Schedule (Fall 2024)

Weekly readings will be marked by where they can be found: ereserve or online for articles available for downloading from the web. For class announcements, ereserves, streaming films, posting your Film Journal entries, submitting your work, and discussion forums go to the Course Moodle Page.

Course Activities and Policies

Film Discussant schedule

Student Film Workshops and Schedule

Part I: "Tibet" as a Figure in Key Films

Week 1: Introductions

Assignments

Chronology: Turning points in Modern Chinese-Tibetan Relations

Mon Sept 2 Labor Day, No Class!

Wed Sept 4: Introductions and Goals of the Course

  • No reading assignments

Sign up for Office hours: 15-minute, one-on-one meetings on learning goals
 

Week 2: Telling Stories, (Dis)placing "Tibet"

Assignments

Film of the Week: Lost Horizon, 1937, Frank Capra, 130 mins. Stream on Moodle.

Mon Sept 9 The Orientalist Gaze: Lost Horizon

  • Said, Edward. 1978. The Scope of Orientalism, (pp. 31-49) Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books. (ereserve)
  • Jamyang Norbu. Behind the Lost Horizon, in Dodin and Rather, eds., Imagining Tibet. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2001. (ereserve). (5 pp)
  • Ma, J. & Toncic, J. C. (2014). Consuming Tibet: Imperial romance and the wretched of the holy plateau. In J. Whalen-Bridge & G. Storhoff (Eds.), Buddhist and American Cinema (pp. 53-81). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. (ebook/ereserve). (30 pp) Focus: pp 53-75; Skim: pp. 76-81.
Sign up for Film Discussants

Wed Sept 11 Workshop 1: Anthro, and the Multimodality of Film Narrative
Guest: Tony Moreno, Digital Project Manager

  • Westmoreland, Mark. "Multimodality: Reshaping Anthropology," Annual Review of Anthropology 2022. 51:173–94. (ereserve) (15 pp).
  • Pramaggiore, Maria. "Ch. Four: Narrative Form," Film: a Critical Introduction. London, England : Laurence King Publishing, 2020 (ebook/ereserve).

Handout Final Film Project Guidelines, Learning Goals Reflection Guidelines 

Sign up for Office hours: 15-minute, one-on-one meetings on learning goals
 
First Film Journal entry due, posted to your private Moodle Film Journal Forum,
ideally by Sunday Sept 8, midnight (before we discuss it Monday).
Less ideally, by Friday Sep 13, midnight (after we discuss it). 
 
1 page (~400 words) Learning goals reflection due (posted to Moodle, Friday Sept 13, midnight).

Week 3: (Mis)representing the Anti-Colonial

Assigments

Chronology: Shifting Claims on "Tibet"

Chronology: Shifting Claims on "China"

Film of the Week: Red River Valley (Hong He Gu), Feng Xiaoning, dir., 1997, 120 mins., Stream on Moodle. **Content Notes: some graphic scenes of fictional battle violence.

Mon Sept 16 Film and Nationalist History

  • Anderson, Benedict. READ: “Introduction,” and OPTIONAL ONLY: "Ch. 1 Cultural Roots," in Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism.  London: Verso, 1983. (36 pgs). (ereserve, book reserve).
  • Barnett, Robert. "Younghusband Redux: Chinese Dramatisations of the British Invasion of Tibet," Inner Asia , 2012, Vol. 14, No. 1, SPECIAL ISSUE: The Younghusband 'Mission' to Tibet (2012), pp. 195-234. (ereserve). (34 pp).

Wed Sept 18 De-colonizing film studies?

  • Higbee, Will, and Saër Maty Bâ. "Introduction," De-Westernizing Film Studies. Routledge, 2012. (13 pp). (ebook/ereserve).
  • Brown, William. "Has film ever been Western? Continuity and the question of building a “common” cinema," De-Westernizing Film Studies. Routledge, 2012. (11 pp). (ebook/ereserve).|

Second Film Journal entry due, posted to your private Moodle Film Journal Forum,
ideally by Sunday Sept 15, midnight (before we discuss it Monday).
Less ideally, by Friday Sep 20, midnight (after we discuss it). 

