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Film and Revolution (P4100A)

30 credits, Level 6

Spring teaching

This module explores the connection between revolutions and the development of film language. You’ll study radical and revolutionary film movements throughout history and focus on modern revolutionary expression, particularly from 2011 onwards in the Middle East and North Africa. Films and movements will be examined through the lenses of aesthetics, ideology, politics, and history.

Questions we’ll explore include:

• what makes a film revolutionary?
• how can filmmakers capture the many sides of revolution?
• are films about revolution always revolutionary themselves?

You’ll analyse films that emerged from key historical movements, learning about history through film and film through history. Past films studied include:

• Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, Italy, 1966)
• October (Sergei Eisenstein, USSR, 1928)
• Born in Flames (Lizzie Borden, USA, 1983)
• Memories of Underdevelopment (Tomas Gutierrez Alea, Cuba, 1968)
• Out on the Street (Jasmina Metwaly and Philip Rizk, Egypt, 2015)

 

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 60 hours of contact time and about 240 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.