LFU:online

Students gain knowledge about ecological discourses in Eastern Europe in past and present and about film aesthetics and film history.

Ecological discourses in the countries of Eastern Europe are closely linked to the propagated exploitation of natural resources for the purpose of building socialism. The so-called conquest of the forces of nature was a key element of the socialist idea of progress. For this reason, gigantic industrial and agricultural complexes were built in the course of the 20th century, artificial irrigation systems were created and nuclear power plants were built to generate energy. Criticism of the socialist ideology of progress, which led to the destruction of natural and human habitats, could be openly voiced only in the 1980s. Since then, ecocritical messages have been articulated in different ways in Eastern European cinema.

The aim of this course is to watch, discuss and analyse feature and documentary films with regard to their ecocritical potential. Among the topics dealt with will be dystopias in late Soviet cinema, Chernobyl and other environmental disasters as well as strategies of coping with ecological crises and forms of (human) agency. Among the films discussed and analysed in the course are such well-known films as STALKER (1979) by Andrei Tarkovsky, the HBO series Chernobyl (2019; directed by Johan Renck) and the feminist eco-thriller POKOT (2017) by Polish director Agnieszka Holland.

Lecture, reading and viewing assignments, discussions

Regular and active attendance; essay at the end of the term

Literature for compulsory and further reading will be provided for each topic.