Learning Objectives:

* Students will gain an understanding of the aesthetics of film production.
* Students will acquire specific knowledge and understanding of the socio-cultural factors that engendered Spanish and Latin-American cinema.
* Students will acquire a critical perspective of contemporary issues addressed and incorporated in Latin-American and Spanish cinema. These socio-cultural issues pertain but are not limited to: race, ethnicity, gender, politics, globalization and sexual orientation.

Course Description:
The course is organized around video presentations, class discussions, assigned reading, writing and research. Students are expected to fully participate during weekly discussions with relevant information presented in weekly reading assignment and from the films discussed in and outside the classroom (short video clips from different movies will be shown during the class explanations).

The course requires Spanish language proficiency at a Spanish 202 level. Class sessions on Tuesdays are devoted to watching a film; on Thursdays we will read the theory, and assigned readings and films will be discussed.

Students should watch some other films (these will be available at WebCT and at the Lab). There will also be opportunities for students to develop essential research and presentation skills (bibliographical and web-based material, use of Power Point, Video Lan-VLC, Windows Movie Maker…).

If for some reason the student misses one of the class screenings, he/she must see the film at the Language Lab (DDH E102) or at home and report on it, pointing out aspects related to the topics explained in class.

Course materials
Course materials (two books) are at the Office Depot.
Other required readings will be online at the course website, and will be put on reserve at the circulation desk in the Walter W. Stiern Library. During the course of the quarter, additional readings may be handed out in class or placed at the library.

Class participation and film attendance
Viewing of all films is absolutely essential. If you miss a screening, you should arrange to see it before or after the class. Active participation means that you will come to class prepared with proper questions that will allow you to participate in constructive, informed contributions to class discussions.

Grades
Final course grades will be assigned as follows:

a) 5% of the course grade will be determined by attentive, informed, and thoughtful attendance and participation in class discussions. Students should be respectful with their classmates and the professors, and turn off the cell phones.

b) There will be 3 quizzes related to the topics covered in class (books, photocopies-also those related to the films, included online or handed out in class). Each of them will be a 15% of the total grade. Quizzes are short; students will have 15-20 minutes for completion (for quizzes 2 and 3 a film analysis is due, it will count 40 points for the exam). 45%

c) A 20% of the course grade will be based on the group presentation of a topic (2-4 students per group). Dr. Fernández-Ulloa will assign the materials/topics during the first/second week. The presentation dates are: May 15th, 22nd, and 29th. Students should prepare a bibliography (other than the one given or suggested by the professors), and make a clear, creative and organized presentation. Readings are very important in this research, students should use as many as they can. Power Point will be used. Students should include examples of some of the films mentioned in the presentation. You can prepare video shots with VLC or WinDVD, and short clips with Windows Movie Maker (remember that you can use Media Services, located on the lower level of the Walter Stiern Library. The open lab -Lab A- is staffed by Lab Consultants able to assist students in most aspects of software support and print services). Please, be aware that if you need copies of some films, you should ask for them to your instructor time ahead.
Remember: These papers are NOT to summarize the films' story lines or the class discussions. Students have to present their TOPICS AND ANALYZE (a little bit, not like the analysis for the exam) the movies, emphasizing the film language/aesthetics of the film, the genre, and the socio-cultural issues addressed by the film.
Students should not limit their presentations to some significant aspect of Latin American or Spanish culture and society, but in their analysis they need to address and incorporate film criticism learned in class. In this course students will acquire specialized film aesthetics vocabulary, which they should use in their research paper/presentation, and in class discussions.
 Presentations should include questions (5-10) related to it at the end. (These presentations' content will be part of the final exam questions).
 The instructor will give a rubric for the presentations.
 Students must prepare a paper (15-20 pages per group) and a Power Point presentation (as many slides as wanted, but time is limited to 15-20 minutes).

PRESENTATION TOPICS

d) Final-30%:
 An exam with questions related to Mexican cinema and students’ oral presentations.
 
 

Class schedule:

Please, bear in mind that some days we will have to stay 10 minutes more, due to the lenght of the movies.
MOST OF THE FILMS THAT ARE NOW AT THE WEB CT HAVE NO SUBTITLES; DURING THE COURSE, MOST OF THEM WILL BE AVAILABLE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES.

