John Cameron Mitchell (original) (raw)
Directory of World Cinema: American Independent 3. Ed. John Berra. Bristol: Intellect, 2016. 199-203. Print.
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Toward an Eclectic Film History Survey
Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, 2021
This essay reflects on the pedagogical value of integrating nontheatrical and useful cinemas into a standard film history survey course. It takes as its example my experiences teaching a one-semester survey titled, “International Cinema to 1960,” at a university in the United States. The essay suggests how looking beyond the narrative feature reorients film history in several ways: first, by highlighting alternative film production practices (such as government- and corporate sponsored nonfiction); second, by offering generative context for specific national film movements (such as the Golden Age of Mexican cinema and Italian Neorealism); and third, as a lens to contend with the history of European imperialism and the colonial gaze (i.e., travelogues, colonial film units). It argues that putting nontheatrical and useful cinemas in conversation with classic survey content offers a more dynamic history of cinema and becomes a vehicle for organically sparking important conversations about the Eurocentric, racial, and gendered limitations of the film canon—especially prior to 1960. Integrating nontheatrical cinemas creates a survey that actual surveys the scope of film history.
Syllabus for a one semester course for PhD and MA students at the University of Hong Kong, Spring 2012.
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