We will discuss the work of contemporary Bengali film directors, as also that of a few non-Bengali directors of parallel and diasporic cinema, with a particular focus on culturally constructed roles for women in the Indian social context. The several films that we view in class, to analyze women’s movements out of such prescribed spaces into more liberating ones, will focus on assault; incest as taboo; the predicaments of the subaltern, the prostitute, and the widow; and the more recent issue of immigration. How
do questions we raise in our course intersect with current international discussions of the treatment of women and class in film? Is the work done by women’s activist groups
changing entrenched perceptions of gender worldwide and, thus, representations of
women in film? What is the impact of significant events in Indian colonial and postcolonial history on women? How do key concepts addressed by major Western thinkers such as Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud affect depictions of women in cinema? You will look up websites on cinema and do group oral presentations to engage directly with these questions. Note: This course fulfills the World Society (GG) requirement for students under GenEd and International Studies (IS) for students under Core.