Module description
This module considers films made in the German-speaking countries that open perspectives on the place of film in circuits of colonial and postcolonial politics and power.The main focus is on German or Austrian films that figure African landscapes, peoples and histories, as well as the experience of Afro-German minorities in the German-speaking countries. Teaching is organized broadly chronologically, and structured around four thematic units. After an initial consideration of different definitions of 'decolonisation' and their relevance for the module, we move to a first unit on film archives and colonial memory. Three further units consider examples from arthouse and counter cinema that open critical perspectives on Eurocentric, nostalgic or exoticising views of the African continent. We then move on to a selection of Cold War films, exploring how visions of Africa in German cinema divided images of the continent along East-West lines; and the module concludes with contemporary Afro-German films exploring the black and brown minority presence in the German-speaking countries.
The module is designed to appeal to a broad range of students with interests in, for instance, questions of decolonisation; postcolonial film and cinema; German colonialism in cultural and political history; 'race' and cinema. No prior knowledge of German is required, nor are students expected to have a grounding in film studies.
Assessment details
one 1000-word sequence or image analysis (15%) and one 3000-word essay (85%)
Educational aims & objectives
This module aims to:
- extend students' knowledge of how debates on decolonisation relate to film history and culture;
- furnish students with resources and opportunities for informed debate on questions of 'race', colonialism, migration and cultural difference in Germanic culture and history;
- hone student skills in the critical reading of core primary film and visual texts;
- develop student awareness of key methodologies and terminologies;
- enhance students' capacity to communicate complex ideas clearly and cogently in a seminar situation as well as in written work;
- develop students' research competence and self-awareness as independent researchers
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module students are able to:
- grasp and compare diverse critical and historical approaches to 'race' and cinema, especially but not exclusively in the German-African context;
- demonstrate a good understanding of the history of German colonial and postcolonial relations since the late C19;
- appreciate better the complex interplay between cinema and global colonial and postcolonial histories;
- shape their own learning by setting research agendas, conducting and reporting on independent research;
- demonstrate skills in the close reading and analysis of film;
- cogently present their views in class discussion and in written form.
Teaching pattern
two-hour screenings and a two-hour seminar, weekly
Suggested reading list
- Sebastian Conrad, German Colonialism. A Short History (Cambridge, 2011) (required reading: purchase strongly recommended)
- Timothy Corrigan & Patricia White, The Film Experience. An Introduction. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s 2015 (4th edn) (recommended for students with no prior knowledge of film analysis)
Films (indicative list)
- Weisse Geister/White Ghosts (Martin Baer, 2004)
- Majubs Reise (Majub’s Journey, Eva Knopf, 2013)
- Spell Reel (Filipa Cesar, 2018)
- Schlafkrankheit/Sleeping Sickness (Ulrich Köhler, 2011)
- Paradies Liebe (Ulrich Seidl, 2012)
- Toxi (Robert A. Stemmle, 1952)
- Jagdpartie (Hunting Party, Ibrahim Shaddad, 1964)
- Alles wird gut/Everything will be ok (Angeline Maccarone, 1998)
- Die Arier (The Aryans, Mo Asumang, 2014)
- Joy (Sudabeh Mortezai, 2018)