History of Film: Women Directors

Women have been routinely excluded from filmic
participation and from the cinematic canon on
multiple levels. BFI's famous "50 best films of
all time" list
(https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all
-time) includes only one female director. This
course is designed to repair decades of erasure,
by presenting superb films directed by women, from
1920's- the present. Weekly screenings will
include works by Lotte Reiniger, Dorothy Arzner,
Agnes Varda, Julie Dash, the instructor (Nina
Menkes) and many more. We will focus on issues of
representation, the way male dominance Is coded
cinematically, questions of form-can we use the
master's tools to dismantle the master's house?
What does it mean to speak from the dominant
position versus from a marginal position both
cinematically and narratively?
The accummulated impact of screenings, and related
readings, week after week, of powerful work by
female directors will serve to undercut the
oppressive impression many of us carry that most
"important" or "classic" films are directed by
men.
Readings will focus on feminist film theory.