Introductory & General Film Studies Courses

Experimental film is often non-narrative and avant-garde. It is made to explore the boundaries of film and push the limits of what is considered normal filmmaking. Experimental films often use unconventional techniques such as animation, found footage and non-linear narrative structures to create unique visual experiences. The class will look at early experimental films by Georges Méliès, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Maya Deren, alongside recent digital works.

This online film studies course will offer an introduction to the relationship between film and music from an historical, political and cultural viewpoint. Key theorical concepts will be introduced to discuss landmark film scenes and evaluate the impact music has on the audience, the role it can play in the narrative, in the editing style, in relation to film space and time. We will focus on key filmmakers, key music styles and specific cinematic genres to offer an overview of the historical evolution of music in films from the beginnings of the sound film to new contemporary approaches. We will as well discuss how instruments and musicians are depicted in films, from historical period films, album videos, biopics to documentaries from all over the world.

This crucial course on contemporary cinema coincides with the sheer variety of films released immediately before BAFTA /Academy Awards season. Join a community of cinephiles to discuss and debate your favourite films of the past year and compile a list—The List of Best Films—added to and modified as new films are released each week. Students become critics in an ongoing class conversation, some even sharing their inner-geek in a guilt-free environment. As we meet on Mondays, some students extend the day by going to the special price Monday Matinees at several neighbourhood cinemas. Whether you call it homework or dedication, that’s entertainment!

Defining cinema in the 1940s, the film noir style is usually associated with the crime and detective thriller, but the style can also be found in many horror films of the period. Explore horror-noir classics such as The Wolf Man (1941), Cat People (1942), I Walked With a Zombie (1943) and many others, and the ways in which they reveal an intersection of these generic and stylistic traditions.

Thank the cinema gods, Mike Leigh is back with his first film in six years. Hard Truths (2024) is dark and very bleak—and that’s a compliment! Ken Loach retired twice before being driven to make I, Daniel Blake (2016), The Old Oak (2023) and Sorry We Missed You (2019). We’re missing you already, but beyond our Ken has emerged a new wave of realist filmmakers: Clio Barnard (The Arbor, 2010), Charlotte Wells (Aftersun, 2022), Sarah Gavron (Rocks, 2019) and Andrea Arnold (Bird, 2024). And put in a word for Lynne Ramsey’s new film Die, My Love (2024), only her 5th in a 25-year career. Ramsay may not have made many features since her indelible debut with Ratcatcher (1999)—but she has also never shot a dull image.

“The Ultimate gathering together was in the movie theatre, and the Eucharist was that silver-infused, snapping reel of film that lured me in.” Explore the cinematic world of Tennessee Williams, who transformed American theatre and cinema with his depictions of social taboos, through iconic characters, Stanley Kowalski, Blanche DuBois, Big Daddy and Maggie the Cat.

In the early 1970s, animation throughout the United States was considered a niche form of entertainment, suitable only to entertain kids on Saturday mornings, or perhaps a group of less-than-sober university students. Today, it is one of the world’s most profitable and popular entertainment industries. This course tells the story of the rise of contemporary American animation, exploring the circumstances that allowed the creation of films like Wizards (1977), An American Tail The Little Mermaid (1989), Shrek (2001) and Frozen (2013). It will trace contemporary US animation’s origins, explore its histories, and celebrate its achievements.