FREN 409 - Cinema

This category introduces students to French or Francophone cinema, dealing with history, theory, and condition of production of this media. Prerequisite: a 300 level course or permission of instructor. Alternate years. It includes such courses as:

West and Equatorial African Cinema
Introduction to the history and socio-economic contexts of African cinema (colonial and post-colonial). The focus is on the rich corpus of films by African directors from Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Cameroon and Congo, and on theoretical and critical writings about films and authors. Alternate years. (

French Cinema
A survey of French cinema from the thirties to the present. The course examines the style and themes in French cinema from Realism to Nouvelle Vague to Post-Modernism. The course is conducted in English with the possibility of receiving credit for a major or minor in French if the reading and writing is done in French. Alternate years.

North Africa/France: Representations of Both Sides of the Mediterranean Through Cinema
Survey of the historical and soci-economic contexts of North African Cinema (in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia). The course examines representations of the colonial period (with texts, paintings, photographs, and critical material on orientalism and early cinema in the region), the French-Algerian war from various perspectives, and the national/post-colonial film production in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia. The course also includes films by and about North Africans in France. Materials for the course include films as well as theoretical and critical materials about the regional cinema and film directors. Alternate years.

French and African Cinema in Dialogue
This course is an introduction to the historical relationship between France and Africa from the birth of cinema to today. It is also an introduction to the emergence of cinema as an industry in African countries. Becoming knowledgeable about both industries will help students understand current debates in France about the place of history, of colonialism, immigration, and cultural production of French and African filmmakers such as Jean Rouch, René Vautier, Jean-Luc Godard, Chris Marker, Alain Resnais, Ousmane Sembene, Djibril Diop Mambety, Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Agnès varda and Claire Denis. Connections between their esthetic, political, social, and cultural work will be examined. The coursework includes journal-writing, sequence analysis and several short essays. Alternate years.

Prerequisite(s): One 300-level course or placement test or permission of instructor. (4 Credits)