Spanish Cinema

Objectives:
The course offers an introduction to the history of Spanish cinema, by presenting different genres and traditional movies. With that in mind, the course includes a series of titles that allow the student to learn the general trajectory and evolution of Spanish cinematography. Nonetheless, students will learn from the most primitive to the most recent cinematic style in order to facilitate a complete understanding of new filmography that more closely compliments a student?s interest.

The program does not try to be exhaustive, nor has it been organized around one specific criterion. With that in mind, the course has mixed the chronological (the first authors of cinema under the era of Franco), the thematic (the recreation of the Republic and the Civil War, the social cinema, the most intimate cinema, historical recreations), the generic (the comedy), with the most renowned and greatest influence of directors: (Carlos Saura, Pedro Almodóvar, and Alejandro Amenábar). Also, a special section has been created and dedicated specifically to women behind the camera who have presented a particular vision of reality that merits keeping in mind while studying Spanish cinema.

The course trys to offer sufficient theoretical support (historical, social, and asthetic) so that the student is able to reach a more substantial comprehension of the works that are presented and the idiosyncrasies of Spanish cinema in general.

Methodology
The course is taught in Spanish, of a level that requires the advanced understanding of the Spanish language.
At the beginning of each session, the professor will offer an observation substantiated by a theoretical characteristic. This observation will be drawn from a context found within the film that allows the student to apply a theory as discussed in class. In order to facilitate this comprehension, a student will be required to illustrate this observation through several examples and fragments of film.
After this introductory part, the professor will proceed to present the film and offering visual examples cited in their original observation allowing students the opportunity to engage themselves in dialog and discussion.
At the end of the film presentation, the professor will discuss the most common elements that may be the most stereotypical and offer possible doubts concerning their stereotypes.
To complete the cycle, the class will be divided in groups and an aspect of the film will be entrusted to each of them on which the student will have to work on outside of class. In the following session, students will have to discuss the conclusions they reached.
In this same vein, students will be encouraged to go and see current films at the cinema that follow the themes of the course. The professor will then request the student to submit a brief summary of the film viewed.

Evaluation
La calificación final se obtendrá del siguiente modo:
? Participación en clase: 10%
? Exposiciones en grupo: 30%
? Reseñas de las películas extra: 15 %
? Comentario final: 45 %.