Ateneo - UPO

Introduction to Black Cinema: representation and self-representation of Africans and Afro-descendants in African, European and US cinema from its origins to the present day

anthology of essays provided by the teacher
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filmography:
At least five films per group must be seen

È obbligatorio vedere almeno cinque film per ogni gruppo.

a) Film africani

1. Stazione centrale (باب الحديد, Youssef Chahine, Egitto 1958)
2. La Noire de... (Ousmane Sembène, Francia-Senegal 1966)
3. Jemima + Johnny (Lionel N’Gakane, Sud Africa-Regno Unito 1966)
4. La mummia (المومياء, Shadi Abdel Salam, Egitto 1969)
5. Soleil Ô (Med Hondo, Francia-Mauritania 1970)
6. Sambizanga (Sarah Maldoror, Francia-Angola 1972)
7. Il viaggio della iena (Touki Bouki, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Senegal 1973)
8. Toula ou Le génie des eaux (Moustapha Alassane, Niger 1973)
9. Muna Moto (Jean-Pierre Dikongué Pipa, Camerun 1975)
10. Cronaca degli anni di brace (وقائع سنين الجمر,, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algeria, 1975)
11. Yeelen, la luce (Yeelen, Souleymane Cissé, Mali-Burkina Faso-Francia-Germania Ovest 1987)
12. Tilaï (Idrissa Ouédraogo, Burkina Faso-Svizzera-Regno Unito-Francia-Germania 1990)
13. Ṣamt al-quṣūr - Les Silences du palais (صمت القصور, Moufida Tlatli, Tunisia-Francia 1994)
14. Guimba, un tyran, une époque (Cheick Oumar Sissoko, Mali 1995)
15. Mossane (Safi Faye, Senegal 1996)
16. Daratt - La stagione del perdono (Daratt, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Ciad-Francia-Belgio-Austria 2006)
17. Teza (ጤዛ, Haile Gerima, Etiopia-Germania-Francia 2008)
18. Le Challat de Tunis (شلاط تونس, Kaouther Ben Hania, Tunisia-Francia 2013)
19. Much Loved (الزين اللي فيك, Nabil Ayouch, Marocco, 2015)
20. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, Mauritania-Francia 2014)
21. I Am Not a Witch (Rungano Nyoni, Regno Unito-Francia-Germania-Zambia-Ghana 2017)
22. Atlantique (Mati Diop, Senegal-Francia-Belgio 2019)
23. Mami Wata (C.J. Obasi, Nigeria-Francia-Regno Unito 2023)

b) Film statunitensi

1. Within Our Gates (Oscar Micheaux, USA 1920)
2. Alleluja! (Hallelujah, King Vidor, USA 1929)
3. Carmen Jones (Otto Preminger, USA 1954)
4. Strategia di una rapina (Odds Against Tomorrow, Robert Wise, USA 1959)
5. Ombre (Shadows, John Cassavetes, USA 1959)
6. La calda notte dell'ispettore Tibbs (In the Heat of the Night, Norman Jewison, USA 1967)
7. Putney Swope (Robert Downey Sr., USA 1969)
8. L'uomo caffelatte (Watermelon Man, Melvin Van Peebles, USA 1970)
9. Shaft il detective (Shaft, Gordon Parks, USA 1971)
10. Sounder (Martin Ritt, USA 1972)
11. Killer of Sheep (Charles Burnett, USA 1978)
12. Fratello di un altro pianeta (The Brother from Another Planet, John Sayles, USA 1984)
13. Il colore viola (The Color Purple, Steven Spielberg, USA 1985)
14. Bird (Clint Eastwood, USA 1988)
15. Il principe cerca moglie (Coming to America, John Landis, 1988)
16. Fa’ la cosa giusta (Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee, USA 1989)
17. Boyz n the Hood - Strade violente (Boyz n the Hood, John Singleton, 1991)
18. Chi non salta bianco è (White Men Can't Jump, Ron Shelton, USA 1992)
19. Beloved (Jonathan Demme, USA 1998)
20. Alì (Ali, Michael Mann, USA 2001)
21. Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, USA 2012)
22. High Flying Bird (Steven Soderbergh, USA 2019)
23. Noi (Us, Jordan Peele, USA 2019)

