Political Cinema: Crafting Influence, Shaping History

About this course:

In this course, we examine the influence of politically charged films that have inspired or altered our cultural landscapes. For perspective, we begin with clips of the historical films Battleship Potemkin (1925), Birth of a Nation (1915), and Triumph of the Will (1935) to assess how these films drew audiences into their messages using powerful narratives that evoked empathy or ignited controversy. We also illuminate the cinematic techniques and historical impact of films such as The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Dr. Strangelove (1964), Z (1969), 1984 (1984), JFK (1991), All the President’s Men (1976), Malcolm X (1992) and perhaps even Mean Girls (2004) to appreciate each films’ innovative storytelling, editing, and cinematography techniques that captured—and sometimes manipulated—the political fervor of their times. This course uses the Hybrid format which allows students to participate remotely and/or in the classroom. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.