CINEMA AND VISUAL CULTURE IN SOUTH-ASIA

This course will guide the student through a variety of artistic expressions and communication forms specific to certain regions of Asia, providing him with basic knowledge and critical tools to understand the visual culture of Asian societies, between tradition and modernity, also connected to expanding cultural industries and identity processes in continual transfiguration.

The aim of the module is to provide students from different scientific backgrounds with basic knowledge and tools to understand the figurative and visual languages ​​used in modern and contemporary South Asian societies, both for the purposes of self-representation and identity building. Lessons will include the illustration of case studies with film screenings and the use of audiovisual material. At the end of the course the student will be able to comprehend the importance of the visual production for the study of societies and historical periods, and deepen raised issues and themes in relation to the knowledges acquired during his studies; he will be also required to critically approach the theories formulated by critics.

The course does not require skills of a specific, linguistic or methodological basis. The necessary background for the comprehension of the proposed analysis will be provided. Nevertheless, a good knowledge of the English language in order to access autonomously to the bibliography is necessary.

The course aims to outline the history of Indian cinema in relation to the contemporary visual productions of the subcontinent and the changing modern and contemporary societies of South Asia. It will move from Bollywood production - one of the largest film industries in the world - but without neglecting the rise and affirmation of 'national' film productions, their projecting towards a global aesthetic, and the bond and tensions between tradition and modernity.
The proposed analysis will take into consideration the political, economic and cultural dynamics that have affected the production, distribution and reception of films, both in the region and on the international scene. The visual phenomenon will therefore be examined in relation to linguistic phenomena, literary productions, but also to the pouring out of identity, political and economic anxieties and ambitions that have played a key role in the redefinition of genres and in conditioning the production. The most recent theoretical studies on the sector will be examined in relation to social changes, the production and distribution of audiovisuals in relation to changing tastes and aesthetics. The course will therefore provide students with historical-theoretical basis and reading keys of visual productions, more precisely of film practices.

Essential readings: course notes and slides.
The complete bibliography for the exam will be provided during the course. A series of scientific writings useful to examine in depth the topics discussed in class and to carry out the assignment will be indicated during the course and uploaded on the university's e-learning platform moodle.unive.it.

Assessment will be by means of a final oral examination on the approached themes; great importance will be given to the students' attendance and active participation to lessons and discussions. The acquired knowledge, the appropriate use of the technical vocabulary, the ability to critically approach the proposed readings and themes and bring them in relation to their acquired knowledges will be assessed during the final examination. Furthermore, the student will be asked to prepare a short essay on a director or a film; the topic must be agreed with professor and the essay must be submitted one week before the final exam.

Frontal classes, viewing of emblematic films or films' sequences, students' presentations and the discussion of issues raised during the classes. The course will adopt a thematic approach. Through the analysis of films, directors, and movements discussions and a critical approach will be ecouraged.

Italian

Whose unable to regularly attend classes are asked to contact the professor at the beginning of the course in order to discuss the examination program.

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development