10578 Palestinian Cinema 1
Credits: 6 advanced credits in Film Studies or in History
Prerequisites: 36 credits, including one course in Film Studies or The Arab Community in Israel. Students must also fulfill all English requirements and take bibliographic instruction in the Library.
Recommended: Modern Literary and Cultural Theory: An Introduction
Authors: Nurith Gertz, George Khleifi. The course is based on their book, Landscape in Mist: Space and Memory in Palestinian Cinema (The Open University and Am Oved, 2006), and on a reader.
The course deals with a wide variety of Palestinian films, from the documentary films of the 1970s through contemporary cinema. The course surveys the history and ideology of Palestinian cinema created within and outside the borders of Israel, and examines its role in Palestinian culture and history. Much of the course is dedicated to an analysis of the cinematic works themselves, accompanied by an attempt to learn from them about the frame of mind of Palestinian society and the changes it underwent.
The course imparts skills for analyzing the films discussed in the course and provides a theoretical background for understanding the changes that Palestinian society is undergoing, as well as the history of Palestinian cinema.
Chapters: Chronicle of Palestinian cinema; From bleeding memories to productive memories: Cinema in the 1970s; On time and place: The films of Michel Khleifi; Without time and without place: The films of Rashid Masharawi; The house and its destruction: The films of Ali Nasser; A dead-end: Roadblock movies; Between exile and homeland: The films of Elia Suleiman.
Accompanying films: Tutorial sessions include guided viewing of films. Films that are extensively discussed are loaned to students. Other films are available to students at the Open University library and at study centers.
1Students may write a seminar paper in this course although it is not required.