Unit information: Chantal Akerman's Cinema: Queering Conventions and Screening Desire in 2022/23

Unit name	Chantal Akerman's Cinema: Queering Conventions and Screening Desire
Unit code	FREN30130
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Albertine Fox
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	None
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	None
Units you may not take alongside this one
School/department	Department of French
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Unit Information

The Belgian, Jewish, queer filmmaker and artist, Chantal Akerman, was a pioneer of experimental and feminist cinema and since her death in 2015 she has come to be recognised as one of the most esteemed and respected filmmakers in Europe. Whilst her celebrated feminist masterpiece, Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) is widely taught in universities and art schools around the world, her other fictional features, shorts, documentaries and adaptions continue to feature only occasionally and yet they offer immensely rich visions of female subjectivity, female sexuality and lesbian desire, and engage with intricate histories of migration and displacement, anti-Semitism, and anti-black racism. This unit examines the intersections of sexuality, race, and gender (and generational) identity, and significantly, it positions Akerman’s work in a queer feminist history. Students will explore a varied sample of her artistic output, from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, spanning experimental film, musical comedy, short film, film adaptation, and experimental prose. The choice of topics is designed to emphasise Akerman’s artistic collaborations involving the French-American filmmaker and photographer, Babette Mangolte, her longstanding editor, Claire Atherton, the experimental filmmaker, Robert Fenz, and the renowned cellist, Sonia Wieder-Atherton.

Aims:

• To introduce students to a significant body of knowledge of a complexity appropriate to final year level by providing detailed coverage of Akerman’s artistic production from 1974 through to 2015, including her 2013 text-image book, Ma mère rit, and touching on her final film, No Home Movie.
• To enable students to develop a thorough understanding of the ways Akerman’s filmmaking practice subverts the conventional codes of narrative cinema and documentary film, and traditional viewing practices, at the same time as it challenges norms of gender, sexuality, and Jewish identity.
• To introduce students to the development of feminist filmmaking in France, in the context of the women’s movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, and to situate Akerman in histories of gay and lesbian cinema in France.
• To enable students to develop further skills of synthesis, analysis and independent research, building on the skills acquired in units at level 6/H.
• To equip students with the skills to undertake postgraduate study in a relevant field

Your learning on this unit

By the end of the unit, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a broad knowledge of different experimental forms and styles of Akerman’s filmmaking practice.

2. Analyse, compare, and critically assess Akerman’s artistic output from the 1970s to 2015, with a focus on sexuality, race, gender and generational identity.

3. Demonstrate awareness of theoretical scholarship in the field of study and the ability to articulate a critical position in both oral and written form, as appropriate to level H/6.

4. Deploy sophisticated audio-visual and literary analytical skills and an ability to use film terminology correctly.

5. Undertake independent research appropriate to this level of study

How you will learn

Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, including group seminar-style discussion and self-directed exercises.

How you will be assessed

1 x 15-minute group oral presentation (25%), testing ILOs 2-5

1 x 4000-word essay (75%), testing ILOs 1-5

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. FREN30130).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.