Week 4: Setting the Scene: Hollywood and Translating Tibet

Assignments

Chronology: The Maoist Years and the Rise of the PRC

Film of the Week: Kundun, Martin Scorcese, dir., 1998, Stream on Moodle, 135 mins.

Mon Sept 23 Translating Buddhism and the Dalai Lama

  • Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho, Dalai Lama XIV. Ch.s 1-3.  Freedom in exile : the autobiography of the Dalai Lama. San Francisco, Calif. : HarperPerennial, 1991, c1990 (1st HarperPerennial ed). (pp. 1-57), (ereserve).
  • Chan, Felicia. (2014). Politics into aesthetics: Cultural translation in ‘Kundun,’ ‘Seven Years in Tibet,’ and ‘The Cup.’ In J. Whalen-Bridge & G. Storhoff (Eds.), Buddhist and American Cinema (pp. 83-104). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. (ebook/ereserve). (22 pp)

Structure of the Tibetan Government (late 19th-early 20th)
The Main Tibetan Buddhist Schools/Lineages

Wed Sept 25 Workshop 2 : Mise-en-Scene
Guest: Tony Moreno, Digital Project Manager

  • Pramaggiore, Maria. "Ch. Five: Mise-en-Scene," Film: a Critical Introduction. London, England : Laurence King Publishing, 2020 (ebook/ereserve).
Third Film Journal entry due, posted to your private Moodle Film Journal Forum,
ideally by Sunday Sept 22, midnight (before we discuss it Monday).
Less ideally, by Friday Sep 27, midnight (after we discuss it).

3-5 page Final Project Prelim Plan and process due,
Friday Sept 27, midnight, posted to Moodle

Week 5: "Minority" Film Worlds: Representing Tibetans in the PRC

Assignments

Film of the Week: The Horse Thief (Dao Ma Zei), Tian Zhuangzhuang, dir, 1986, 88 mins,    Stream on Moodle.

Mon Sept 30 Tibetans as "minorities"

  • Lo Kwai-Cheung. 2014 (Un)folding Hollywood and New Chinese Subjectivity through the PRC's minority Nationality films in the 1950s and 1960s" in American and Chinese-Language Cinemas : Examining Cultural Flows, edited by Lisa Funnell, and Man-Fung Yip, Taylor & Francis Group, 2014. (13 pp). (ereserve).
  • Frangville, Vanessa. "Minority Film and Tibet in the PRC: From 'Hell on Earth' to 'the Garden of Eden," Latse Journal 7, 2011-2012, pp 8-21. (online).
Handout: Camera Practice for Workshop Three!

Wed Oct 2 The Public Secret: Reckoning with the Censor

  • Hillenbrand, Margaret. "Introduction: Staking out Secrecy," (FOCUS: pp 1-20, look for examples pp. 21-39); and OPTIONAL: "Conclusion: Out of the Darkroom," Negative exposures : knowing what not to know in contemporary China. Durham ; London : Duke University Press, 2020. (53 pp) (ereserve/ebook).
  • Jin Wei. “Technical Reasons”—The Unspoken Rules of Chinese Film Censorship," Medium, March 21, 2024. (short explainer, online).

Fourth Film Journal entry due, posted to your private Moodle Film Journal Forum,
ideally by Sunday Sept 29, midnight (before we discuss it Monday).
Less ideally, by Friday Oct 4, midnight (after we discuss it).

Week 6: The Rise of Tibetan Filmmakers: Pema Tseden

Assignments

Film of the Week: Old Dog, Pema Tseden, dir, 2011, 93 mins., Stream on Moodle.

Mon Oct 7 The Rise of Pema Tseden

  • Barnett, Robert. "DV-made Tibet: Domestic Videos, Elite Films, and the Work of Pema Tseden," in DV-Made China : Digital Subjects and Social Transformations after Independent Film, edited by Zhen Zhang, and Angela Zito, University of Hawaii Press, 2015. (READ: pp.119-128, SKIP Documentary section, READ: 134 bottom to 154 Fiction) (ebook/ereserve).
  • Tsering, Phurwa, and Françoise Robin. “Pema Tseden, The Master.” Yeshe: A Journal of Tibetan Literature, Arts and Humanities, vol. 1, July 2021 (5 pp). (online).

