Global Neorealism (277-0-20)
Instructors
Domietta Torlasco
847/491-8269
1860 S. Campus Drive, Crowe Hall #2-131
Meeting Info
Harris Hall L28: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
Rapid changes in our media landscape (special effects, virtual reality, AI) have at once expanded and challenged our sense of reality. This course returns to a pivotal moment in the history of audiovisual media when, in the aftermath of World War II, cinema tested its own capacity to show the world as it is. The development of the film movement known as Italian Neorealism marked a profound shift worldwide by bringing to the screen issues of freedom and social justice and adopting a language that heavily relied on documentary techniques. Films such as Roberto Rossellini's Rome, Open City (1945) and Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1947) have been influential for generations of filmmakers in countries as diverse as Brazil, France, India, Iran, Senegal, and the United States. This course will explore the history of neorealism and its aftermath from a transnational perspective, starting with the movement's own spurious origins. We will follow how the neorealist approach developed under diverse geopolitical conditions and adapted itself to document and even participate in struggles for liberation, equality, and socioeconomic justice. While reading key texts in film and cultural studies, we will watch and analyze films by renowned directors such as Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, Charles Burnett, Jean-Luc Godard, Abbas Kiarostami, Ousmane Sembène, and Jia Zhangke.
Class Materials (Required)
Materials available on Canvas.
Class Attributes
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity