Module description
This module explores the relationship between critical theory, political activism and the moving image in the French context, with a particular focus on the events of May 1968. It covers a range of cinematic genres from experimental documentary to feature film, crossing diverse formats from the textual and filmed manifesto, through to screen printing, to film and to Portapak video. Beginning with May 1968, in the first half of the module we will consider how the search for new forms of representation led filmmakers to explore alternative media to represent activist politics. We will be asking: how do artists, film and video-makers seek to explore marginal subjectivities? Is there an alternative to mainstream media representation? How does political activism play out onscreen, in the gallery, or on the street? We will also discuss how the legacies of May 1968 surface in contemporary moving-image work and consider the possibilities and limitations of this legacy for more recent forms of political activism. The relationship between individual and collective subjectivity will be a theme across all of the works studied, as will questions of spectatorship and ethical encounters with the moving image.
Assessment details
One 3-hour exam in May.
Educational aims & objectives
- To critically engage with a range of moving image works in post-1968 France
- To explore the relationship between text and image and analyse the specificities of different media and cinematic genres
- To engage with questions surrounding the nature of 'political' filmmaking and to interrogate the relationship between politics and aesthetics
- To contextualise May 1968 in terms of its representation in feature film, documentary film and via alternative media
Learning outcomes
By the end of this module, students will:
- Have an in-depth knowledge of the events of May 1968 and their cultural importance
- Have acquired a set of critical tools and frameworks for thinking about post-1968 French culture
- Be able to analyse film and moving image media and understand media specificity
- Be equipped to analyse filmmaking as a political and ethical practice
- Be able to carry out independent research and present their arguments confidently
Teaching pattern
Two hours per week plus weekly film screening
Suggested reading list
Core texts
Unless otherwise stated, students are expected to buy their own copy of all core texts.
Guy Debord, La Société du spectacle/ The Society of the Spectacle (Paris: Gallimard, 1967)
Additional seminar readings to be provided via KEATS
Indicative filmography:
- Yamina Benguigui, Inch'Allah Dimanche (France, 2000)
- Robin Campillo, 120 BPM (France, 2017)
- Alice Diop La Permanence / On Call (France, 2016)
- Philippe Garrel, Le Révélateur (France, 1968)
- Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin, Tout va bien (France, 1972)
- Agnès Varda, Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse / The Gleaners and I (France, 2000)
- Vidéo Out, SCUM Manifesto (France, 1976)
All films are available and will be screened with English subtitles.