Seminars & Short Courses
Sinophone Cinema
This seminar will introduce four popular Sinophone films released around the turn of the new millennium, each from a distinct and pluralistic cultural context: Yi Yi (2000), Farewell My Concubine (1992), Chungking Express (1994), and Lust, Caution (2007). Class meetings will include a lecture component that situates the film in modern Chinese cultural history and introduces context about the film’s director and reception. We will then move on to a discussion component in which participants will be invited to share their insights and interpretations of the film. This seminar aims to familiarize participants with the work of four major contemporary Chinese directors and lay the groundwork for further exploration of Sinophone cinema. It also aims to familiarize educators with key approaches to film studies including formalist (mise-en-scène, cinematography, etc.), narrative, and cultural studies methods.