Film: Special Topics: Film Finding

This course takes as its premise that the world cinema motion picture canon is in need of massive revision. First, we will want to ask: What critical traditions and exhibition conditions produced the standard “classics”? What do geographies, demographics, distribution, and technological development have to do with the process of canonization?

What assumptions about cinema does the canon institutionalize? Students will engage in intensive viewing and review, build alternative canons and alternatives to the canonical, and design public exhibitions, shared databases and internet events.