Paris and the Banlieues: Cityscape and Diaspora in French and Francophone Cinema

Paris and the Banlieues: Cityscape and Diaspora in French and Francophone Cinema is a Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies course taught by Baba Hillman.

This course requires prerequisites. This course requires instructor permission.

Course Description
This film production/theory course will address changing cinematic representations of the architecture and urban space of Paris and the surrounding suburbs. We will consider shifting representations of the city and the body of the performer in the films of Feuillade, Vigo, Rivette, Prevert, Cantet, Denis, Kechiche and Volta. We will analyze performances of identities, emphasizing the body as the primary site of a daily negotiation of language and culture. Students will be encouraged to question how performative languages of movement, architecture and speech function as aesthetic systems that reflect the ways in which the body is coded in terms of gender, race and class. The course will include a study of articles from Presence Africaine, Trafic, Cahiers du Cinima and Bref, as well as works by Petrine Archer-Straw, Carrie Tarr and Etienne Balibar. This is a bilingual course that will engage beginning as well as advanced students in ongoing work to develop their speaking and writing skills in French. Students will complete two film or video projects. This class also provides preparation for students who may be interested in applying for the GEO May field study course in Paris. Instructor Permission Required. Prerequisites: Intro to Media, Film I or Video I. Lab Fee $50.