Course Description:

Filmmaking and photography have become the most democratized of all visual arts media. Cameras, editing, and distribution tools have been made increasingly accessible since the mid-20th Century and, in so doing, the potential for cinema to serve as a mode of anti-colonial revolt has been considered by scholars and media practitioners around the world. Navigating censorship, war, and uneven financial support structures, filmmakers across the Global South developed quiet cinematic expressions of resistance to colonial domination. Who were these filmmakers and how did they express themselves in a way that actively served an oppressed audience? How did these artists utilize culturally specific symbols and parables to undermine colonial authorities? Examining modes of cinematic resistance in films as disparate as Gojira (Godzilla, ゴジラ,1954) and Caramel (2007), this course will offer students the opportunity to study the theory and practice of soft cinematic revolt.

Instructor:

Smita Sen

www.smitaksen.com

Smita Sen (b. 1994) is an artist working with sculpture, dance-based performance, and emerging media technologies to research how the body internalizes its environment and significant life events. Sen has had solo exhibitions at Recess (Brooklyn, NY) and the Brooklyn Public Library (Brooklyn, NY). Her work has been shown internationally in Dubai, UAE, and at venues like Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY), Flux Factory (Long Island City, NY), and Anthology Film Archives (New York, NY), among others. Sen has served as an artist-in-residence at Recess (2021), Mildred’s Lane (2018), and received the Instigator Fellowship from NYU ITP Camp (2018). As an artist and educator, she has given talks and workshops at Columbia University, Bard College, NYU ITP Camp, and LRLX NY. From 2019 to 2022, Sen taught and designed the Emerging Media program at Choate Rosemary Hall. Sen holds a BA in the Visual Arts from Columbia University (2016). She is based in Miami, FL and New York City.

Date and Time:

6-Week Course, 2 hours/week

Sundays 3:30-5:30pm EST

Start Date: Sunday, June 5th