CINEMATOGRAPHIC PHILOLOGY

The course is part of the related and additional programmes included in the curriculum dedicated to contemporary arts for the Master’s degree in “History of Arts and Conservation of Artistic Heritage”. Its aim is to offer students a critical-theoretical study of the relationship between cinema, aesthetics and visual arts. The objectives of the course are: to teach students how to problematize their relationship with the objects they study or consume in every day’s life, such as films and audio-visual products, adopting an informed visual and cultural approach towards the current debate in the literature of this field; to enable students to reflect upon the paradigms and cultural constructs inherent in concepts such as “film”, “work of art”, “videography”, “visual” etc.

1. Knowledge and comprehension: Ability to understand and analyze critical and theoretical texts dealing with cinema.
2. Ability to apply the acquired knowledge and comprehension: ability to write a critical essay or create a power point presentation using materials retrieved in the course textbooks or during lectures.
3. Judgment skills: ability to form personal interpretations based upon the knowledge of the course related critical-theoretical literature; a critical approach to the aesthetic, cultural and historical judgment of audio-visual artworks.
4. Communication skills: ability to participate in group discussions around the subjects of the course; ability to convey the specific nature of the theoretical and historical debate using an appropriate vocabulary, during the exam as well as during lectures; ability to interact with fellow students and with the lecturer in a critical and collaborative way, both in the classroom and through virtual electronic platforms.
5. Learning skills: ability to take notes and share them in a collaborative manner; ability to consult reference texts and the bibliography they contain in a critical manner.

It is advisable that students have attended courses in film theory or contemporary art theory (visual, performing arts or literature) either during their BA or during MA.

Thanks to the availability of technological devices that are getting more and more user-friendly, writing video essays have become a common and frequent practice, appearing as one of the most interesting modes of expression of the so-called visual culture. In fact, the video essay has a long history that is deeply intertwined with the history of cinema tout court and it concerns theoretical issues that are still current: Is it possible to express abstract concepts and elaborate complex arguments through images? Do images live their own life producing new thoughts in turn? Is it possible to involve the spectator in a dialectic process through the (apparently) inanimate matter of films? Is it possible to produce philosophical, historical, sociological, anthropological knowledge, among others, using the technique of cinema editing?
The course proposes a (positive) response to these questions looking back at the adventure of the video-essay from the very first elaborations in the avant-guard milieu (Vertov, Vigo, Richter, Ruttmann) to the most recent productions, focusing in particular on the years following the Second World War. In those years the essay-film reached its full maturity thanks to thinkers such as Astruc, Bazin and later Deleuze on one hand, and to experiments by filmmakers such as Resnais, Godard, Varda, Marker, Pasolini on the other, developing into defined canons, expressive techniques, and territories. Preferring a seminar-methodological approach (please see the section “metodi didattici”) we will eventually try to find evidence of essay-films in the contemporary world, investigating experiences found both in the artistic milieu of Biennales and expositions and in the media landscapes frequented daily by contemporary spectators.

When preparing the exam, students are required to study a selection of texts discussed during lectures, texts that will be available on Moodle and that contain articles and excerpts from works by Astruc, Richter, Bazin, Godard, Youngblood, Resnais, Aprà, Bellour, Rascaroli, Corrigan, etc…

In addition, students are expected to study one of the following two books:
Marco Bertozzi, "Recycled cinema. Immagini perdute, visioni ritrovate", Venezia, Marsilio 2013.
Chiara Grizzaffi, "I film attraverso i film. Dal «testo introvabile» ai «video essay»", Milano/Udine, Mimesis 2018.

N.B. Non-attending students are required to study both of these books.

Viewing at least eight among the following films is a compulsory part of the programme:

Man vith a Movie Camera, Dziga Vertov, URSS, 1929
Regen, Joris Ivens, Nederlhands, 1929
À propos de Nice, Jean Vigo, France, 1930
Nuit et Brouillard, Alain Resnais, France, 1956
Lettre de Sibérie, Chris Marker, France, 1957
Appunti per un’Orestiade africana, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy, 1970
La région centrale, Michael Snow, Canada, 1971
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania, Jonas Mekas, UK/RFG, 1972
F for Fake, Orson Welles, France/Iran/RFG, 1973
Sans soleil, Chris Marker, France, 1983
Images of the World and the Inscription of War, Harun Farocki, RFG, 1988
Histoire(s) du Cinéma di Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1989-1998 (Chapter 1)
Les glaneurs et la glaneuse, Agnes Varda, France, 2000
Grizzly Man, Werner Herzog, USA, 2005

Further indications of bibliographic and filmographic studies can be found among the documents uploaded on Moodle.

The method of learning assessment consists of an oral exam. However, before the oral exam, students are required to elaborate a research report. All students, both those attending lectures and those who do not, should choose, with the lecturer’s approval, a contemporary artist producing video-essays and prepare a critical presentation of his work. Students can choose between two options: either making a power-point presentation in the classroom during the last week of the lectures (teamwork is preferable) or writing a paper that should be submitted not later than one week before the exam date. The analytical study (presented in front of the class or as written paper) will be one of the subjects discussed during the oral exam. The knowledge of the selected texts, of the chosen book (two books for non-attending students) and of the filmography indicated in the programme will also be a subject of the oral exam.

Lectures consist of both lessons in front of the class and seminars and imply active student participation in discussions on subjects treated in the course books as well as on sequences and illustrative excerpts from films in the recommended filmography. One of the last lectures will be dedicated to presenting and discussing the research report prepared by the students. If conditions related to logistics allow it, during the course we will try to organize occasional “lectures” on topics relevant for the course involving professors from other universities.

Italian

written and oral