Masters of Cinema: Céline Sciamma
Dr Karine Chevalier is a lecturer in Film studies. She is also a filmmaker. Her main research interests lie in the field of Transnational Cinema, French and Francophone Cinema, Visual Arts and Aesthetics, Postcolonial Studies, Intermediality, as well as Screenwriting and Filmmaking, with a specific focus on Violence and Resilience, Creative Voices, Digital Storytelling and Multiscreens, Alterities and Minorities, Moving (auto)Portraits and Masks.
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- Start Date: 14 Jun 2025End Date: 14 Jun 2025Sat (Daytime): 10:30 - 16:30In PersonFull fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00
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What is the course about?
Sciamma’s versatile body of work can be situated somewhere between the twilight of the French New Wave and commercial American cinema, playing with the format of auteur films on the one hand and the established format of big-budget production on the other.
Sciamma’s feminist approach demonstrates the pressure of gender, and of social and ethnic norms by playing with cinematographic codes (teenpics, ‘Banlieue or suburb filmmaking’, animation, costume drama). This course will also reflect upon Sciamma’s position in relation to the female gaze, the fluidity of gender and transgression.
What will we cover?
The course will consider Sciamma's key films in some detail while exploring a range of themes that she has developed and expressed across the body of her work. Sciamme has reflected articulately on her own films and has discussed her interest in the development of what she has called a 'female gaze'. The course will consider this among other concerns that have been examined by Sciamma in her still relatively short, but significantly influential, film career.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Appreciate Celine Sciamma's filmmaking career and be familiar with her key films
- Demonstrate familiarity with a number of the notable themes in Sciamma's work
- Discuss and question the female gaze, while also considering female authorship, and subjectivities.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is an introductory course and as such does not presuppose any prior expertise in film history or film analysis. The skills required to explore the topics and the films will be discussed in class.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
The course will be delivered by the tutor with small and large group discussions. Short film extracts will be screened throughout. Reading relevant to the course will be made available in Google Classroom. All PowerPoint presentations will be placed into Google Classroom after each class so that you can follow up afterwards. Where possible links to films online will be provided.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
Clips will be shown extensively throughout the course. Where possible links to online sources will be made available.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Please look also for other Film Studies courses under History Culture and Writing/Film Studies at www.citylit.ac.uk.
Dr Karine Chevalier is a lecturer in Film studies. She is also a filmmaker. Her main research interests lie in the field of Transnational Cinema, French and Francophone Cinema, Visual Arts and Aesthetics, Postcolonial Studies, Intermediality, as well as Screenwriting and Filmmaking, with a specific focus on Violence and Resilience, Creative Voices, Digital Storytelling and Multiscreens, Alterities and Minorities, Moving (auto)Portraits and Masks.
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.