GERST 3525 - [New German Cinema]

(crosslisted) ARTH 3535, PMA 3525, VISST 3535
(ALC-AS, CA-AS, HST-AS)

Fall or Spring. Not offered: 2023-2024. Next offered: 2024-2025. 3 credits. Student option grading.

Taught in English. Screenings in German with English subtitles.

E. Born.

This course introduces the New German Cinema (1962-85), an influential movement of West German filmmakers including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Alexander Kluge, Margarethe von Trotta, and Wim Wenders. Like the French New Wave, the New German Cinema is known not only for grappling with the nation’s complex history, but also for experimenting with early multimedia forms. Watching the movement’s celebrated films and reading its controversial texts, we will discuss the complex search for national identity after World War II; problems of authorship, genre, and cinematic traditions; and the changing conceptions of media and the public sphere. Students without experience in film studies are welcome—the course will also double as an introduction to discussing and analyzing film. Screenings in German with English subtitles.