Course List « Previous Course | Next Course »

The course seeks to introduce students to the history, culture, and industry of film in the Asian region, and focuses in particular on the socio-cultural relations linking the production, circulation, and appreciation of films with history, politics, business, organizations, people, and money. It is taught primarily by lectures and class work, and is attentive to the cinematic worlds in China, Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, India, among others, comparing what we find there with standard readings on cinema in Europe and the United States. It thus looks at how local/regional variations can be found in the organization and practices of different film worlds, and tries to explain why they exist. In the long-term, the course serves as a foundation for those who wish to pursue a career in film and media by familiarising them with the special dynamics of the world of cinema, alerting them especially to the challenges of managing creative people, creative works, production contexts, and their accompanying ideologies.