Cinema and Imperialism

This seminar examines how cinema has been utilized in the service of and in opposition to imperial projects from the twentieth century to the present. We will consider the close kinship between the capture of moving images and practices of imperial war and domination. We will also explore how movements such as Third Cinema have sought to create oppositional space within global culture industries. Films we will discuss include non-fiction such as U.S. Information Agency shorts and the work of Harun Farocki, as well as narrative features such as Apocalypse Now, Zero Dark Thirty, Battle of Algiers, and Perfumed Nightmare.