Women Filmmakers in Europe: A New Wave

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Shortly after Agnès Varda had passed away on March 29, 2019, the subject made the headlines during the Cannes film festival. In the footsteps of Varda, of Akerman, of Wertmüller and Denis, there is a "New Wave" of women filmmakers in Europe (for example, Maren Ade, Frederikke Aspöck, Ester Gould, Barbara Eder, Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Ines Tanovic, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Céline Sciamma, Mati Diop, Alice Winocour...). This "wave" is not only reshaping a whole cinematic tradition and language, it is also profoundly transforming a highly masculine and macho film industry, not to mention... European societies as a whole. We will analyze works, working conditions and modes of production while discussing the lasting impact of the recent feminist movements on the industry. This will offer a window to a European culture and society in which until recently, the word "feminist" had tended to be outmoded...This course is taught in English