MARCH

T 25    Los olvidados (Mexico), Luis Buñuel, 1950. 80 min.
           Watch also (Web CT): Un perro andaluz (Spain), Luis Buñuel y Salvador Dalí, 1929 / Muerte de un ciclista (Spain), J. A. Bardem, 1955.
          Readings for next day: Neorrealismo en Latinoamérica (NO ENTRA) / Muerte de un ciclista / Un perro andaluz / Los olvidados de Buñuel / Neorrealismo
 (NOTE: April 1 movie will be shown this day, today's movie goes to that day. Same with the other assignments)

Th 27    Tema 1. Historia del cine. Tema 2. Corrientes artísticas
        Video clips

    REPASO LECCIÓN 1-Preguntas

    REPASO LECCIÓN 2-Preguntas

    PREGUNTAS LECTURAS-1

APRIL
T 1    Los lunes al sol (Spain) Fernando León de Aranoa, 2002. 113’.
            Watch: Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Spain), Pedro Almodóvar, 1988, 90'. Reading: Almodóvar y "La movida".

Th 3    Temas 1 y 2.

T 8    Cineastas contra magnates (Spain), Carlos Benpar, 2005. 97’.
        Watch: Caminantes (Spain), Fernando León de Aranoa, 2001. 60’.

Th 10   QUIZ 1 (capítulos 1 – 2 y lecturas). Extracredit for the exam: Bienvenido, Mr. Marshall
             Tema 3. El cine español. Tema 4. Géneros cinematográficos (hay que ser capaz de definir cada género del capítulo y dar al menos dos ejemplos de películas de cada uno).
           Cine español

T 15     El día de la bestia (Spain), Álex de la Iglesia, 1995. 103'.
        Watch also: El laberinto del fauno (Mexico-Spain), Guillermo del Toro, 2006. 113 min.
            Readings: Cine español contemporáneo / Cine vasco / El día de la bestia / El laberinto del fauno
           Preguntas lecturas

Th 17   Tema 5. La industria.  Tema 6. Cine y sociedad. Tema 7. Tecnología del cine. (We will only study selected questions from these three chapters)
    Compositores
            Watch: Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography, Todd McCarthy, Stuart Samuels, 1992. 92'. Your instructor will show this documentary outside the class time, on Friday 18th, from 5-7 pm (DDH G103). There will also be copies at the Library and WebCt. Assignment: cita al menos diez películas (título y director) de las que se mencionan en el documental e indica algo que explicaron sobre ellas-No more than two/three pages. THIS WILL BE 10 POINTS FOR QUIZ 2.

T 22    La ardilla roja (Spain), Julio Medem, 1993. 114'.
           Watch:Días contados (Spain), Imanol Uribe, 1994. 93'
            Readings: La ardilla... y Días...

Th 24   Tema 8. Lenguaje fílmico/Comentario de un texto fílmico.
            Tema 9. El guión de cine. Tema 10. Producción de un film. (We will only study selected questions from these     two chapters)
Watch: The cutting edge. The magic of movie editing, Wendy Apple, 2004. 99'. Your instructor will show this documentary outside the class time, on Friday 25th, from 5-7 pm (DDH G103). There will also be copies at the Library and WebCt. Assignment: cita al menos 5 películas (título y director) de las que se mencionan en el documental e indica algo que explicaron sobre ellas. Menciona algo sobre la edición de escenas de acción, suspense, sexo..., y cómo hacer una estrella de un actor por medio de la edición-No more than two/three pages. THIS WILL BE 10 POINTS FOR QUIZ 2.
    GUIÓN PARA EL COMENTARIO DE UN TEXTO FÍLMICO Y EJEMPLO
    LENGUAJE FILMICO
    Lenguaje... (pdf)

T 29
      Flores de otro mundo (Spain), Iciar Bollaín, 1999. 108’.
       Reading: Flores...

MAY
Th 1     QUIZ 2 (temas 3-7 y lecturas). Entregar un análisis fílmico de una de las películas vistas hasta ahora fuera de clase, siguiendo el guión dado en clase (40 points for the exam) / ejercicios sobre los documentales (20 points).
Cine latinoamericano (fotocopias). El tercer cine (fotocopias).

T 6    Guantanamera (Cuba), Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío, 1995. 105'.
        Watch: La vida es silbar (Cuba), Fernando Pérez, 1998. 106’.
        Readings: Guantanamera, La vida es silbar, Esperpento y realismo mágico

Th 8    Cine mexicano (libro).

