FILM GU4300

Socio-politcal contexts of Black film culture in the 1990s.

I learned how to view black film and media in a new way.

I learned how to look at various works of cinema through a modern lens of objectivity. I also learned about the obstacles and challenges of acquiring funding and respect within the film industry when you are a Black person creative.

I learned to view films and interpret filmmaking decisions in a totally different light. In terms of representation, there are many aspects of film that serve as a means of communication whether it be casting, camera techniques, or screenwriting. As far as black film as a medium goes, I learned to respect the history of black film and the great innovators that pioneered long before John Singleton, Ryan Coogler, or Jordan Peele. Their technical and creative prowess didn't arise out of thin air. There is a strong legacy of black film we can all pull from as filmmakers.

I have learnt different aspect of racism in the American film industry. I also learnt how to deconstruct a film to produce text out of it in order to understand film beyond its story/narretive.

I learned about how the creativity of black film makers and creativities was still able to flourish and evolve despite the plethora of discriminative obstacles.

I have already recommended this course to friends. The professor is very understanding, it is a lecture that is very interactive and the instructors are good teachers and learners. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Spring 2022 Course: FILMGU4300_001_2022_1-BlackFilmandMedia : FILMGU4300_001_2022_1 - Black Film and Media- FILMGU4300_001_2022_1 - African American Film & Media Instructor: Racquel Gates

One thing I really took away from this class was just the difference in approach to film history - I really loved the emphasis on de-centering the history with which we're all a little more familiar and almost approaching it with a ground-up philosophy. I learned so much about recent film history that I hadn't even thought to be curious of in the past. I also love how the assignments kind of stretched different analytical muscles, ones that foregrounded situating each film studies very much within the context of the world around it.

I learned a lot about Black representations - that just being Black doesn't necessarily make a film Black.

I learned so much I do not even know where to begin. I learned so much about Black film and television history, pop culture, and the implications of the Black film boom of the 90s and it truly gave me a new lens on the discourse of black film and media today. Racquel Gates is a genius and this is my second class with her, would love to take another with her if I could.