Martin Blumenthal-Barby

This seminar will introduce students to the history of cinema from its inception to 1945 by considering individual cinematic artifacts in their technological, economic, aesthetic, political, and social contexts. Cross-list: MDIA 201.

From the 1960s to 2000, Germany developed a very distinct auteur cinema with independent filmmakers such as Fassbinder, Herzog, Wenders, Kluge, Adlon, von Trotta, Sander, Brueckner, Garnier, Tykwer, and others. The first twenty years were oriented toward coming to terms with the fascist past; the second twenty years focused on more contemporary issues, including terrorism, misogyny, and xenophobia. To explore these issues, we will discuss the work of four major directors of the New German Cinema, whose films are concerned with pressing political questions as well as their own nature as “films.” To further our discussions of the politics and aesthetics of visual media in general and of film in particular, the screenings will be put into dialogue with short, often canonical, theoretical texts. Students cannot earn credit for GERM 332 if they have received credit for GERM 338.

This seminar will introduce students to the history of cinema from its inception to 1945 by considering individual cinematic artifacts in their technological, economic, aesthetic, political, and social contexts. Cross-list: GERM 280.