Film Art in a Global Society

Film Art in a Global Society

CMLT 280: Section 0101

Fall 2016

Instructor:Sara FaradjiClass Time: MWF 12:00-12:50pm

Email:Class Location: HBK 1108

Office Location: TWS 2210Office Hours: W 4:00-5:00pm

Course Description

Welcome to CMLT 280 at the University of Maryland.In this course, our aim is to learn more about international cultures, societal conflicts, and artistic techniques—all through the medium of film. Throughout the semester, we will watch award-winning feature films, documentaries, and shorts that reveal compelling insights about people from across the globe. While numerous global filmmakers expand upon recognizable Hollywood film tropes, you will see how they also cultivate particular styles that are unique to national artistic or political movements. Whether you are a foreign film expert or novice, I hope that you will find this class to be informative.

This class satisfies two General Education requirements, both for History/Theory of the Arts and for Human Cultural Diversity. Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Demonstrate familiarity with fundamental terminology and concepts in the study of global cinema.
• Demonstrate critical thinking in the evaluation of approaches and techniques in the study of global cinema.
• Describe how language use is related to ways of thinking, cultural heritage, and cultural values in the area of global cinema.
• Understand how films highlight social inequality and influence social change.
• Analyze forms and traditions of thought in global film, as they relate to cultural, historical, political, and social contexts.
• Understand how films stage multicultural, multilingual, and transnational encounters that demand comparative and intersectional frameworks for analysis.
• Make use of information technologies, including databases and a course discussion board, to communicate research findings and critical film analyses.

Required Readings

Required Text: World on Film: An Introduction by Martha P. Nochimson.ISBN:9781405139793

-Please note that this book is also available as a free e-book on the UMD library database.

Other required readings are available on ELMS:

Course Policies and Procedures

Participation and Attendance:Your grade will be assessed based on your active participation in class, as well as on the written assignments that are, in part, based on class discussions. If you miss or arrive late to class, please provide a university-approved excuse. More than four unexcused absences or excessive tardies will result in a lowered participation grade.To earn weekly participation points, you are expected to moderately contribute to class discussions.

Emergency Protocol: If the university is unexpectedly closed due to inclement weather, I will send an email as soon as possible to communicate any assignment and schedule changes.

Late Work:Papers and discussion board assignments are due on the date and time designated on the course syllabus, regardless of whether you attend class or have an excused absence. All assignments should be submitted electronically on our Canvas page. Late papers will be marked down one letter grade per day late, including weekends.

Paper Format:Please include double-spacing, 12-point fonts, and standard MLA citation formats in all written assignments that you submit.

Advising: Please stop by during my walk-in office hours to discuss assignments or class procedures. I recommend that you meet with me at least once. If my office hours conflict with your schedule, I am happy to schedule another meeting time. I also suggest that you consider visiting UMD’s Writing Center:

Electronics Policy:You may use your laptop or tablet to take notes, but please close these devices or sit in the back row when we are screening films.

Academic Integrity: Plagiarism, whether it is submitting someone else’s work as your own, submitting your own work completed for another class without my permission, or otherwise violating the University’s code of Academic Integrity, will not be tolerated. The university’s policies regarding academic integrity can be found here: Additionally, please note that class lectures and readings are copyrighted; they may not be reproduced for anything other than personal use without written permission from the instructor.

Accessibility Statement:I aim to provide a class atmosphere that encourages the equitable participation and success of all students. If there are circumstances that may affect your performance in this class, please let me know. We can develop strategies for adapting assignments to meet both your needs and the course requirements. Information about Learning Assistance Services or Disability Support Services can be found at or Additionally, to report and/or obtain an academic accommodation resulting from a violent misconduct incident, you may contact the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Conduct at 301-405-1142 or visit for more information.

Grading Policy

The percentages of contribution to your final grade are as follows:

Class Participation / 25%
Discussion Board Posts / 25%
Film Review / 10%
Comparative Genre Analysis / 15%
Final Exam Paper / 25%

For each writing assignment, I will assess the extent to which your paper satisfies use the following criteria to evaluate your work:

