HIST OF RUSSIAN/SOVIET FILM

This course surveys developments in Russian film history and style from the prerevolutionary beginnings of cinema through the Soviet and post-Soviet experience. We will be studying both the aesthetic qualities of the films and their historical and cultural contexts. Students will be exposed to a wide range of visual media, including experimental films of the 1920s, films on Russia’s experience of World War II, Soviet classics, late Soviet and contemporary Russian films. The films are paired with the writings of the practitioners as well as the works of such theorists as André Bazin, Jacques Rancière, and Laura Mulvey. All readings are in English and the films will be screened with English subtitles. No knowledge of Russian is required or expected.