Cinema: East and West

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Cinema East and West

• A New GE Course

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Instructor Dr. Louisa Wei

• Louisa received her PhD in film studies from the
  University of Alberta, Canada.
• In the past few years, she has taught popular OOD
  courses including Chinese Language Cinema and
  Gender in Popular Media to City University
  students.
• Louisa is a filmmaker herself, writing feature
  film scripts and directing independent
  documentary films.
• At this moment, she is screening her documentary
  titled Storm under the Sun in International
  Documentary Film Festival, Amsterdam.

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Course Goal

• This course aims to present students with a
  larger picture of how film has developed from
  1895 to today as both a popular medium and an art
  form, and how cinemas of the West and the East
  have influenced each others traditions through
  different eras. Students are expected to define
  basic terminologies in cinema history, to name
  representative directors and works from each
  country and/or period, and to describe major
  events and trends in the world of film. By
  covering significant ideas, movements and trends
  in cinema history, the course will also enhance
  students general knowledge on culture and
  history and provide them a vocabulary with which
  they can further explore in the field of
  film/media studies and topics related to media
  and cultural issues.
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Course Design

• This course is designed for students with no
  experience in film/media studies, but will also
  be greatly appreciated by students who love film
  and study film on their own. In short, all you
  need to bring to the class is your interest in
  cinema.
• In class, stories about how film has developed
  from the earlier years to recent years will be
  shared while through the readings and exercises,
  students will be able to
• Read films as both narrative and cultural text
• Write and discuss about films in various
  contexts
• Acquire a broader knowledge of cinema culture
  and
• Understand the basics terms of cinema.

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Course Expectation

• The assignments for this class will include three
  kinds on-line discussion, film journals and
  take-home exams. For each assignment, detailed
  instruction will be given to students and
  discussions between students are encouraged. The
  exams are always open book and take-home exams
  designed to encourage learning.
• Through the exercises, students are expected to
  be familiar with basic concepts and vocabulary of
  film art and history, and to be able to write or
  talk about films from cultural, narrative and
  other perspectives. Tutorials in smaller groups
  will allow students to get to know each other
  through in-class discussions on screenings of
  film clips.

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Weekly Topics (Part I)

• Early experiments in cinema the Lumière
  brothers, Edison cameras and early documentaries
  (1895-1910s)
• Classical Hollywood cinema, German Expressionism,
  and French Impressionist and Surrealism
  (1908-1927)
• Soviet Montage (1924-1930) and the Left-wing
  Films the Realistic Tradition in China and
  Japan (1930-1940s)
• Italian Neorealism (1942-1951) and the rising of
  Post-war Japanese Cinema
• The Socialist Cinema of Mainland China, the Early
  Development of Taiwanese Cinema and the Golden
  Years of the Shaw Brothers (1950s1960s)

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Weekly Topics (Part II)

• Art House films The French New Wave (1959-1964)
  and the Japanese New Wave (1950s-1960s)
• Healthy Realism in Taiwanese cinema and the
  flourishing of Kungfu genre in Hong Kong (1960s
  -1970s)
• The New Hollywood or Post-classical Cinema
  (1970s and afterwards)
• The Hong Kong New Wave, Taiwan New Cinema, and
  the Fifth-Generation Movement (1979-1987)
• 1990s Development in the Third World
  CinemaLatin American and Middle Eastern cinemas
• The New Documentary Movements moving from
  country to country
• International mode of production in a globalizing
  era

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Questions

• No matter you can register in the course or not,
  please join me for the first lecture if you are
  interested. This will give you a chance to learn
  about the style of teaching and to meet Louisa.
  As the first week of add and drop will be a
  little crazy, to listen to the first class is
  always a good idea.
• In case you have great interest but fails to add
  the course, talk to Louisa and she will consider
  to add a seat for you whenever possible.
• If you have concerns, please write to her
  smlouisa_at_cityu.edu.hk