FAVKz001 Women documentary film directors from the region of the former Yugoslavia

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2009
Extent and Intensity
2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Maša Hilčišin, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Jaromír Blažejovský, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Sat 13:20–16:35 C34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The lecture will be consisted of following units: historical introduction into documentary filmmaking by women directors in the region of former Yugoslavia, from 90s till today; focus on specific names and documentary films; analyze of documentaristic approaches, stylistics, ethical issues, and documentaristic voices; and involvement of documentary films in war, post-war and social issues. Units will be followed by presentation and screening of documentary films samples.
This course should give wider perspective and better understanding of women documentary film work in the region of former Yugoslavia from 90s till today. The names of female directors like Gordana Boskov (Budenje Proleca, The Awakening of Spring, 1993) or Mirjana Vukomanovic (Tri letnja dana, Three Summer Days, 1997) are barely known beyond the borders of Serbia, and the works of Sarajevan documentarian Vesna Ljubic (Ecce Homo, 1992-1994) and young Bosnian Jasmila Zbanic are seen mostly at specialized festivals’ (Iordanova, Dina. The Cinema of the Balkans. London: Wallflower, 2006). Among subjects involved, war, post-war, and social issues are dominated into filmmaking from Vesna Ljubic’s war documentary testifying in Ecce Homo, ‘making the first war documentary on 35mm at the that time’ (Aitken, Ian. Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film. London: Routledge, 2005), or Jasmina Tesanovic’s in Jasmina i rat, as well as social related issues such as Ivona Juka’s documentary about Lepoglava prisoners in Waiting for the Day, or Marija Dzidzeva’s in Look at the Life Through My Eyes about daily life in small Albanian village Studenicani. Beside war and social issues, there is a some subscription to feminist ideas usually connected to feminist activist work such as documentary dedicated to Women in Black, by Jelena Markovic and Jasmina Tesanovic, or about (re)presentation of women in media in Blerta Basholli’s Mirror, Mirror, Danijela Majstorovic’s Dream Job, or in Tatjana Bozic’s film Iskrivljeni odrazi.
The main objectives of the course are:
giving students’ introduction in documentary filmmaking of women directors in former Yugoslavia from 90s till today;
analyzing different stylistic approaches;
analyzing documentaristic voice;
involvement into social and post-war issues, as well as visibility of women work in the region of former Yugoslavia.
During and at the end of the course, students should have better understanding of development of documentary filmmaking by women directors from the region of former Yugoslavia in recent history, to be able to discuss about similarities and differences in stylistic approaches, and social issues, as well as differences in perceptions of women filmmaking in patriarchal societies, to make presentation on concrete research and film sample, and to interpret specifics of women documentary filmmakers in the region of former Yugoslavia.
Syllabus
  • The course ‘Women documentary film directors from the region of the former Yugoslavia’ will be organized within eight (8) working hours of classes divided into two days, each day four hours long.
  • The first part of the course is general introduction into the subject, introduction of main goals, and lecturing about the subject. Lecturing should have couple of units: introduction into recent history in documentary filmmaking in the region of former Yugoslavia, introduction of the most prominent women documentary filmmakers in the region, analysis of their approaches in documentary filmmaking, and social involvement of these actions.
  • Last part of lecturing will be devoted to different approaches and social issues illustrated by samples of documentary films. It will be open discussion for student’s comments and questions, afterwards.
Literature
  • The cinema of the Balkans. Edited by Dina Jordanova. 1st pub. London: Wallflower, 2006, xvi, 291. ISBN 1904764819. info
  • GAUTHIER, Guy. Dokumentární film, jiná kinematografie. Translated by Ladislav Šerý. 1. vyd. V Praze: Akademie múzických umění, 2004, 507 s. ISBN 8073310236. info
  • JORDANOVA, Dina. Cinema of flames : Balkan film, culture and the media. 1st publ. London: BFI, 2001, 322 s. ISBN 9780851708478. info
  • Collecting visible evidence. Edited by Jane Gaines - Michael Renov. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999, ix, 339. ISBN 0816631360. info
  • Theorizing documentary. Edited by Michael Renov. New York: Routledge, 1993, ix, 261. ISBN 0415903823. info
Assessment methods
Students will receive their tasks by the end of the first part of the course. Task is assumed as a small presentation on chosen subject, done as a part of group work, and presented by students during the second part of the course. Students will be organized into groups, each group should choose one topic to deal with.
Students will receive their tasks by the end of the first part of the course. Task is assumed as a small presentation on chosen subject, done as a part of group work, and presented by students during the second part of the course. Students will be organized into groups, each group should choose one topic to deal with.
The second part of the course will be devoted to the presentations as group work results, and to discussions after each presentation. This part of the course will also have some space for conclusions, students’ questions, and feedback about the whole course, and possibility for further cooperation with students interested in this subject.The second part of the course will be devoted to the presentations as group work results, and to discussions after each presentation. This part of the course will also have some space for conclusions, students’ questions, and feedback about the whole course, and possibility for further cooperation with students interested in this subject.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2009/FAVKz001