FMS8363 - Global Film Cultures and Practices I
- Offered for Year: 2025/26
- Module Leader(s): Dr Fernando Beleza Pinto and Dr Dunja Fehimovic
- Owning School: School of Modern Languages
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
- Capacity limit: 999 student places
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 20.0 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
Aims
The module is designed to work as a postgraduate-level foundation for students without any training in film studies as well as for those with a first degree in it or a related discipline. It introduces students to key aspects of film history, theory, and methodologies, as well as key skills required to study film, via case studies of global film cultures and practices that reflect the wealth of expertise from across the HaSS Faculty.
Outline Of Syllabus
Selected case studies of film cultures and practices from around the world and different historical moments are used to introduce key ways of working with film, including methodologies such as close film analysis, frameworks such as national cinema, theories such as the film auteur, and core academic skills such as referencing.
Through recommended preparatory reading and viewing, and seminar discussion students will be encouraged to engage critically with the case studies covered in the module, and to consider both the possibilities and limitations of specific film practices.
An indicative list of topics can be found below (this may vary slightly from year to year depending on which staff members are involved in leading seminars):
- What is Global Film?: Interdisciplinary and International Cultures and Practices
- Decoding film language: Soviet Montage
- Signature analysis: Auteur Theory
- National cinema and censorship: the case of Algeria
- British Social Realism: Newcastle and the North on film
- Subsidies, platforms, and technologies: the case of France’s ‘cultural exception’
- Critical Engagement and Referencing
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 11 | 2:00 | 22:00 | Present in person. |
| Structured Guided Learning | Structured research and reading activities | 11 | 2:00 | 22:00 | Preparation for small group teaching sessions. |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 60:00 | 60:00 | Preparation and completion of all formative and summative assessments. |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 96:00 | 96:00 | N/A |
| Total | 200:00 | ||||
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities: Student-led small group discussion aims to explore each topic in-depth and give students a space in which they can share their ideas and benefit from peer feedback as well as guidance from their seminar leader. Key issues in film studies will be debated, and examples of different practices and methodologies studied will be analysed.
Structured Guided Learning: online learning materials such as reading tasks, preparation of seminar activities, or guided screenings provide students with an overview and contextualisation of each case study and raise the key issues for debate. Each case study addresses a different set of methodologies and conceptual frameworks in film studies. Within each case study, targeted materials and activities will introduce and allow students to practice key academic skills.
The remainder of the hours assigned to this module will be spent preparing each assessment task and carrying out independent study, during which students are expected to use the learning materials, skills and feedback provided as a springboard from which to develop their own ideas and skills as independent scholars.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio 1 | 1 | M | 60% | Signature analysis: 1500 words detailing the thematic and stylistic signature of a chosen filmmaker. Annotated moodbook showing how a chosen filmmaker would realise the film of a given scene. |
| Written exercise 1 | 1 | A | 40% | 2000-word critical analysis of selected scholarly sources. |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The assessment for this module is divided into two separate tasks that ask students to implement and build on some of the film practices and academic skills covered throughout this module. The inclusion of one summative assessment that is also formative (providing timely feedback throughout the module) addresses the learning objectives more accurately, building students’ confidence in key methods and skills.
An example of what these two assessments may look like is as follows:
Part 1 (60%): Students demonstrate skills in film analysis and understanding of concepts such as the auteur in an analysis of the stylistic signature of a chosen filmmaker (1500 words, 30%), and an accompanying annotated moodbook (20%), submitted mid-module.
Part 2 (40%): Students produce a 2000-word critical review of selected scholarly sources, guided by a series of questions. This assessment also functions as a formative assessment for parallel modules where proper critical engagement with secondary reading is necessary.
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/