The Female Gaze: Woman Filmmakers (11 weeks)
W 2020

Description

This SDG examines eleven exceptional films made by women filmmakers around the world that offer a variety of themes: gender, class, race, globalization, the family, coming-of-age, religion, capitalism, and art.  Genres include comedy, drama, horror, thriller, western, and documentary..

The directors, from seven countries and cultures, bring personal styles and insights to their work, and feature both male and female protagonists.  One of the questions we'll ask is about the differences brought to their films by nationality and race.  And what might a woman bring to films that a male filmmaker might miss?   And does a woman necessarily brings a feminist or political vision to a film? Finally, is there "a female gaze?"

This is a Film Studies course with emphasis on film analysis.  We are interested in how how the art of film--narrative, mise en scene, cinematography, music, sound, editing, acting, expresses each director's unique vision.

Participants should be very comfortable using computers and DVDs. 









Weekly Topics

  My Brilliant Career                                 Gillian Armstrong            Australia  1979

  The Piano                                              Jane Campion                 Australia  1993

  The Holy Girl                                          Lucretia Martel                Argentina  2004

  After the Wedding                                  Suzanne Bier                  Denmark  2006

  35 Shots of Rum                                    Clair Denis                      France  2008    

  Winter's Bone                                         Debra Granek                United States  2010

  A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night         Ana Lily Amirpour           Iran/United States   2014

  Toni Erdmann                                         Maren Ade                      Germany  2016

  Certain Women                                      Kelly Reichardt                United States  2016 

  The Gleaners; Faces/Places                  Agnes Varda                     France  2000; 2017

  The Rider                                               Chloe Zhao                      United States  2017


Participants will choose their week and film in any order.  

Bibliography

Core Book:

Louis Gannett, Understanding Movies, Prentice Hall.  Buy a used edition, any edition.

All of the films are available on Netflix DVDs as well as other streaming channels.  Reviews and articles on all the filmmakers and films can be found on the Internet.  

An extended bibliography will be given to participants.