A / Outstanding work. The paper demonstrates originality and initiative in interpreting films and in asserting a strong argument. The writer also succeeds in summarizing and incorporating relevant critical/theoretical texts. The writing is concise and appropriate for the audience,all information is well-organized and clearly formatted, and there are few (if any) issues with grammar or mechanics.
B / Good work. The paper generally succeeds in its appeal to a particular audience, establishment of a clear and effective argument, and interpretation of films and critical texts. The writer could make minorimprovements in content, organization,or style.
C / Satisfactory work. The paper is adequate in all respects, but requires some substantial revisions of content, organization, and/or style. For example, central ideas may be apparent, but they could lack sufficient commentary, analysis, or documentation.
D / Unsatisfactory work. The paper generally requires extensive revisions of content, organization, and/or style. The writer has encountered significant problems with regard to audience, argumentation, interpretation, and critical thinking principles.
F / Failing work. The paperlacks sufficient information, appears inappropriate with regards to the assignment guidelines, or is plagiarized to an extent. The writing may contain major, persistent problems in terms of content, organization, or stylethat considerably distract or confuse the reader.

Revision Policy:If you are unhappy with your initial grade or simply wish to improve your paper, you may rewrite the first assignment (film review). I will expect substantive revisions not only to grammatical concerns, but also to content and organization. If you choose to rewrite your paper, I will take the higher grade. Revisions should be submitted via Canvas in the same assignment category as the first submission. Although this revision policy will not apply for any other major writing assignments, I encourage you to consult with me or a Writing Center tutor to review essays before the submission deadlines.

Course Assignments:

Discussion Board Posts:We will use our Canvas discussion board page to engage with assigned films and readings. During the first week of class, you will be assigned three 300-500-word posts to complete for select films throughout the semester. Your post may respond to one of the several optional prompts that I provide. On weeks that you are not assigned to write a post, you will be required to write a brief 100-200-word comment on others’ posts. Think of the discussion board as a place to generate class conversation material.

Film Review: This assignment requires you to compose a 2-3-page critical review of one of the first five films discussed in class (Black Girl, Salaam Bombay!, Life is Beautiful, Nosferatu the Vampyre, or Princess Mononoke). Imagine yourself as a popular film critic for a publication such as the New York Times or the Guardian. You may refer to or cite existing reviews and film festival blurbs. You will be assessed on how well you (1) state a compelling argument that you support throughout, (2) provide brief yet relevant background information on the film director, (3) summarize and analyze key details for your intended audience of popular readers, (4) sustain a focused critique on 1-2 key scenes or ideas, and (5) keep your writing concise.

Genre Analysis: In this assignment, you will compose a 4-5-page analysis on how one particular film meets, challenges, and transcends the stylistic and narrative “requirements” of one or more cinematic genres, as you understand them. You may choose to focus your analysis on any of the five most recent films discussed in class (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Host, City of God, Waltz with Bashir, or Taxi).I encourage you to reference our course readings, as well as other relevant sources, as you cultivate your argument. You will be assessed on how well you (1) state a clear argument that you support throughout, (2) provide background information on how you understand and define a particular genre, (3) summarize and analyze particular film scenes and artistic techniques that help you confirm your argument, and (4) write in clear, concise prose.

Final Exam Paper:In this final assignment, you will be asked to compose a 5-7-page research paper that analyzes how at least one film contributes to your understanding of world cinema. One film that you focus on in your analysis must be from our final class unit on transnational film (Whores’ Glory, Sin Nombre, Mountains May Depart, Chinese Puzzle, or Babel).Referencing some of our course readings, as well as additional sources, you will consider how your chosen filmexpands upon and/or challenges conceptions of national and world cinema. You will be assessed on how well you (1) state a clear and unique argument, (2) integrate a variety of scholarly and popular sources into your analysis, (3) provide relevant background information on established conceptions of national and world cinema(s), and (4) maintain a clear, concise writing style that appeals to an academic audience.

Course Calendar:

The following schedule is subject to change. Assignments are due on the day that they appear.

