in the department of Film and TV Acquisitions at the public broadcaster Ceska televize. Since 2017 he is doing content editing and Czech dubbing approvals for Cartoon Network EMEA. As the Programme Director he was working on the first edition of Serial Killer, the international TV series festival in Brno. Since September 2018 he is the Manager and Programmer of Kino Aero, the repertory cinema in Prague.
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