Cinematic Visions of Eastern Europe: History, Identity, and Culture 3620-MGR1-WMJA-FC-CV
Module 1
Early Soviet Cinema – ideology, history, and geopolitics in the cinema of Eisenstein and Vertov.
Viewing: Sixth Part of the World (1926), dir. Dziga Vertov,
Aleksandr Nevsky (1938), dir. Sergei Eisenstein
Reading:
Oksana Sarkissova, “Across One Sixth of the World: Dziga Vertov, Travel Cinema, and Soviet Patriotism.”
John McKay, “Introduction: How Did it Begin?” Dziga Vertov
Josephine Woll, “Images of Power, and the Power of Images.”
Module 2
Race, Gender, and Socialist Realism.
Viewing: The Circus (1936), dir. Grigori Aleksandrov
Stilyagi (2008), dir. Valeri Todorovsky
Reading:
Richard Taylor, “The Illusion of Happiness and the Happiness of Illusion”
Beth Holmgren, “Redeeming Entertainment in Aleksandrov’s Circus”
Module 3
The Thaw, National New Waves, and war trauma.
Viewing: Cranes are Flying (1957), dir. Mikhail Kalatozov, Closely Watched Trains (1966), dir. Jiri Mentzel,
Ashes and Diamonds (1958), dir. Aandrzej Wajda
Reading: Aleksandr Prokhorov, “Cinema of the Thaw.”
Stuart Liebman, “The Art of Memory: Andrzej Wajda’s War Trilogy”
Module 4
Homes lost, and homes regained in the cinema of Andrzej Wajda.
Watching: Promised Land (1975),
Pan Tadeusz (1999), Katyn (2007), dir. Anrdzej Wajda
Reading: I. Kalinowska, “The Changing Meaning of Home and Exile”
Anna Misiak “Don’t Look to the East: National Sentiments in Andrzej Wajda’s Contemporary Films”
Module 5
Revisiting Stalinism and a search for national determination.
Watching: Interrogation (1989) dir. Ryszard Bugajski (fragments)
Khrustalev, My Car (1998) dir. Aleksei German
State Funeral (2019) dir. Sergei Loznitsa
Reading: Peter Kenez, “Soviet Cinema in the Age of Stalin.”
Marek Haltof, “The Representation of Stalinism in Polish Cinema”
Module 6
Communist landscapes in post-communist cinema.
Watching: Tales from the Golden Age (2009) dir. Hanno Hoefer, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Popescu,
etc.
Everything I Love (2009) dir. Jacek Borcuch
Reading: Mircea Deaca, “Kitchen Encounters,”
Christina Stojanova, “Intoduction” to The New Romanian Cinema
Module 7
From heritage cinema to historical re-vision.
Watching: 1670 (2023) dir. Buchwald, Kadziel (first season),
Kos (2024) dir. Pawel Maslona.
Reading: Strozynski, The Peasant Prince, chapter 9 “Fiddling Lords and Enslaved Hordes”
Dina Iordanova, Cinema of the Other Europe, “Film and History” (chapter 3)
Type of course
Course coordinators
Assessment criteria
Attendance in this class in mandatory. You may miss two classes without providing an excuse. If you are
not able to attend class, for reasons outside of your control, such as an illness, you are required to email
the instructor not later than 9 am the day of the class. Additional documentation may be required.
In-class projects that will be assigned throughout the semester will count towards 50 percent of your
final examination grade. The final exam will be an in-class written exam. I am going to ask you to answer
four out of six questions with paragraph-long answers (approximately 150 words).
Additional information
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