Wed Oct 9 Workshop 3: Cinematography
Guest: Tony Moreno, Digital Project Manager

  • Pramaggiore, Maria. "Ch. Six: Cinematography," Film: a Critical Introduction. London, England : Laurence King Publishing, 2020 (ebook/ereserve).
  • Come prepared with your practice camera work footage cued up.

Fifth Film Journal entry due, posted to your private Moodle Film Journal Forum,
ideally by Sunday Oct 6, midnight (before we discuss it Monday).
Less ideally, by Friday Oct 11, midnight (after we discuss it). 

Week 7: Gender and The Rise of Tibetan Filmmakers: Pema Tseden 2

Assignments

Film of the Week: Tharlo, Pema Tseden, dir, 2015, 123 mins., Stream on Moodle.

Mon Oct 14 Gendering the Gaze: Women in Tibetans' Films

  • Yang Li. "The silent Tibetan women and their visual exclusions in Pema Tseden’s ‘Tibetan Trilogy,'" Visual Studies, Vol. 38, Nos. 3–4, 2021, 473–486. (ereserve). (13 pp)
  • Robin, Françoise. Women in Pema Tseden’s films: a so far uneasy relationship: A brief overview. Asianart.com, May 2020. (6 pp). (ereserve).

Wed Oct 16 Whose Gaze?

  • Laura Mulvey. "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema". Screen 16 (3): 6–18, 1975. (13 pp)  (ereserve).
  • hooks, bell. "The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators," Black Looks: Race and Representation, 1992.  (15 pp.) (ereserve).
Student Film Workshop and Schedule
 
Sixth Film Journal entry due, posted to your private Moodle Film Journal Forum,
ideally by Sunday Oct 13, midnight (before we discuss it Monday).
Less ideally, by Friday Oct 18, midnight (after we discuss it). 

2 page Midterm project process essay due (Optional: include a first storyboard),
Friday Oct 18, midnight, posted to Moodle

Fall Break Oct 19-27

Week 8: Observing Tibet: Documentary Films by Tibetans

Assignments

Film of the Week: Yartsa Rinpoche: Precious Caterpillar, Dorje Tsering Chenaktsang, dir., 2013, 101 mins., Stream on Moodle. **Content notes: scenes of police raids on diggers' tents, brief footage of wrapped, dead bodies.

Mon Oct 28: Dorje Tsering Chenaktsang's observational eye

  • Dorje Tsering Chenaktsang. "An Introduction to My Experience as a Documentarist," and "On the Relationship between Literature and Cinema in Tibet," Tibetan Arts in Transition: Journey through Theater, Cinema and Painting, edited by Valeria Donatti and Mara Matta, ASIA Onlus, 2009, pp 71-77. (ereserve)
  • Barnett, Robert. "Formal Digital Documentaries and the Work of Dorje Tsering," (p. 127 bottom-134, Section on documentary). "DV-made Tibet: Domestic Videos, Elite Films, and the Work of Pema Tseden," in DV-Made China : Digital Subjects and Social Transformations after Independent Film, edited by Zhen Zhang, and Angela Zito, University of Hawaii Press, 2015. (6 pp.) (ereserve).
  • Grimshaw, Anna, and Amanda Ravetz. “Rethinking Observational Cinema.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, vol. 15, no. 3, 2009, pp. 538–56 (15 pp). (ereserve).
Sample Video Essay for Wed Workshop

Wed Oct 30 Workshop 4: Editing
Guest: Tony Moreno, Digital Project Manager

  • Pramaggiore, Maria. "Ch. Seven: Editing," Film: a Critical Introduction. London, England : Laurence King Publishing, 2020 (ebook/ereserve).
Handout: Storyboard and 1-2 page Process Essay
 
Seventh Film Journal entry due, posted to your private Moodle Film Journal Forum,
ideally by Sunday Oct 27, midnight (before we discuss it Monday).
Less ideally, by Friday Nov 1, midnight (after we discuss it).

