Doha Film Institute is delighted to present ‘Watching the Classics’, an online programme where filmmakers and cinephiles can deepen their knowledge of film history. Presented by renowned scholar Richard Peña—Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University and Director Emeritus of the New York Film Festival—this series of lectures/discussions each focuses on an undisputed world cinema classic.
In the monthly sessions, Professor Peña will present a given film within its aesthetic, economic, technological and social/political context, detailing each director’s formal techniques while teasing out the implications of these artistic and technical decisions.
To get the most from the programme, participants are recommended to view the selected films before each session, and all are available through various popular streaming services. During the lecture, select images and clips will be included for discussion, and participants will be able to send Professor Peña questions, which will be addressed at the end of each session.
Join us for this chance to revisit some of your favourite films—or to discover works that have helped change the course of film history.
‘Cinema of the Global South’
A Nine-Part Lecture Series
Introduction by Professor Richard Peña, Emeritus Professor, Film and Media Studies, Columbia University
For the first 100 years of film history (1895-1995), much of the advancement in film technology, style and economics took place in the Euro-American world, where photo-chemical projected moving images first emerged. Yet, as we move further into cinema’s second century, it’s clear the people and cultures of what’s now called the Global South will have a decisive impact on whatever the future of cinema might be. Already, audiences for Hollywood blockbusters in China are greater for those films than in the US; the Brazilian telenovela influences storytelling from Indonesia to Romania. Indian cinema is distributed as extensively as Hollywood, while in Africa, Nigeria has proposed a whole new model for the very structure of film production, distribution and exhibition.
This series will look at three areas—China, Africa and India—to explore both the roots of their cinemas as well as some of the new directions they will be leading the art of the moving image.
FEATURED FILMS
China: Half the Sky
Goddess, 1934, Wu Yonggang, China – silent film with musical accompaniment
A devoted mother struggles against injustice and the prejudices of society as she fights to educate her son.
Two Stage Sisters, 1964, Xie Jin, China
Two actresses become the toast of the Shanghai Chinese opera; one drifts into decadence, while the other decides to use her art to liberate China.
Suzhou River, 2000, Lou Ye, China
A complex, enigmatic narrative, ‘Suzhou River’ follows a motorcycle courier who comes to believe that a former, now deceased girlfriend has been reincarnated into a bar room mermaid.
Africa: The Newest Cinema
Borom Saret, 1963 & Black Girl, 1966, Ousmane Sembene, Senegal
Often hailed as the father of African Cinema, Ousmane Sembene provided the model for a cinema that combined local traditions of storytelling with a modernist approach to filmmaking.
Yaaba, 1989, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso
In the 1980s, a number of African filmmakers began creating cinematic imaginings of life far away from the influence and destructiveness of colonialism. ‘Yaaba’ recounts the story of two young children and an older woman who is considered a witch by her neighboirs.
Timbuktu, 2014, Abderrahmane Sissako, Mali
A cattle herder and his family who reside in the dunes of Timbuktu find their quiet lives—which are typically free of the Jihadists determined to control their faith—abruptly disturbed.
India: The Parallel Cinema
The Cloud-Capped Star, 1960, Ritwik Ghatak, India
The partition of Bengal—which coincided with the independence of India—led to a massive disruption in the lives of millions. Ghatak’s searing melodrama focuses on one family, where a young woman is expected to sacrifice all for her siblings.
Daily Bread, 1970, Mani Kaul, India
Each day, a woman waits at a lonely, rural bus stop for her bus-driving husband, delivering a parcel of freshly-baked bread which is often the only real contact she has with him. One day, an incident interrupts this fatal routine.
Ankur, 1975, Shyam Benegal, India
Surya, the son of a village landlord, is sent to run his family’s farmlands, much to his discontent. Gradually he drifts into a relationship with a woman who is dispatched to be his servant.
