Cultureplex Ciné-Club Two (Spring)

Come and join us at the Cultureplex Ciné-Club, where once a week, for 10 weeks (and throughout the academic year), we will watch and discuss film. Taking its cue from the famous Parisian ciné-club set up by the celebrated critic and writer, André Bazin, ‘the single thinker most responsible for bestowing on cinema the prestige both of an artform and of an object of knowledge’, and the man who foresaw the emergence of film studi...

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  • Start Date: 14 Jan 2027
    End Date: 25 Mar 2027
    Thu (Daytime): 14:00 - 17:00
    In Person
    Location: Keeley Street
    Duration: 10 sessions (over 11 weeks)
    Course Code: HF436
    Tutors:  Chris Darke
    Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00
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252143
Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00

What is the course about?

André Bazin’s ciné-club was set up by him not simply as an opportunity for the screening and discussion of films, but as a tool for education. Bazin was as much a passionate advocate for the transformatory effects of community learning as he was for the significance of cinema and the ciné-club represented an opportunity for him to promote both. As one commentator has noted, ‘though he didn’t live to see the first flowering of academic film theory in the late 60s, the pedagogic side of Bazin would doubtless have been gratified that cinema was no longer a trivial pursuit but henceforth a serious discipline calling for the most concentrated attention and rigour’. In following Bazin, the Cultureplex Ciné-Club shares these same goals. This is a film studies course that foregrounds the importance and the value of the collective film viewing experience, but which also is concerned to ensure that the films screened are curated, introduced and discussed with the rigour associated with the study of film at City Lit.

This will be the second of the three Cultureplex Ciné-Club courses this year (one ran in Term 1, the other will run in Term 3).

Films screened will come from the list below and might include:

The Lodger (Alfred Hitchcock 1927 UK)
Kiss me Deadly (Robert Aldrich 1955 US)
Trafic (Jacques Tati 1971 France)
An American Werewolf in London (John Landis 1981 US)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch 1992 US)
La Haine (Mathieu Kassovitz 1995 France)
Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer 1998 Germany)
Memento (Christopher Nolan 2000 UK)
Dark Water (Hideo Nakata 2002 Japan)
Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog 2005 Germany/US)
Hunger (Steve McQueen 2008 UK)
Patience: After Sebald (Grant Gee 2012 UK)

Please note that this is a repeat of the course delivered on Thursdays last year with the tutor Dr Paul Sutton. For those who took that class please see HF324 which runs on a Tuesday afternoon.

What will we cover?

• The history of film as expressed through individual, indicative films
• The historical development of film form
• The development of cinematic self-expression through the articulation of a distinct visual style
• Film spectatorship, understood in both personal, historical and theoretical terms

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

• Subject a film to detailed critical analysis
• Demonstrate familiarity with the key technical terms necessary for critical film analysis
• Have a broad awareness of important moments in film history as expressed through individual indicative films
• Be familiar with a range of theoretical perspectives in film studies
• Feel confident in discussing films in a group setting

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

The course is suitable for all levels and you do not require any particular skills - just an enthusiasm for film and discussing film. The course will provide an introduction to aspects of the film subject area, in part through the collective viewing of films, but it will also be useful for those wishing to build on existing film knowledge.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

An introduction by the tutor, the screening of entire films, and large group discussions after the films have been shown. It might also be a good idea to see what you can find out about a given film in advance of the class but this is not essential.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

You will require a pen and paper (or laptop/device) but the tutor will provide all other materials such as handouts.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

The Cultureplex Ciné-Club course HF328 follows on from this one in Term 3, but look also for other Film Studies courses under History Culture and Writing/Film Studies at www.citylit.ac.uk.

Chris Darke

Dr Chris Darke is an author and film critic who has written extensively on film and the moving image for over thirty years for publications including Sight and Sound, Film Comment, Cahiers du cinéma, Frieze, mute and The Independent, among others. He has also published five books on film including Light Readings: Film Criticism and Screen Arts (Wallflower Press, 2000); Alphaville (on Jean-Luc Godard’s 1965 film. IB Tauris, 2005); Cannes: Inside the World’s Premier Film Festival (with Kieron Corless. Faber, 2007); Chris Marker: A Grin without a Cat (Whitechapel Gallery, 2016); La Jetée (on Chris Marker’s 1963 film. BFI Film Classics, 2006 & 2026). He has taught Film Studies at British universities for over thirty years and his particular research interests are in French Cinema, Artists’ Moving Image, the Essay Film, and the work of Chris Marker.

Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.