Week 9: Green Tibetans? Observing Environmentalisms

Assignments

Film of the Week: Khata, Huatse Gyal, dir., 2023, 45 mins., Stream on Moodle. **Content Notes: two graphic photos of the bodies of cattle killed by scarves in their environments.

Mon Nov 4: The Figure of Green Tibetans

  • Yeh, Emily. 2014. "The rise and fall of the Green Tibetan." Emily Yeh and Chris Coggins, eds. Mapping Shangrila: Contested Landscapes in the Sino-Tibetan Borderlands. University of Washington Press, 2014. (ereserve). (22 pp).
  • Berry, Chris. "Pristine Tibet? The Anthropocene and Brand Tibet in Chinese Cinema," in K.-C. Lo, J. Yeung (eds.), Chinese Shock of the Anthropocene: Image, Music and Text in the Age of Climate Change, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. (18 pp). (ereserve).

Wed Nov 6 Reed Alum, anthropologist and filmmaker Huatse Gyal Zoom-in

 
Eighth Film Journal entry due, posted to your private Moodle Film Journal Forum,
ideally by Sunday Nov 3, midnight (before we discuss it Monday).
Less ideally, by Friday Nov 8, midnight (after we discuss it).
 

Part II: Your Films!

Week 10: Student Film Workshops

Assignments

Mon Nov 11 Harper and Isabelle: Jinpa (Pema Tseden) 

  • Reading: Berry, Chris. “Pema Tseden and the Tibetan road movie: space and identity beyond the ‘minority nationality film’.” Journal of Chinese Cinemas, vol. 10, no. 2, Apr. 2016, pp. 89-105. (ereserve)
  • Film: Pema Tseden, Jinpa, 2015 (Stream on Moodle).
    Pema Tseden continues his amazing directing in the film Jinpa. He highlights the rugged territory of the Kekexili Plateau, an isolated Tibetan region with an average elevation of more than 16,000 feet and gives voice to a key piece of Tibetan culture: Karma. Jinpa follows the story of a truck driver who meets a hitchhiker with the same name. Jinpa and Jinpa aren’t the best of friends but do have a markable impact on one another. Through the journey of Jinpa, we see the duality in their lives, depicting a culture in the midst of transformation by modernity, all while presenting a range of individual responses to these changes. By exploring the themes of karma and revenge and spirituality without definitive judgment, Tseden allows the viewer to reflect on the complexities of Tibetan identity, tradition, and the struggle between the past and the present. As you go into this reading, think about the duality of culture and how the two lives we see in Jinpa reflect the battle of modernity and tradition in Tibet toda
  • See scenes: 8:10- 12:50: When our main character Jinpa, runs over a sheep which showcase Tseden's style and tell alot about the main character
    32:15- 36:30:
    Shows a monk blessing this sheep. It speaks to the directors goal to show modern tibet life and how religion is realistically practiced.
    48:11- 59:00:
    With a waitress in a busy tavern-like establishment and how she behaves, I think it speaks to our conversation about Tharlo and how women are written in Tseden's films.

Wed Nov 13 Workshop 5: Sound
Guest: Tony Moreno, Digital Project Manager

  • Pramaggiore, Maria. "Ch. Eight: Sound," Film: a Critical Introduction. London, England : Laurence King Publishing, 2020 (ebook/ereserve).

Week 11: Student Film Workshops

Assignments

Mon Nov 18 Emilie: The Silent Holy Stones (Pema Tseden, 2006 102 mins)

  • Reading: Saxer, Martin. “The Moral Economy of Cultural Identity: Tibet, Cultural Survival, and the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage.” Civilisations 61, no. 1 (2012): 65–81. (ereserve)
  • Film: The Silent Holy Stones Stream on Moodle
    This Pema Tseden’s first feature film. It follows a young Lama who goes on holiday break from the monastery and visits his hometown. While at home, he becomes obsessed with watching Journey to the West, an ‘80s Chinese TV show that is a retelling of a classic 16th century novel. At the end, he must return to the monastery, leaving the TV behind.
  • Scenes:
    [6:00-9:57] - the young Lama and Tulku watch Drime Kundun’s play (a DVD produced locally, in the young Lama’s hometown, of a classic Tibetan story).

