Ecocinema

Catalog description

From GoPro films shot by animals, to meditative landscape films, and narrative cinema that captures the dread of living with climate change, this course looks at cinema's intersection with ecology. Ecocinema describes a connection between cinema and a range of topics, including the perspectives of plants and animals; Indigenous ecological knowledge and land rights; as well as environmental violences like climate change and contamination. This course provides an entry into these topics through a variety of readings from Environmental Studies, Science and Technology Studies, Indigenous Studies, and more. In tandem with readings, we will view films across genres, from documentary and experimental films to TV series and video installation, as well as narrative cinema. Screenings will include the work of filmmakers like John Akomfrah, Alanis Obobsowin, Sky Hopinka, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel, T.J. Cuthand, and James Benning. In addition to reading and viewing, work for this course involves weekly discussion posts, an in-person midterm exam, a final presentation, and a final "nonhuman perspectives" assignment.