module specification

In this module you will study a variety of contemporary films in relation to their specific cultural, historical and social contexts, considering the way in which national identity is imagined, interrogated and contested in these films.

You will explore contemporary European cinema through a variety of themes.
The themes are linked with important contemporary issues of Europe’s social experience. They might include European cinema and the idea of Europe; national and transnational cinema; European art cinema; popular European genres; history, memory and the national past; the European road movie; the city film; space and place in European cinema; stars as national and transnational icons; Post-colonial cinema; migrant and diasporic identities in contemporary Europe; ‘Fortress Europe’; transgender and queer cinema; European co-productions and women’s cinema.

In this module, you will:

• Study a variety of contemporary European films in relation to their specific cultural, historical and social contexts
• Consider the way in which national identity is imagined, interrogated and contested in these films
• Explore contemporary cinema through a variety of themes linked to important issues of Europe’s social experience

The module will begin by examining the concept of Europe and European cinema. Why and for whom is this concept important? It explores how cinema and television have sought to express specific aspects of national identity in individual nations.

The module then examines issues that are relevant across Europe. This may include history, memory and the national past; post-colonial cinema. ‘Fortress Europe’; transgender and queer cinema; the road movie; art cinema; popular genres and women’s cinema.

Learning and teaching on the module will be conducted via lectures, seminars, screenings, blended learning and students guided independent study. This module builds on the foundation of knowledge gained at Level 4. It also returns to some of the key academic skills gained at Level 4, such as online research, referring to academic sources in academic writing and scaffolds these so that students acquire the necessary knowledge to plan and research a topic of their choosing.

These skills are embedded at each stage of the module, firstly in the portfolio and annotated bibliography and finally in the writing of the ‘mini project’.

The module starts with teacher-led learning, via lectures, seminars and workshops. It then gradually shifts the balance to the students in the second half of the module, when the students seek their own themes and films to pursue with the initial given framework of topics. This phase of the module culminates in the writing of an individual ‘mini project’.

On completion of this module, you will be able to

• Demonstrate a strong understanding of a variety of thematic issues in contemporary European cinema including some of the history that has shaped them (LO1)
• Critically analyse the idea of national identity in the context of global economics and movement of people (LO2)
• Demonstrate the ability to critically analyse European film in relation to issues of race, gender and sexuality (LO3)
• Conduct close visual analysis of a variety of European films (LO4)

https://rl.talis.com/3/londonmet/lists/91CB722B-9E05-38BC-8E96-443CA1D392B9.html