Cinema Studies, Innis College, University of Toronto

INI 385Y: CANADIAN CINEMA
Course Description - 2006-2007

Professor Kay Armatage, Innis College Rm 224
Tel. 416-978-8572; Fax 416-946-0168; kay.armatage@utoronto.ca

Screenings Mondays 2:00-4:00 pm, Innis Room 222
Lectures Wednesday 2:00-4:00 pm, Innis Room 222
Office Hours Wednesdays 4:00-5:00 pm, Room 224, Innis College


This course is suitable for Cinema Studies students, as well as for students with a background in Sociology, History, Politics and Twentieth Century Studies. It may also be of interest to general arts students.

INI 385Y counts towards Specialist, Major or Minor programmes in Cinema Studies.


Course Description
The course will survey in broad outline the history of Canadian filmmaking from the earliest extant propaganda and sponsored film documents to the diversity of production modes of the present day. Although "Nation" and nationalist questions have been nodal issues in considerations of Canadian cinema, such rubrics are coming under critical scrutiny in the current period of co-productions and globalised culture. This course will examine the critical frameworks that have emerged in considerations of Canadian filmmaking practice; analysis in this courses will emphasize a combination of textual and contextual approaches. Some attention will also be given to changing cultural policy as it has shaped not only the film industry in Canada but also the film texts and practicioners.

Films will be screened every week. Attendance at screenings, keeping up with assigned readings, and participating in class discussions are essential.


Purpose of the Course
Introduction to the history of filmmaking practice in Canada and critical analysis of Canadian cinema.


Texts to Buy
Course Reader, fall term only.
George Melnyk, One Hundred Years of Canadian Cinema, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.


Assignments and Evaluation
Bibliography Assignment (1st term) 25%; Xmas Test 15%; Term Paper (2nd term) 30%; Term Test (2nd term) 15%; Participation 15%.

There will be no final examination.


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