Power and Resistance in XX and XXI century Spanish Films

This course explores a series of Spanish films and documentaries mainly investigating questions of gender, race, class, identity and social politics. All these critical angles and perspectives will be traversed by matters of power and its repressive or oppressive positions, together with acts of resistance and their search for emancipatory freedom from that control, be it state, institutional, social or personal based.

In this course, we will explore micro and macro examples of power being exerted and their particular acts of resistant counterparts. From the very specific gestures of dominance to the grand control of organized state power and its multiple ramifications of hegemonic control. As well, we will analyse key cultural and philosophical texts from Spanish and Western philosophers, filmmakers and cultural critics adding different discourses related to the nature of power and ways of resisting or diversifying it in different directions and by multiple actions.

Advanced knowledge of Spanish is essential: you should have done a minimum of 5 years of Spanish recently. It is not necessary to have any prior knowledge of film studies or Spanish society.