RTF 345 History of Black American Cinema-W

Unique No. 07400

Faculty: Watkins

Class Time: MWF 10-11

Room: CMA 3.124

Screening Time: W 5-7:30

Room: CMA 3.116

Writing Comp: Yes

Comm/Culture Req: Yes

Closing Limit: 25

Cross-listed: AFR 374

Prerequisites

Must be an RTF major with a UT GPA of at least a 2.25 and have upper-division standing. The following coursework with a grade of at least C in each: RTF 305, either 314 or 316, and 6 additional semester hours of lower-division coursework in RTF.

Consent requirements

This course does not require consent. Registration is open via the online registration system to all RTF majors.

First class day policy

Students must attend the first class day or make prior arrangements with the instructor.

Course description

The course examines the racial history of US cinema with a specific focus on the production of black cinema and filmic representations of the African American experience. The course begins with D.W. Griffith's 1915 epic, Birth of a Nation. In addition we will look at the rise of "race movies," the underground film industry that was a product of trends in black migrations, urbanization, and segregation. The course then considers how the social and political conflicts of the 1960s led to the formation of the Blaxploitation cycle made popular in the 1970s. In this section we consider both the production and ideological aspects of films like Superfly and Foxy Brown. This course will also examine the most prolific site of black cienmatic production--the world of independent and experimental film practice. The final sections will look at the rise of black commercial independents like Spike Lee, the influence of hip hop culture on black cinema, and black feminist filmmaking. Among other topics the course assesses the narratives, conventions, aesthetics, genres, industrial processes, icons, and cultural currents that shape the politics and representations of "blackness" in U.S. cinema.