c) Film europei e sudamericani

1. Senza pietà (Alberto Lattuada, Italia 1948)
2. La battaglia di Algeri (Gillo Pontecorvo, Italia-Algeria 1966)
3. Il nero (Giovanni Vento, Italia 1967)
4. Seduto alla sua destra (Valerio Zurlini, Italia 1968)
5. Il leone a sette teste (Der Leone Have Sept Cabeças, Glauber Rocha, Francia-Italia-Brasile, 1970)
6. La paura mangia l'anima (Angst essen Seele auf, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Germania Ovest, 1974)
7. ’Round Midnight (Bertrand Tavernier, Francia-USA 1986)
8. Playing Away (Horace Ové, Regno Unito, 1987)
9. Come sono buoni i bianchi! (Marco Ferreri, Italia-Francia-Spagna 1988)
10. Chocolat (Claire Denis, Francia-Camerun 1988)
11. Un incendio visto da lontano (Et la lumière fut, Otar Ioseliani, Francia 1989)
12. Pummarò (Michele Placido, Italia 1990)
13. L'odio (La Haine, Mathieu Kassovitz, Francia 1995)
14. Kirikù e la strega Karabà (Kirikou et la Sorcière, Michel Ocelot, Francia-Belgio-Lussemburgo 1998)
15. In My Country (John Boorman, Regno Unito-Irlanda-Sud Africa 2004)
16. Verso il sud (Vers le sud, Laurent Cantet, Francia-Canada 2005)
17. Venere nera (Vénus noire, Abdellatif Kechiche, Francia-Belgio-Tunisia 2010)
18. Miracolo a Le Havre (Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki, Finlandia-Francia-Germania 2011)
19. Paradise: Love (Paradies: Liebe, Ulrich Seidl, Austria-Germania-Francia, 2012)
20. Diamante nero (Bande de filles, Céline Sciamma, Francia 2014)
21. I miserabili (Les Misérables, Ladj Ly, Francia 2019)
22. Twist à Bamako (Robert Guédiguian, Francia-Canada-Senegal-Italia-Mali 2021)
23. Saint Omer (Alice Diop, Francia 2022)

d) Documentari

1. Voyage au Congo (Marc Allégret, Francia 1927)
2. Moi, un noir (Jean Rouch, Francia 1958)
3. Africa in crisi (Come Back Africa, Lionel Rogosin, USA-Sud Africa 1959)
4. Fata Morgana (Werner Herzog, Germania Ovest 1970)
5. Appunti per un'Orestiade africana (Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italia 1970)
6. King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (Sidney Lumet, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, USA 1970)
7. I Am Somebody (Madeline Anderson, USA 1970)
8. Transes (الحال, Ahmed El Maânouni, Marocco-Francia 1981)
9. Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (Joe Layton, USA 1982)
10. Style Wars (Tony Silver, USA 1983)
11. Tongues Untied (Marlon T. Riggs, USA 1989)
12. Hoop Dreams (Steve James, USA 1994)
13. Quando eravamo re (When We Were Kings, Leon Gast, USA 1996)
14. Hillbrow Kids (Jacqueline Görgen, Michael Hammon, Sud Africa-Germania 1999)
15. ABC Africa (Abbas Kiarostami, Iran 2001)
16. The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (Göran Hugo Olsson, Svezia-USA 2011)
17. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (Stanley Nelson Jr., USA 2015)
18. I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck, Svizzera-Francia-Belgio-USA 2016)
19. Makala (Emmanuel Gras, Francia 2017)
20. Le Loup d’Or de Balolé (Aïcha Chloé Boro, Burkina Faso-Francia 2019)
21. Summer of Soul (Ahmir Khalib Thompson, USA 2021)
22. Marcher sur l'eau (Aïssa Maïga, Francia-Belgio 2021)
23. Bobi Wine: The People's President (Christopher Sharp, Moses Bwayo, Uganda-Regno Unito-USA 2022)

Acquire rudiments of African film history, explore the role of Afro-descendant minorities in American and European cinema and reflect on the representation and self-representation of African and Afro-descendant characters.

Knowledge of English and/or French language.

Frontal lessons with audiovisual materials; discussion in the classroom.

Oral exam starting from a topic chosen by the student.

The course will examine the gradual emergence of discriminated minorities within the major film industries (United States, France, United Kingdom, etc.) and the increasing prominence given to African and Afro-descendant characters, previously relegated to stereotypical second-rate roles and, during the 20th century, chiselled with increasing respect and complexity. The course will also analyse how these same minorities have been able to represent themselves on the big and small screen. Finally, the course will also delve into aspects of African film history, focusing on some of the continent's main filmmakers.

Based on specific case studies, students will be able to relate the evolution of audiovisual language to changes in society during the 20th century and beyond.