342 Contemporary German Film 1980- (3)
This course will introduce students to the important role film has played in
the public discourse about German society immediately prior to reunification in
the 1980's and during the turbulent social adjustments in unified Germany after
1990. Lectures and readings in the first week will cover important terms and
concepts in film theory as well as provide background for the specific German
context of film history. The class will treat film in the 1980's in terms of
continuations of and liberations from the New German Cinema of the 1970's in
West Germany, and in the context of state censorship and sponsorship of film in
East Germany. We will approach movies from the 1990s and 2000's by accessing
their depiction of historical and contemporary Germany throught the lens of
reunification, and we will examine issues of German identity especially as
contextualized by reunification and multiculturalism. The course will be taught
in English with subtitled films. Prerequisite: Ger 315 for German majors/minors