WoF: World on Film by Martha P. Nochimson

Day / Film Screening / Reading Due / Assignment Due
Week 1
Day 1
M 8-29 / Introductions; Discuss Syllabus and Assignment Sequence
Day 2
W 8-31 / Unit One: Global Auteurs
Senegalese Postcolonial Film
In-class screening: Black Girl| Dir. Ousmane Sembène | Senegal/France | 1966 | 65 min. / WoF “Introduction,” 2-16 (ebook 20-50)
Day 3
F 9-2 / Continue in-class screening: Black Girl / WoF “Ch. 10: Senegal: Ousmane Sembène, Postcolonial Pioneer,”359-370 (ebook 701-722)
Virtue, “Le film de...: Self-Adaptation in the Film Version of Ousmane Sembène’s La Noire de…” (ELMS)
M 9-5 / Labor Day—NO CLASS
Week 2
Day 4
W 9-7 / Hindi Drama
Salaam Bombay! | Dir. Mira Nair | India | 1988 | 113 min. / WoF “Ch. 6: India: Cinema of Combination and Contradiction,” 247-256 (ebook 488-505)
Roy, “Seeing is not believing” (ELMS) / Group A Discussion Board Posts Due
Day 5
F 9-9 / Partial in-class screening:Slumdog Millionaire | Dir. Danny Boyle | United Kingdom | 2008 | 120 min. / Dennison & Lim, “Situating World Cinema as a Theoretical Problem” (ELMS)
Week 3
Day 6
M 9-12 / Italian Neorealism and Tragicomedy
Life is Beautiful | Dir. Roberto Benigni | Italy | 1997 | 116 min. / WoF “Ch. 4: Italy: The Myth of History, Neorealism, and Beyond,” 182-193 (ebook 365-385) / Group B Discussion Board Posts Due
Day 7
W 9-14 / Ben-Ghiat, “The Secret Histories of Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful” (ELMS)
Day 8
F 9-16 / Partial in-class screening: The Great Dictator | Dir. Charlie Chaplin | USA | 1940 | 124 min. / Sherman, “Humor, Resistance, and the Abject” (ELMS)
Week 4
Day 9
M 9-19 / German Expressionism
Nosferatu the Vampyre | Dir. Werner Herzog | West Germany | 1979 | 107 min. / Prawer, “Melancholy Vampire” & “Mysterious Journey” (ELMS) / Group C Discussion Board Posts Due
Day 10
W 9-21 / Partial in-class screening:Burden of Dreams | Dir. Les Blank | USA | 1982 | 95 min. / WoF “Ch. 3: Germany: From Darkness toward Light,” 108-117, 136-143 (ebook 223-239, 276-290)
Day 11
F 9-23 / Partial in-class screening: Nosferatu | Dir. F.W. Murnau | Weimar Republic | 1922 | 94 min. / Gonzales review of Nosferatu the Vampyre (ELMS)
Week 5
Day 12
M 9-26 / Japanese Anime
Princess Mononoke | Dir. Hayao Miyazaki | Japan | 1997 | 133 min. / WoF “Ch. 5: Japan: Screening Feudalism and Modernism,”195-198, 225-234 (ebook 391-403, 447-464) / Group D Discussion Board Posts Due
Day 13
W 9-28 / Napier, “Princess Mononoke: Fantasy, the Feminine, and the Myth of Progress” (ELMS)
Day 14
F 9-30 / Nagib, “Towards a Positive Definition of World Cinema” (ELMS)
Week 6
Day 15
M 10-3 / Unit Two: Global Genres
Spanish Fantasy and Surrealism
Pan’s Labyrinth | Dir. Guillermo del Toro | Spain | 2006 | 119 min. / Clark & McDonald, “‘A Constant Transit of Finding’: Fantasy as Realization in Pan’s Labyrinth (ELMS) / Film Review Assignment Due
Day 16
W 10-5 / In-class screening: “Un chien andalou” | Dir. Luis Buñuel | France | 21 min. / WoF “Ch. 7: Spain, Luis Buñuel, Playing with Ideas,”292-302, (ebook 573-592)
Day 17
F 10-7 / Tsuei, “The Antifascist Aesthetics of Pan’s Labyrinth” (ELMS)
Week 7
Day 18
M 10-10 / Korean Horror
The Host | Dir. Bong Joon-ho | South Korea | 2006 | 119 min. / Klein, “Why American Studies Needs to Think about Korean Cinema” (ELMS) / Group A Discussion Board Posts Due
Day 19
W 10-12 / Lee, “Localized Globalization and a Monster National” (ELMS)
Day 20
F 10-14 / Och & Strayer, “Introduction: Transnational Horror Across Visual Media” (ELMS)
Week 8
Day 21
M 10-17 / Brazilian Crime Drama
City of God | Dirs. Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund | Brazil | 2002 | 130 min. / Carlsten, “Violence in the City of God: Fantasy of the Omniscient Spectator” (ELMS) / Group B Discussion Board Posts Due
