Spring 2014, CairoThematic Course
World Cinema
Course details
- Cycle
- Spring 2014, Cairo
- Taught in
- English
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“Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.” —Ingmar Bergman
About the course
Do you like watching films and talking about them? Then this course is for you. Cinema dominates our lives in ways like no other art form does. Cinema has come a long way as a collective of inventions, some of which were intentional and others that were accidental. The course tries to trace development of cinema from its early days of static images to the current status as an advanced entertainment industry. The course sheds light on two primary themes: the evolution of cinema as an art and the diverse nature of world cinema. The first theme charts the evolution of cinema starting from still images, through the phases of Silent Cinema, Sound Cinema and Modern Cinema. The associated technical and artistic changes cinema has gone through will be explored through selected films. The second theme of world cinema would explore the films made in different parts of the world and how they have shaped and are shaping cinema through their content, forms and techniques. The theme shall be explored through films from Hollywood, European films, Asian films and African films. The course is centred on the screening of selected films as part of the sessions and some selected readings followed by discussions. The course will culminate in the organisation of a film festival!
The objectives of this course are as follows:
To introduce the evolution of cinema from its early days to today
To explore how cinema evolved as an art form
To learn about the diversity of cinema though films from around the world
To discuss the industrial nature of cinema, studios and economics of entertainment
To be able to critically appreciate film as a cultural entity
Who teaches it
Raju Hittalamani was Media Associate at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) in Bangalore prior to joining CILAS. He completed a graduate degree in Media and Cultural Studies at the School of Media and Cultural Studies at Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai. Raju is trained as a documentary film-maker and researcher in the field of media and cultural studies producing remarkable insight into the Indian public sphere, media representation of community identities and expressions of resistance. Previously he had been a visiting student at Sciences Po Paris where he followed coursework in International Affairs. Raju has worked in the field of education both with and at public and private schools in India. At CILAS, Raju serves as Media Lab Director and coordinates coursework in Arts and Culture.
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