Lusophone Cinema (level 5)
Overview
- Credit value: 30 credits at Level 5
- Convenor: to be confirmed
- Assessment: a 1500-word commentary (30%), 1500-word critical review (30%) and 2500-word essay (40%)
Module description
This course examines cinematic productions originating in Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and Portugal. The course offers a focus on a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to film, as well as addressing representations of colonialism and decolonisation, neo-colonialism, and nationalism in postcolonial societies with reference to the theoretical debates that have emerged in postcolonial studies.
Indicative module content
- The relationship between cinema and politics
- Postcolonial theory
- Portuguese-speaking African cinema
- Brazilian cinema novo
- Colonisation and decolonisation
- Contemporary History of Portuguese-speaking countries
- National cultural identity
- Memory
- Conflict
Primary materials to be studied include those produced by:
- Amílcar Cabral
- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
- Frantz Fanon
- Glauber Rocha.
Films to be viewed include:
- Black God, White Devil (1964)
- Sambizanga (1973)
- The Blue Eyes of Yonta (1992).
Learning objectives
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
- understand a range of theoretical approaches in film and postcolonial studies
- demonstrate a methodological approach to visual representation
- demonstrate general knowledge of Angolan, Brazilian, Cape Verdean, Mozambican and Portuguese contemporary history and culture.