T 13 Diarios de motocicleta (Argentina, USA, Cuba...), Walter Salles, 2004. 126’.
    Watch:  La estrategia del caracol (Colombia), Sergio Cabrera, 1993. 116'.

Th 15 Cine mexicano (libro). PRESENTACIONES

T 20 El hijo de la novia (Argentina), Juan José Campanella, 2001. 123’.
    Reading: Historia del cine argentino
    Watch: La historia oficial (Argentina), Luis Puenzo, 1985. 112' /  Nueve reinas (Argentina), Fabián Bielinsky, 2000. 114'

Th 22    Cine mexicano (libro). PRESENTACIONES

T 27    Amores perros (Mexico), Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006. 154'.
        Watch: Sin dejar huella (Mexico-Spain), María Novaro, 2000, 109' / La virgen de la lujuria (Spain-Mexico-Portugal), Arturo Ripstein, 2002, 151'.

Th 29
PRESENTACIONES. LAST DAY OF CLASSES.
(Quiz 3 goes to June 5)

JUNE Thursday 5 (5:00 to 7:30 pm)
QUIZ 3 (Temas 8, 9, 10, cine latinoamericano, el tercer cine, cine argentino). Entregar un análisis fílmico de una de las películas vistas fuera de clase desde el Quiz 2 hasta ahora, siguiendo el guión dado en clase (40 puntos).
Final exam: questions about "Cine mexicano-book" (50 points) and questions related to the presentations (20 points).
And, of course, questions about the movies and readings related to them.

Extra credits:
-A summary of the documentary: A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies. Part 2. (5%). This documentary talks about the director. Summarize what he is talking about and give examples. (I gave a copy per group, in the DVD with the movies, but if you need more, I have left some in the box "Petition for credit" near my door).
-A summary of the conference of Alice Greenfield McGrath (2 de mayo a las 3 pm) and documentary Zoot Suit Riots (5%). Documentary will not be available until Wednesday/Thursday at webct. You can turn this without the video (just looking for information online, or checking the video transcript at the pbs website) or wait (I can wait until late Friday).
 

El alumno deberá ver por su cuenta  (en el Laboratorio de lenguas, en su casa o en WebCT) las siguientes películas. Es posible que tenga que instalar DIVX Codecs para poder verlas (http://www.divx.com/divx/windows/codec/).
Las películas deben haberse visto para la clase siguiente a la que aparece en el programa, para poder hablar sobre ellas ese día.
Estas películas entran en los distintos exámenes (QUIZZES) CON SUS LECTURAS CORRESPONDIENTES:

Quiz 1:
 -Un perro andaluz
 -Muerte de un ciclista
 -Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios
 -Caminantes

Quiz 2:
 -El laberinto del fauno
 -Días contados
-Visions of light...
-The cutting edge...

Quiz 3:
 -La vida es silbar
 -La estrategia del caracol
 -La historia oficial
 -Nueve reinas
 -Sin dejar huella
 -La virgen de la lujuria
 

Durante el curso el profesor podría indicar a los alumnos la conveniencia u obligación de ver otras películas relacionadas con los contenidos de clase o los temas sobre los que investigar, y podría cambiar alguna de las películas que han de verse. El alumno tendrá a su disposición las películas en el laboratorio de lenguas y en WebCT. También se dispone de los documentales acerca de cómo se hicieron algunas de las películas, lo que puede ayudar al alumno a la hora de hacer el trabajo de análisis.
 

ESTE PROGRAMA ES PROVISIONAL. LA PROFESORA SE RESERVA EL DERECHO DE CAMBIAR, AÑADIR O QUITAR CONTENIDOS.

RULES TO OBSERVE DURING CLASS AND WHILE WATCHING FILMS:

1. STUDENTS WILL MAINTAIN COMPLETE RESPECT TOWARD THE PROFESSOR AND CLASSMATES.
2. ALL CELL PHONES MUST BE TURNED OFF.
3. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EXIT CLASS WHENEVER YOU FEEL LIKE IT. PLEASE, DO IT ONLY IF IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
4. REFRAIN FROM TALKING DURING LECTURES AND WHILE WATCHING FILMS.

Note: The films could have political, religious and/or sexual content.
This course deals with some materials and opinions that, in the past, people have found objectionable owing to their political, religious and/or sexual nature(s).