Film Studies 697P - ST- Cinema Paranoia

We are living in a time of multiple global crises: climate change, massive inequality, racial tension, and now pandemic. These are not one-time events in a specific location, after which normalcy can be restored. Rather these crises are in continuous development over extended periods of time, with no end in sight. Although we may respond with the feelings of rage, sadness or apathy, the dominant emotion is fear. In this course, we'll examine how international cinema has channeled these difficult emotions through various genres - from zombie horror to Holocaust films, from historical drama to thriller, from classics to B-movies. How do these diverse films represent epidemics, upheavals, and catastrophes? How do they induce fear?through narrative, sound, mise-en-scene, and editing? What is the source of threat? Finally, how do genre and subject matter influence audience perception and critical response?

Included are American, Israeli, British, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Hungarian, Polish, Japanese, and Korean films, all with English subtitles.