ITAL1029 Summer20 S01 World Cinema in a Global Context Director: Prof. Massimo Riva (Italian Studies, Brown) Guest lecturer: Prof. Giacomo Manzoli (University of Bologna); Regina Luongo (Brown); Philip Rosen (Brown). Bologna Cineteca faculty: film director Adriano Sforzi Brown Center Assistant: Adam Giambastiani

Description: This intensive and project-oriented summer course introduces students to World Cinema and its history through an original contextualized approach centered around the Cinema Ritrovato Film Festival, hosted every summer by the Cineteca of Bologna. While in Bologna, students visit the Cineteca and its laboratories, and attend a series of lessons and seminars focused on the role of archive-based festivals in shaping, cultivating, and catering to, a new breed of “cinephiles.” In these introductory classes, we will focus in particular on the changing meaning of “cinephilia” (lit., "love of cinema") from its origin in the 1950s to its mutation in the digital age. Guest faculty from Brown and the University of Bologna will also provide an overview of the 2020 Cinema Ritrovato program. Side activities also include excursions and pasta-making classes. Activities: (a complete calendar and detailed schedule will be provided in Bologna) Before the festival (June 12-19), students attend daily seminars with Brown and University of Bologna faculty, and a workshop with director Adriano Sforzi. This workshop will cover in particular techniques of “observational cinema” to be applied to the final project. During the festival (June 20-28), students attend screenings at the Cinema Ritrovato Festival and shoot their film. After the festival (June 29-July 8), students complete the shooting and focus on the editing of the footage. Final Project. Before the festival, students will form film crews and will work on the subject of a short film (5’-10’) in digital format, chronicling their experience in Bologna: the short can be a documentary-style or narrative film, or a film-essay, and should include footage shot during the festival – such as group or individual interviews, references to, or discussions of the films viewed. Final cuts of the film projects will be presented and critiqued by the faculty on the last day of the program (July 8). Personal Journal: Students are required to keep an individual journal recording their personal experience as spectators at the Cinema Ritrovato. The format is entirely up to the student but should include short reviews of selected films viewed at the festival, as well as a detailed explanation of their specific contribution to the team project. Individual journals are due to Prof. Riva by July 15. Goals On successful completion of this course unit, you will be able to: a) have a critical understanding of the aesthetic, historical, economic, and political dimensions of film festivals in relation to the concepts of “cinephilia” and “world/global cinema”; b) become acquainted with fundamental technical and cultural issues relating to film restoration and preservation; c) acquire and apply basic skills in writing, shooting and editing a short film. A useful resource to familiarize yourself with basic critical tools for film analysis and writing about film is found here: Film Analysis (https://filmanalysis.coursepress.yale.edu/ (Links to an external site.)) Assessment Please, note: The final grade will reflect your overall performance in all activities, percentage distribution is only indicative. All components must be successfully completed. Class and festival attendance, active participation in seminars and filmmaking workshop amount to 50%; contribution to final project and personal journal amount to the other 50% of the grade. Pre-departure questions, and suggested readings and viewings: In preparation for your trip to Italy, you are invited to reflect upon the concept of “cinephilia” (or love of cinema): this can also become the main thread of your individual journal or travelogue. Some questions you may want to reflect upon: do you consider yourself a “cinephile” (you may be one without realizing it)? If so, how would you characterize, or define, your personal love for the cinema? How does it compare to, or intersect with, other cultural interests or passions of yours? What films, directors, actors, or film genres, have most contributed to shaping your cinematic taste? Where, when, how, with whom, do you usually watch films (online, in movie theatres, during the day, at night, alone, with friends)? How often do you talk about the films you watch? How often do you watch classic or art films, “foreign language” films, or in general films from other countries or cultures? What aspect of filmmaking particularly interests you? To start thinking about cinephilia and related questions, check out these blog entries by renowned critics (and fans of the Cinema Ritrovato):

“Games Cinephiles Play” (http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2008/08/03/games-cinephiles- play/ (Links to an external site.)) (David Bordwell) Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia (Links to an external site.) (http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2004/06/goodbye-cinema-hello-cinephilia/ (Links to an external site.) (Jonathan Rosenbaum) You may read this short book by Girish Shambu (you can download it on your Kindle or IPad for $4.00): The New Cinephilia (Links to an external site.) https://www.caboosebooks.net/the-new- cinephilia (Links to an external site.) You can also browse this site: Cinephilia & Beyond (Links to an external site.) (https://cinephiliabeyond.org/ (Links to an external site.))

If you have time to kill (and even if you don't), watch at least an episode of The Story of Film. An Odissey (https://brown.kanopy.com/video/story-film-odyssey-0 (Links to an external site.)) many hours but a great introduction to World Cinema and the Cinema Ritrovato, available through brown.kanopy.com (Links to an external site.), sign-in required). Also highly recommended: My Voyage to Italy (1999, Martin Scorsese's personal journey through Italian film). Pre-departure required readings about Film Festivals and World Cinema (read one, available on Canvas): Cindy Wong, "History, Structure and Practice in the Festival World " (from: Film Festivals: Culture, People, and Power on the Global Screen, Rutgers U.P., 2011); Marjike De Valck, "Film Festivals as Sites of PassageLinks to an external site." (from: Film Festivals from European Geopolitics to Global Cinephilia, Amsterdam U.P., 2007; link to online copy, Brown library access needed). Dudley Andrew, "Time Zones and Jet Lag " (from World Cinema. Transnational Perspectives); Francesco Di Chiara and Valentina Re, "Film Festival/Film History: The Impact of Film Festivals on Cinema Historiography. Il cinema ritrovato and beyond "; Cinémas : revue d'études cinématographiques / Cinémas: Journal of Film Studies, vol. 21, n° 2-3, 2011, p. 131- 151.