November 29th, 2020 
Write the film that you pitched.
I may add more reading PDF later. Because that I assume that all the previous reading that you might lost
write a 6 to 8-page paper about any non-American film of your
choosing. It can be a documentary or a fiction film; it can even be a short film. It can
be a film we discussed in class (from A Fantastic Woman on), but it cannot be the film
you presented about.
Incorporating 3-5 scholarly sources (one of which must be from the MAIN, not
Supplementary, readings from any week), make an argument about how your chosen
film engages with identity.
But be more specific than identity here: you might write about:
how the film depicts a specific identity category (race, gender, class, sexuality,
ability);
how the film explores authorship or character;
the ways the film reflects/engages with its directors own identity;
how identity is troubled or muddled in the film and why;
how the historical and national context of the film relates to its depictions of
different characters or figures;
how the production and distribution of this film inform its identity as a cultural
object;
other things that shape or intersect with identity, like desire, visibility,
performance;
the films interrogation of the ontologythe identityof cinema itself.
(Or something else I havent thought of here!)
Make a single, specific claim, and dive deep into the theory/film itself for your
evidence. You can take a more narrative approach (talking about the events of the film
and their significance), or a more formal approach (looking at the films visual and
temporal style), or a blend of both. Move slowly; read for detail.
As mentioned above, you are free to use a film we have already watched. Many of the
films we watched are also by directors who have made a number of other films; Id
encourage you to check those out. At the end of this document, there is a list of films I
would have liked to include on this syllabus but couldnt. You are not restricted to this
list, but it might be helpful if you dont know where to start!
The same rules apply as before in terms of style, formatting, etc., but this time, you
must include a Works Cited page. At least one of your scholarly sources must be from
outside the syllabus. Feel free to include images if you would like. If youre struggling
to find your chosen film online please let me know and I will request it from the library.
If you are interested in doing a video essay, the aims of the assignment are the same,
but you will produce a 6-8 minute long thesis-driven video essay (still incorporating 3-5
scholarly sources) and then a 2-4 page written statement that further explains your
argument, your artistic process, and why you made the artistic choices you made.
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