Taught In English

There is no language prerequisite for courses at this language level.

The majority of students taking this course will be American.

Students are required to take a minimum amount contact hours of French a week in order to take a course in English.

Course description:
This course examines the French film production since the late eighties, both fictions and documentaries, and tries to understand:
- How it has become a critical medium of expression for the French youth of North African ancestry (the beurs).
- How it has represented the banlieues (housing projects in the outskirts of big cities)
- How it has given evidence of the evolution of French society towards a multicultural environment.
- How migrations affect the “departure areas” (mostly Africa, North Africa and Eastern Europe)

Course structure:
The course is divided into four chapters:

A: Access to speech: the films of the “second generation”

Mémoires d’immigrés by Yamina Benguigui (1998)
Un thé au harem d’Archimède by Medhi Charef (1988)
Pigalle de Karim Dridi (1994)
Douce France by Malik Chibane (1995)
Incha Allah dimanche by Yamina Benguigui (2001)
La faute à Voltaire by Abdellatif Kechiche (2001)

B: La banlieue: social space / cinematic space

De bruit et de fureur by Jean Claude Brissau (1992)
La haine by Matthieu Kassovitz (1995)
Etat des lieux by Jean François Trichet (1995)
Wesh wesh by Rabah Ameur Zaïmeche (2002)
L’esquive by Abdellatif Kechiche (2005)

C : The beur as a hero

L’autre côté de la mer by Dominique Cabrera (1997)
Samia by Philippe Faucon (2000)
Drôle de Félix by O. Ducastel et J. Martineau (2000)
Vivre me tue by C. Martinel (2001)
Le grand voyage by Ismael Ferroukhi (2004)

D : From where they left : diasporic gaze

Vivre au paradis by Bourlem Guerdjou (1998)
Bamako by Abderrahmane Sissako (2006)
Depuis qu’Otar est parti by Julie Bertucelli (2003)

Each class will be structured as follows:
• Student oral presentation
• Hand-outs with guiding questions before each screening
• Complete screening of the film
• Review questions in groups
• Group discussion
• Details and new clips from films not screened in class

Texts:
All the documents will be handed out in class.
You are expected to read every document handed out.

Assignments:
Oral presentation: each student will be assigned to a group that will give a 10 minutes presentation.

Quizzes: A short quiz with immediate grading will occur at the beginning of each class.

Final paper: This is a 5-6 page typewritten paper that should compare two films in one of the sections (A to D) by emphasizing a comparable theme or a similar stylistic element. The paper should include both academic analysis and personal insights on the subject.

Grading:
Students will be graded on the significance and seriousness of their efforts in every aspect of the class. Students must complete all assignments and are required to participate in all class discussions. Attendance is paramount and punctuality for class is highly important.

Attendance/ Participation in discussions: 30%
Oral presentation: 20%
Quizzes: 20%
Final Paper 30%