Cinemas of the African Diaspora
- Course Code:
- 15 PMS H014
- Status:
- Course Not Running This year
- Unit value:
- 0.5
Objectives and learning outcomes of the course
Upon the completion of this course, students will gain a critical understanding of the role of race, gender and Afro-Religiosity in the construction of national and cultural identities within postcolonial cinemas of the Americas. Latin American and Caribbean films within images of African-derived religions such as Lukumi, Voodoo and Candomble have produced cinematic signifiers recognisable to local audiences, in order to build a national cohesion across racially and socio-economically stratified groups. Black independent filmmakers, influenced by their Latin American and Caribbean counterparts have employed African-derived religions in order to construct a Pan-African identity grounded in a shared cultural and religious heritage.
Through a theoretical approach to third cinema and its aesthetics as “guardians of popular memory,” students will examine how Latin American, Caribbean and independent Black American cinemas have framed African-derived religions in order to build a distinct national/cultural identity from that of dominant western culture.
Scope and syllabus
The course will be divided among the following themes.
Week 1: Introduction: Aims and outline of the course
- Discussion of key concepts in terms of race, gender and religion in constructing national/cultural identity.
- Overview of popular Latin American film and representations of people of African decent and African-derived religion.
Week 2 & 3: Black Magic Woman: the Intersection of Race, Gender and Afro-Religiosity in Constructing National Identity
Xica da Silva, Carlos Diegues (Brazil, 1976)
Oggun: The Eternal Presence, Gloria Rolando (Cuba, 1991)
Week 4 & 5: Nationalising Blackness: the Transformation of Race within New Latin American Cinema
La Vida es Silbar / Life Is To Whistle, Fernando Perez (Cuba, 1998)
Central do Brasil / Central Station, Walter Salles (Brazil, 1998)
Week 6 & 7: Haitian Voodoo, Maroons and Cultural Identity in Francophone Caribbean film
Rue Cases-Nègres / Sugar Cane Alley, Euzhan Palcy (Martinique, 1983)
L’Homme sur le auais / The Man by the Shore, Raoul Peck (Haiti, 1993)
Week 8 & 9: Yoruba-Atlantic religion and Pan-Africanism in L.A. Rebellion films
Daughters of the Dust, Julie Dash (USA, 1991)
Sankofa, Haile Gerima (USA/Jamaica/Ghana, 1993)
Week 10: Black Magic Woman in Hollywood: Mainstream Industry’s adoption of Afro-Religious themes and Black women filmmakers
Eve’s Bayou, Kasi Lemmons (USA, 1997)
Method of assessment
100% Coursework.Required reading
Chanan, Michael, Cuban Cinema, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003.
Diawara, Manthia (ed.), Black American Cinema. London: Routledge, 1993.
Johnson, Randall & Stam, Robert (eds), Brazilian Cinema, New York: Columbia University Press, Revised Edition, 1995.
Martin, Michael T. (ed.), Cinema of the Black Diaspora, Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995.
Pines, Jim, & Willemen, Paul (eds.), Questions of Third Cinema, London: British Film Institute, 1994.
Stam, Robert & Miller, Toby (eds.), Film and Theory: An Anthology, London: Blackwell Publishers, 2000.
