Under the preview of film professor Jeff Middents (friend of Media Services), AU’s Critical Approach to Cinema University College group has helped on-board new undergraduate students into the world of cinema studies. This year, as a capstone project, Middents asked his UC group to make sense of contemporary world cinema. The UC students produced a series of critical video essays about films from twelve different countries – and they’re available to watch right now!
Head to the Contemporary World Cinema Project’s YouTube page for a look at what these students have been working on. The project covers a great range of countries, from Australia to Argentina to North Korea (yes, North Korea!). For many of the participants, this was their first time editing a video project, and they make great use of selected clips from their film subjects.
We’ve embedded a playlist of all the video essays above. Each one runs six or seven minutes, putting the running time at just about the length of a Disney movie. Give them a watch, and leave some comments for these up-and-coming film scholars!