Day 22
W 10-19 / Partial in-class screening: Gomorrah | Dir. Matteo Garrone | Italy | 2008 | 137 min. / Kilbourn, “‘Prosthetic Memory’ and Transnational Cinema” (ELMS)
Day 23
F 10-21 / In-class screening: “Stanhope” | Dir. Solvan Naim | USA | 2015 | 17 min. / Freire-Medeiros, “‘I Went to the City of God’: Gringos, Guns and the Touristic Favela” (ELMS)
Week 9
Day 24
M 10-24 / Israeli War Drama
Waltz with Bashir | Dir. Ari Folman | Israel | 2008 | 90 min. / Stewart, “Screen Memory in Waltz with Bashir” (ELMS) / Group C Discussion Board Posts Due
Day 25
W 10-26 / Viljoen, “Waltz with Bashir: Between Representation and Experience” (ELMS)
Day 26
F 10-28 / Landesman & Bendor, “Animated Recollection and Spectatorial Experience in Waltz with Bashir” (ELMS)
Week 10
Day 27
M 10-31 / Iranian “Documentary”
Taxi | Dir. Jafar Panahi | Iran | 2015 | 82 min. / Brody, “Jafar Panahi’s Remarkable ‘Taxi’” (ELMS) / Group D Discussion Board Posts Due
Day 28
W 11-2 / Partial in-class screening: No One Knows About Persian Cats | Dir. Bahman Ghobadi | Iran | 2009 | 106 min. / Jahed, “Underground Cinema in Iran” (ELMS)
Day 29
F 11-4 / Nichols, “How Can We Define Documentary Film?” (ELMS)
Week 11
Day 30
M 11-7 / Unit Three: Transnational Cinema
Transnational Labor
Whores’ Glory | Dir. Michael Glawogger | Austria/Germany | 2011 | 119 min. / Mother Jones Interview with Michael Glawogger: / Group A Discussion Board Posts Due
Day 31
W 11-9 / Partial in-class screening: Workingman’s Death | Dir. Michael Glowagger | Austria | 2005 | 122 min. / Brennan, “Women Work, Men Sponge, and Everyone Gossips” (ELMS)
Day 32
F 11-11 / Friedman, “It’s a Flat World, After All” (ELMS) / Genre Analysis Assignment Due
Week 12
Day 33
M 11-14 / Transnational Migration
Sin Nombre | Dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga | Mexico/USA | 2009 | 96 min. / Johnson, “Crossing Borders with ‘Sin Nombre’” (ELMS) / Group B Discussion Board Posts Due
Day 34
W 11-16 / Partial in-class screening: El Norte | Dir. Gregory Nava | UK/USA | 1983 | 139 min. / Heisler, “The Bracero Program and Mexican Migration to the United States” (ELMS)
Day 35
F 11-18 / Rouse, “Mexican Migration and the Social Space of Postmodernism” (ELMS)
M 11-21 through F 11-25 / Thanksgiving Break - No Class
Week 13
Day 37
M 11-28 / Transnational Identities
Mountains May Depart | Dir. Jia Zhangke | China | 2015 | 131 min. / Dargis, “In ‘Mountains May Depart,’ Jia Zhangke Shows a Changing China” (ELMS) / Group C Discussion Board Posts Due
Day 38
W 11-30 / WoF “Ch. 11: Mainland China: Jia Zhangke, Freedom and the Sixth Generation,” 378-391 (ebook 738-764)
Day 39
F 12-2 / In-class screening: “The Last Song” | Dir. Sasie Sealy | USA | 2014 | 17 min. / Fong, “Filial Nationalism among Chinese Teenagers with Global Identities” (ELMS)
Week 14
Day 40
M 12-5 / Transnational Relationships
Chinese Puzzle | Dir. Cédric Klapisch | France | 2013 | 117 min. / Ribeiro, “What is Cosmopolitanism?” (ELMS) / Group D Discussion Board Posts Due
Day 41
W 12-7 / Partial in-class screening: The Spanish Apartment | Dir. Cédric Klapisch | France/Spain | 2002 | 122 min. / Fallon, “Ni Pour, Ni Contre: Conflict and Community in the Films of Cédric Klapisch” (ELMS)
Day 42
F 12-9 / Partial in-class screening: An African City series | Created by Nicole Amarteifio | Ghana | 2014 | 12 min. / Higbee and Lim, “Concepts of Transnational Cinema: Towards a Critical Transnationalism in Film” (ELMS)
Week 15
Day 43
M 12-12 / Transnational Networks
Babel | Dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu | USA/Mexico/France | 2006 | 143 min. / Shaw, “Babel and the Global Hollywood Gaze” (ELMS) / Final Exam Essay Assignment Due 12/19

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