Film & Media: A Short History of Italian Cinema

In this 5-week course, you’ll get an introduction to key moments, characteristics, directors and films of Italian cinema. Our focus will be on the 1940s onwards when Neorealism emerged as one of the most influential ‘movements’ in world cinema. We’ll look at major directors like Rossellini, Visconti and Fellini … and more recently, Moretti, Amelio and Sorrentino. We’ll also consider how stars like Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni and Gian-Maria Volonte have shaped Italian cinema. You’ll get an introduction to the development of Italian cinema, its cultural context, its infrastructure – like the famous Cinecittà Studios – and key policies that shaped it. This course is open to those new to film studies as well as those who already have some experience. Part of an occasional series of ‘film studies day schools’ it is intended to give participants a first introduction to film as a basis for further study. During our session, we’ll look at film clips and discuss them. It isn’t a prerequisite to watch the films in their entirety.

Background will be provided as will resources on further viewing and reading afterwards.