Cinematic Migrations

Desire for cinema perhaps existed before its creation. The variety of ways this longing has been addressed in the past and present open ongoing possibilities to explore, and form the basis of inquiry in this seminar/production workshop.  With the desire and dreams of potential also came words, statements, essays, radical aspirations, and manifestos. Via a combination of immersive viewing and analysis, readings, and encounters with time-based works, including the seminar participants’ productions, Cinematic Migrations will investigate declarations and questions, for example: “An invention without a Future,” and “What became of 21st century cinema?” 

The course explores migrations of cinematic ideas, contexts, formats, and histories in relation to varied contexts through a multifaceted look at cinema's transmutations, its emergence on local and national levels, as well as global migrations. The course also examines the transformation caused by online video, television, spatial installations, performances, dance, and many formats and portable devices, as well as the theory and context of film's categorization, dissemination, and analysis. Presentations, screenings, readings, guests, and experimental transdisciplinary projects broaden the perception of present cinema. As this course engages what can be made and what has been made, the study of the essay film, as an incredibly porous and agile form, will recur as a node to consider regarding forms of thinking and production. Screenings may be subject to change to accommodate the material and the modules. The studio seminar will encompass screenings and discussions.