    [21:43-25:33] - meeting Uncle Zoba, a mani stone carver.

    [53:32-58:30] - the kids skipping out on the play, going to the movies

    [1:15:00-1:17:29] - finding out about Uncle Zoba’s death

    [1:29:55-1:35:44] - end of the film

Wed Nov 20 GiGi: The Golden Child (Michael Ritchie, 1986, 94 mins)

  • Reading: Banerjee, Mita, Vijay Prashad, and Gary Okihiro. “The Rush Hour of Black/Asian Coalitions?: Jackie Chan and Blackface Minstrelsy.” In AfroAsian Encounters: Culture, History, Politics, edited by Heike Raphael-Hernandez and Shannon Steen, 204–22. NYU Press, 2006. (ereserve) or online: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43487296.
  • Film: The Golden Child (Stream on Moodle)
    When the 14th Dalai Lama is stolen from a Tibetan Monastery, Keenang hires private investigator Chandler Jarrel to fing him. On this journey, he learns about trust, love and American Exceptionalism. Content Notes: misogyny, dead children, mild violence, severely objectified depictions of women, sexual assault jokes and cringe (that last one is completely serious)
  • Scenes:
    Opening Scene - (00.00.20 - 00.05.53)
    Snake Women Scene - (00.18.03 - 00.20.37)
    Dream Sequence - (00.39.44 - 00.44.50)
    Knife Scene - (00.55.34 - 00.57.45)
    Love Scene - (01.04.00 - 01.07.51)
    Ending Scene - (01.28.37 - 01.29.37)

Week 12: Student Film Workshops

Assignments

Mon Nov 25 Oliver: We're No Monks

  • Film: We’re No Monks(2004) (Stream on Moodle)
    Pema Dhondup’s first feature-length film, follows the lives of four
    young Tibetan men living in Dharamsala, India. As the title suggests, the movie is not about
    monks but instead about the modern lives of Tibetans struggling with their identity and
    oppression beyond Tibet’s borders. They spend their time drinking, smoking, and flirting with
    foreigners while also trying to bring meaning to their struggles. Each character grapples with
    their own conflicts and questions about what a violent struggle means for Tibet. Ultimately, three of the friends manage to overcome their personal conflicts and reach a sustainable life, while one succumbs to the calls for violent action against their oppression.
  • Reading:  Bloch, Natalia. “We Are No Monks. Narrating the Self through New Tibetan Exile Cinema.” Ethnologia Polona, vol. 37, 2017, pp. 101-114. (ereserve)
  • Scenes:
    [0:30-2:10] Tenzin Speaks directly to the audience through Damdul’s camcorder, giving a call-
    to-action speech on the Tibetan struggle
    [17:37-18:45] Passang advocates for violent action while rehearsing for his play.
    [1:03:00-1:08:30] Passang drunkenly calls for violent acts of terror with his friends after the
    party
    [1:59:40-2:01:10] Cuts between scenes of Damdul purchasing explosives and the end of
    Passang’s play condemning terrorism
    [2:06:30-2:07:15] Damdul (I think) explains what he did.

Wed Nov 27 Rest day!

 

Thanksgiving Nov 28-29

Weeks 13-14: Student Film Workshops

Assignments

Mon Dec 2 Jake: What Remains of Us (2004) Content Notes: Footage of self-immolation by fire protests (Stream on Moodle)

