CMA18 Czech New Wave

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
2/0/2. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Šárka Jelínek Gmiterková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Šárka Jelínek Gmiterková, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Thu 8:00–11:40 C34, except Thu 16. 11.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 65 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 9/65, only registered: 0/65
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Various modernist and nationally specific cinemas of the 1960s, frequently labelled as the new waves, are still fondly remembered as the peak of artistic filmmaking. This course will focus on the Czech (Czechoslovak) New Wave, introducing the phenomenon from multiple perspectives – industrial, stylistic, narrative, generational, collaborative and international. Individual lectures will present key filmmakers associated with the label, not only directors, but writers and screenwriters, directors of photography, actors and other crucial collaborators. The course will proceed chronologically; starting in the late 1950s, which laid structural, topical and aesthetic basis for the filmmaking of the following decade, and concluding in the early 1970s, when the New Wave came to a rather abrupt end due to political reasons. The lectures will be accompanied by weekly screenings from DVDs or Blu-Rays (with English subtitles).
Learning outcomes
After completing the course students will be able to:
- Identify key authors of the Czech New Wave and their work
- Understand this creative output in wider social, economic, cultural and aesthetic contexts of the decade
- Explain the concept of modernist cinema
Syllabus
  • 1. The context surrounding Czech New Wave - political, historical, social and cultural.
  • 2. What is modernist cinema? Defining art cinema of the 1960s // introduction to the Czech New Wave phenomenon
  • 3. The teachers and their disciples – FAMU film school and previous generation of filmmakers shaping the New Wave authors and vice versa
  • 4. The state socialist mode of production in the 1960s
  • 5. Slovak authors under the New Wave label
  • 6. Censorship as a dialogue?
  • 7. The characters typology in the films of the New Wave
  • 8. Innovations on the level of narration and style - part I
  • 9. Innovations on the level of narration and style - part II
  • 10. Key collaborators to the authors – screenwriters, DOPs and actors – part I
  • 11. Key collaborators to the authors – screenwriters, DOPs and actors – part II
  • 12. The Czech New Wave comes to an end – political changes and the beginning of normalisation at the Barrandov studios and its persistence in contemporary film culture
Literature
  • OWEN, Jonathan L. Avant-Garde to New Wave. Czechoslovak Cinema, Surrealism and the Sixties. New York and Oxford: Berghaghn books, 2011
  • SKUPA, Lukáš. Perfectly Unpredictable: Early Work of Věra Chytilová in the Light of Censorship and Production Reports. Studies in Eastern European Cinema 9, 2018, No. 3, pp. 233–249.
  • GMITERKOVÁ, Šárka. All Those Silhouettes, Colors, and Hats... : Ester Krumbachová as a Costume Designer. In Jeřábková, Edith; Svatoňová, Kateřina. Ester Krumbachová. první. Praha: Vysoká škola uměleckoprůmyslová, Are, 2021, p. 88-101. ISBN 978-80-88308-47-8. URL info
  • MAZIERSKA, Ewa. Masculinities in Polish, Czech and Slovak cinema : Black Peters and men of marble. 1st paperback ed. New York: Berghahn Books, 2010, 249 s. ISBN 9781845455408. info
  • Pleasures in socialism : leisure and luxury in the Eastern Bloc. Edited by David Crowley - Susan Emily Reid. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 2010, vii, 348. ISBN 9780810128712. info
  • KOVÁCS, András Bálint. Screening modernism : European art cinema, 1950-1980. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007, xii, 427. ISBN 9780226451657. info
  • HAMES, Peter. The czechoslovak new wave. 2. ed. London: Wallflower Press, 2005, xi, 323. ISBN 1904764436. info
Teaching methods
Topical screenings, followed by a discussion and a lecture.
Assessment methods
The evaluation is going to have two stages. During reading week (13. - 17. 11.) students will be asked to watch a film Cozy dens (Pelíšky, 1999, dir. Jan Hřebejk) and write an essay. The paper should be between three and five pages and will have to identify similarities and differences between New Wave cinema in terms of storyline, settings, character construction, values and meanings. The film will be provided in the study materials with English subtitles. The essay will be due on Sunday November 19th.

The second part will take place at the end of the semester. It will be an oral examination, including written preparation consisting of abstracts (max. two paragraphs long) of 10 films minimum, and a resumé from one book/chapter/article listed in the required reading list.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
Dr. Šárka Gmiterková is an assistant professor at the Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture at Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. In her research she focuses both on contemporary and historical forms of stardom in cinemas of small nations, film acting and costuming. Her work was published internationally – in NECSUS magazine, Journal of Celebrity Studies or in the edited volume Popular Cinemas in East Central Europe.
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