World cinema
Have you ever wondered what lies beyond Hollywood? Are you interested in films from across the globe? Then this six-week introductory course is for you. We will consider alternative cinemas to the dominant North American industry and will focus each week on a selection of illustrative films from movie producing continents such as India, Asia, South America and Africa.
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Learning modes and locations may be different depending on the course start date. Please check the location of your chosen course and read our guide to learning modes and locations to help you choose the right course for you.
- Start Date: 08 Jan 2026End Date: 12 Feb 2026Thu (Evening): 18:30 - 21:30OnlineFull fee £239.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £155.00
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What is the course about?
This online film course will introduce you to filmmaking nations that are often less visible than Hollywood and the European film industries and will look at cinemas from around the world, including Indian, Chinese, Japanese, African and South American cinema. The course will explore a representative film in depth each week and it will use clips from a wide range of films to illustrate the breadth and significance of world cinema and will explore what is sometimes referred to as ‘Third Cinema’ (Hollywood and Europe represent ‘first’ and ‘second’) while examining a range of contested ideas around nationhood and cinema.
What will we cover?
After introducing you to some of the issues at stake in considering world cinema – questions of nationhood, postcolonialism, cultural identity and history – this course will spend a week looking at the cinemas of India, China, Japan, Africa and SouthAmerica. Each session will focus on a specific film as a means of exploring not only its place in film history but also the importance of its country of origin. The selection will be paired with a contemporary film (titles to be confirmed) as a point of comparison. The films that you will look at are the celebrated Hindi classic, Pyaasa (Guru Dutt 1957 India), a key film from the so-called ‘Fifth Generation’ of Chinese filmmakers, The Yellow Earth (Chen Kaige 1984 China), a classic post-war Japanese drama, Banshun/Late Spring (Yasujiro Ozu 1949 Japan), the celebrated Egyptian film, Alexandria, Why? (Youssef Chahine 1978 Egypt) and the ‘Cinema Novo’ film Deus e o Diablo na Terra do Sol/Black God, White Devil (Glauber Rocha 1964 Brazil). While analysing these diverse films in depth the course will help you to situate them within the history and the culture of their respective nations enabling you to acquire an introductory understanding of cinemas that have developed beyond (although often in ‘conversation’ with) Hollywood.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
• appreciate a range of films from around the globe.
• understand the importance of non-Western film in an historical, political and cultural context.
• further develop the connections made between the textual, the historic and the cultural in your exploration and
analysis of world cinema.
• explore and understand matters of national and cultural identity as seen through national cinemas
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 see other Film Studies courses on our website at www.citylit.ac.uk under History, Culture and Writing/Film Studies
Gillian McIver has an MA in History and a PhD in Art History and Cinema Studies. She has made films and curated many exhibitions in London and abroad. She is the author of the first comprehensive study of the film-art relationship, Art History For Film Makers, Bloomsbury 2016. Her other books include Art and the Historical Film (2022) and Tarkovsky’s River (2012).
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.