  • Film: What Remains of Us by Francois Prevost summarizes an eight-year journey dictating the history and current status of Tibetans living in Chinese regions and their relationship to the Dalai Lama since his exile. The film crew consisted of a Tibetan woman (Kalsang Dolma) and several European directors (François Prévost, Hugo Latulippe) who travelled through Tibet and smuggled a video message from the Dalai Lama to any Tibetan who would be willing to listen. The documentarians travel to secluded camps, neighborhoods and temples to deliver the film to Tibetans of all ages, inspiring hope and rekindling faith among the people now almost accustomed to Chinese rule. This film follows the documenters journey to deliver a hopeful message while exploring official Chinese archives to chronicle Tibet’s occupation. This film seeks to raise awareness by showing the ugly history between the two nations while establishing a theme of connectedness and individual sovereignty. 
  • Reading: Matta, Mara. “Liminal Gazes: Reflections on Tibetan Diasporic Cinema.” Tibetan Arts in Transition: Journey through Theater, Cinema and Painting, edited by Valeria Donatti and Mara Matta, ASIA Onlus, 2009, pp. 25-36. (get pdf)
  • Scenes:
    [11:51-13:10], [14:48-16:57], [30:40 - 31:53], [49:03 - 50:36], [1:03:40 - 1:04:23] - Each of the Dalai Lama’s messages (Listen carefully! Each message is different!)
    [45:37 - 49:00] a Tibetan city torn apart by Beijing military
    [38:31 - 41:56] - Dolma reviewing the official documents for the Chinese annexation of Tibet, and the victims/prisoners that followed
    [1:11:52 - 1:13:32] - Self-immolation footage and other forms of protes

Wed Dec 4 Theta: Satya: Prayer for the Enemy (Ellen Bruno) Content Notes: footage of violent military crackdowns on Tibetan protestors, violence against women, sexual assault/rape, mentions of torture, images of bound women. (Stream on Moodle)

  • Film: Ellen Bruno’s film Satya: A Prayer for the Enemy (1997) is a documentary that details the experiences of Tibetan Buddhist nuns who have been imprisoned and tortured by Chinese authorities following their protest and resistance to China’s occupation and oppression of Tibet. The film uses personal testimonies and visuals of Tibet to explore the story of oppression in response to resistance. The Tibetan Buddhist nuns detail their experiences and the courage it took to oppose China’s occupation while suffering extreme violence. Satya has a reflective tone with minimal narration, emphasizing the power of individual and collective resistance while shedding light on a largely underrepresented group.
  • Reading: Cooke, Susette. "To Struggle for Freedom is Our Responsibility: Tibetan Nuns in the Chinese State," Women, Activism and Social Change, Routledge, 2005. (ereserve)
  • Scenes:
    [05:34 - 06:20] Discussion of karma
    [06:55 - 07:55] Slow motion
    [11:50 - 13:50] Protest
    [15:57 - 16:42] Image of bound woman

Mon Dec 9: Vicky: Summer Pasture (Stream on Moodle)

  • Film: Summer Pasture was released in 2010 by Lynn True, Nelson Walker, and Tsering Perlo. It was shot in the summer of 2007 about a young couple living a nomadic life in Dzachukha, Kham, off the beaten track in nowadays Sichuan Province. At the time of transition, when lots of nomads decided to live a town life, the young couple Locho and Yama could hardly remain nomadic under the rapid development. This film records their thoughts and experience of housework arrangement, marriage, illness, pregnancy, education, interaction with town people, and the dissolution of their community during their work of daily life.
  • Reading:
    Nash, K. (2011). Documentary-for-the-other: Relationships, ethics and (observational) documentary. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 26(3), 224. (ereserve)
  • Scenes:
    [21:30-22:05] Locho zooming in through a binocular, looking into the filmmaker’s lens.
    [27:10-30:10] Yama and Locho talking about their unnamed young daughter.
    [39:20-40:44] Yama talking about her experience in town and outside Tibet.
    [54:10- 1:02:10] Yama talking about her illness, her marriage, and her previous dead infants. Yama praying outside their tent. Yama and Locho doing housework and singing together.
    [1:09:05-1:09:55] Yama acknowledged that women are taking more work in a nomadic life and said that “I hope my daughter can be a nun. I hope she can read & write.”  
    [1:15:00-1:21:00] The couple moving their tent.

Final 10-minute video (posted to Moodle Panopto folder), with 3-page process/goals discussion, (posted to Moodle), Tuesday, Dec 17, midnight

Final Portfolio Reflection, including a suggested grade,
posted to Moodle, Wednesday, Dec 18, midnight

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