Advanced Seminar: Spring

Undergraduate / Graduate

Cinema Chicago: Producers, Audiences, Films This Advanced Seminar explores the history and development of Chicago film cultures from the silent era to the present day. We will begin with the emergence of film producers at the turn of the twentieth century, looking at the development of comedy shorts and the activities of Black film producers on the South Side in the silent era. We will then look at documentary film production through the case of Kartemquin and the engagement of local filmmakers with the practice of chronicling the city. Following film production, we will examine Chicago as a site of film festivals and contemporary film production, including the mission of the Chicago Film Office. The second part of the course will turn to moviegoing culture across the city, from movie palaces to microcinemas, examining moviegoing audiences in Chicago's neighborhoods. The last part of the course will focus on the city on screen through four themes: the migrant city, the gangster and Noir city, the working and union city, and the youthful city. Through the case of Chicago, we will examine methods of doing local film history, approaches to reception, and questions of cinema and the urbanscape.