Global Media (426-0-20)

Topic

Palestinian Cinema

Instructors

Michael Anthony Turcios

Meeting Info

Helmerich Auditorium: Tues 1:00PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

For over a century, Palestinian film and media have made significant contributions to visual history. Since the inception of cinema in the late nineteenth century, Palestine has always been on screen, in the periphery. Palestinians cannot be erased, ignored, or discredited in the history of cinema. How does centering Palestine in film and media studies reconfigure cinematic history? How have Palestinian film and media responded to the trauma of displacement across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries?

This course offers an historiographic account of Palestinian film and media in relation to Indigeneity, settler colonial occupation, right to return, genocide, diaspora, and survival and resilience. By contextualizing the cultural, political, and social conditions that have shaped Palestinian film and media for more than one hundred years, this course draws attention to production, circulation, and exhibition practices within the theatrical and nontheatrical realms.

In addition, the course interrogates the category of "national" cinema. This query includes studying film and media made in all parts of occupied Palestine; transnational productions; filmmakers of the diaspora; and films made in the Global South as a gesture of solidarity and support for the Palestinian cause. In addition, we will connect our study to race and ethnic studies in the U.S. (Latinx, Indigenous, Black, Asian, and Arab).

Prominent scholars and reputable human rights organizations explain that the ongoing genocide in Palestine is perhaps one of the most documented forms of violence. This is due in part to the proliferation of media technologies, such as cellphones. Ultimately, the course offers students the methods to chart Palestinian film and media history and its future.

Special note: This course enrolls undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate students are required to satisfy graduate-level work in consultation with the professor. Unique in its design, this course will create a space for mentorship, structured collaboration between undergraduates and graduates, and welcome a breadth of perspectives and approaches. Though this is a four-hour course, the last two hours are reserved for film screenings.

Evaluation Method

Attendance
Class participation
Paper, midterm
Presentations
Research project