Program Description

Paris’s love affair with the cinema began in 1895 at the first public screening of a film in the basement of the Grand Café. From the 1920s avant-garde, to the New Wave, to the present trends of more international exposure and tackling themes of social cleavages, filmmakers and film viewers have found Paris a stimulating place in which to create and experience films. Today, hundreds of films are shown each week in the cinemas, museums, and cinémathèques of Paris.

The summer program in Paris will be led by a Resident Director who is a faculty member at The University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Resident Director chosen for this program is from the Communication Arts or French Department, offering extensive knowledge on Film in Paris. Surrounded by a city full of film-lovers, the program offers a unique aspect to studying film. This program offers students the chance to live as a cinéphile in Paris for four weeks through film viewing, walking tours of film sites and visits to various art cinemas.

Academics

Each weekday morning the class will meet at the Paris program center near the Bastille in the 11th arrondisement for screenings, lectures, and discussions. Students will first master basic film vocabulary, then explore film history and aesthetics of three key eras in French film history: the 1920s avant-garde, the French New Wave, and contemporary cinema. In the afternoons, students go out into the cinemas of Paris together to view silent French films with live musical accompaniment, Hollywood classics, and contemporary films from around the world.

The overview of French film history focuses on industry history, aesthetics, and the idea of national cinema. Students first master basic film vocabulary, then explore such issues as French cinema's historic competition with Hollywood, its reliance on both genre and art cinema, and the changes in filmmaking practices and film style as a result of the New Wave. The class will view French films (both on DVD and in Paris cinemas) from the silent era to the present. A number of classical Hollywood films that have exerted an influence on French cinema will also be shown.

All instruction and most films will be provided in English or with English subtitles. Students will be required to maintain daily screening journals in which they record their observations of the films’ style and narrative.

Housing

Participants reside in shared rooms in one of the student residences. All rooms are furnished with the necessities: beds, desks, a closet or armoire, a sink, sheets, pillows and blankets. Student residences also include laundry facilities and either a cafeteria or shared kitchenettes.

Excursions and Activities

Students tour the screenings rooms and projection booths of the historically important Latin Quarter art house, the Cinéma Saint-André des Arts. Excursions to important exhibition sites may include places such as the Cinémathèque Française, Studio 28 in Montmartre, and the Panthéon Ciné-Club. When possible, the course will also be enriched by class visits from people working in the industry today – such as film critics, exhibitors, film historians, or filmmakers. Students will have a long weekend for independent travel during the program.