Syllabus
0.
How could one define a National Cinema in the Balkans;
- general and specific features of a National Cinema in this region
- History, Geography & National Cinemas in the Balkans
Countries and National Cinemas in the Balkans: ,
- how did the Balkans map change in time
- influences of those changes on the national cinemas in the region
Reasons for studying the National cinemas in the Balkans
- personalities
- emigrants from the Balkans which became famous in other countries
- The Manakia Brothers Phenomenon
- movements: Novi film, Černi film, The Romanian New Wave,
The Croatian and the Slovenian New Cinema after 2000 etc.
Nations, nationalities, minorities in the Balkans:
- objective vs. formal definitions & divisions
- relativization of those items/notions under political influence
International recognition of the Balkan cinemas after 2000
(concerning especially the Communist countries in the Balkans)
- International recognition vs. failure at home 1. The Communist Balkan
(The course will focus mainly on this chapter) 1.1 Bulgaria 1.1.1
Attempts in Filmmaking in the Pre-War and Inter-War Era
Is it possible to talk about a Bulgarian national cinema before 1948? 1.1.2
The Communist Era 1.1.2.1
The 50s: The Proletcultist Era 1.1.2.2
End of 60s, beginning of 70s: The Romantic Realism
International recognition 1.1.3
Bulgarian Cinema after the fall of communism:
The decline of the film production and of the artistic quality 1.1.4
Bulgarian cinema after the year 2000:
State intervention
The National Film Center
The Revival of the film production
International recognition 1.2 Former Yugoslavia and after 1.2.1
The Pre- and Inter-War Era 1.2.1.1. Serbia 1.2.1.2 Croatia 1.2.1.3 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.2.1.4 Slovenia 1.2.2 The Yugoslav Cinema after 1948
- The Proletcultist Cinema
- The Partisan Films ----->> The Partisan "Westerns"
- Glorification of Josip Broz Tito as a cinema figure 1.2.3 End of 60s, beginning of 70s:
A relative liberalization - Novi film, Černi film 1.2.3.1 Serbia 1,2.3,2 Croatia 1,2,3,3 BiH 1.2.3.4 Slovenia 1.2.4. The 70s and the 80s: The Prague School 1.2.5
- The raising power of the individual republics
- Ex-centric tendencies in Croatia, Slovenia, BiH
- The influence of those political phenomena on the evolution of the regional/republican ("national" to be) cinemas 1.2.6 End of the 80s:
- Yugoslav Wars,
- Yugoslav disintegration
- New Countries, new (artificial?) languages, New Cinemas 1.2.6.1 Yugoslav -------->> Serbian Cinema
The tendencies of the Serbian cinema of appropriating the whole inheritance of the Yugoslav cinema 1.2.6.2 The New Croatian cinema 1.2.6.3 The New Slovenian cinema
The roles of the newly founded National Film Institutes 1.2.6.4.:
- The difficile development of the BiH cinema
- The difficile national problem in BiH
- National tensions
- Polemics:
°an artificial state?
°(an) artificial "nation"(s)?
°"Bosnian" vs "Bosniac"? 1.2.6.5
- The slow and difficile development of the North-
Macedonian cinema
- The fight for a national identity
- Confronting two neiboughring countries' "absorbing" tendencies: Serbia and Bulgaria 1.2.7
External vs historical influences:
- The influence of the Yugoslav cinema in Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro
- The influence of the Turkish cinema in BiH
- The influence of the Romanian New Wave on the New Croatian Cinema
- The tendencies of the Croatian and Slovenian cinema of getting rid of the
Yugoslav inheritance 1.2.8
Attempts of defining and developing local cinemas in Montenegro and Kossovo 1.3. Romania 1.3.1
The Pre- and Inter-War Era: distinct and individual productions . too few to define a national cinema 1.3.2.
The communist Era - The Romanian cinema after 1948 1.3.2.1
The relative Liberalization at the end of the 50s and in the 60s:
- the first international co-productions
- international recognition in the 60s
- no Romanian New Wave while the world was full of them 1.3.2.2
The 70s, Ceausescu´s rising power and the return of the censorship 1.3.2.3,
Thr 80s: The "Rebirth" of the Romanian film in form of metaphorical movies, hard to underśtand by censors and asking from viewers a certain intellectual effort in order to be understood 1.3.2.4
The 90s
- The Romanian Anticommunist Revolution;
- The decline of the film production
- 1999. One and only Romanian long feature film is made
- Rumors about the "death" of the Romanian cinema 1.3.2.5 The Romanian New Wave
- Main titles and personalities
- Polemics about the movement and its name
- The After New Wave Era 1.4 Albania 1.4.1 The Inter-War era: Italian productions shot on the
Albanian territory 1.4.2 The Albanian Cinema after 1948
- The real "birth" of the Albanian cinema according to the communist propaganda
- The Proletcultist Era
- The Soviet-Chinese duel for the domination of the
Mediterranean country
- The Albanian farewell to the Warsaw Pact and the
Soviet Influence Area
- The 80s and the separation of the Chinese Influence
Area
- International Isolation vs. the paradox of the raising in the film production (up to 30 films by year) 1.4.3 The 90s and after
- Fall of Communism, decline in the film production
- A relative improvement after the year 2000 and the founding of a National Film Center 2. The Non-Communist Balkan
(facultative chapter - if there's still time at the end of the course) 2.1 Greece 2.1.1 The mainstream / The cinema bloom in the era of the silent movies 2.1.2 The mainstream / The cinema bloom in the 30s 2.1.3 The erotic cinema 2.1.4 The Military Dictatorship and the Political
Cinema 2.1.5 The modern and contemporary era 2.1.6 Personalities of the Greek cinema and the Exile 2.2 Turkey 2.2.1 The Avatars of the Turkish Mainstreams
- The "Tollywood"
- Turkish remakes of famous movies, fragments or even scenes
- The Golden Era of the Turkish Mainstream: the 70s and the 80s 2.2.2 The 90s and the New Turkish Cinema
- The problematization of the traditional Turkish cutumes
- Addressing the contradictions between the Turkish traditions and mentality and the European elements of everyday life
- Human / Women rights in films made in the 90s 2.2.2 The Turkish Independent Cinema
Annotation
South-Eastern European Cinemas and the Historical, Social and Political Evolutions in the Balkans with a Special Accent on the Yugoslav Wars in the 9s of the 20th Century is an item consisting in lectures, seminaries, film screenings and debates with external guests, that focuses on the Balkan countries. The films to be screened are made during different historical periods in these region and / or by directors born there.
The connection between the destinies of the national cinematographic industries concerned and the historical, social, political and cultural development of the respective nations and states will be examined. It is a complex, diverse and multidimensional connection, also influenced by external factors such as migration, economic development in and outside the region, relations between the states and / or nations concerned with various regional, European and international superpowers, alliances or power centers, respectively cultural, philosophical, artistic or political movements, waves, circles, tendencies, etc.