Annette Insdorf

Not much covered in the way of history, but she clearly has a great love of the films she teaches (makes sense, most were made by her friends). I can't quite square her away as either good or bad. A very mixed experience, to be sure. If you are affected in any way by the films you watch, steer clear. I've never walked out on a movie in my entire adult life, even truly terrible ones, but I physically could not bear to sit through the more distressing content. And I don't consider myself overly sensitive when it comes to cinema (the only movie I ever really cried watching was Hachiko). Not a single film she shows you has any kind of positive feeling attached to it, which is truly a remarkable feat considering the time period covered. I cannot stress enough the depression evoked by her film choices. I think every movie contained at least one gruesome death. I found myself wondering why we couldn't get a week off, maybe see an even marginally comedic picture, but alas.

I really learned a lot in this class. Prof. insdorf has her own way of weaving together the themes of 60-90 cinema, among which post war collective consciousness might be her favorite. This class really sparked my interest in subconscious and surrealist cinema and its potential for social criticism. Knowing that she cares a great deal about writing (from grammar to style) also pushed me to write better essays. That said, I did feel that she didn't give students enough attention/time given her busy schedule. It was hard for me to build genuine connections with her, as she only gave 15 mins for office hour each time. She seemed really nice and approachable in class, but in office hour I could often feel condescension.

Wonderful! This has been one of my favorite classes ever and Prof. Innsdorf is an absolute delight. Her lectures were sparkling, but she artfully led the discussions in such a way that you wanted to participate. She valued our opinions and the general atmosphere of the class was stimulating and inviting at the same time. Yes, she expects you to write well for your papers, but you should be a good writer if you're here at Columbia! The films were engaging, just like the professor. Definitely take this class!

I learned a deep new cinematic language and knowledge to understand Polish film. That is, the films of Kieslowski, and I understand that this class was based on his works but I feel that his works are not divorced from his Polish upbringing. We stayed very close to the material, analyzing the music and angles and blocking of the films. I appreciated all the review work with the classmates, this cohort is very receptive and descriptive, every film should be seen multiple times to truly understand the brilliance.

I really enjoyed this course and think that Professor Insdorf is a really great and supportive instructor. She is very honest in her feedback and genuinely wants her students to do well and write the best thesis they can.

Professor Insdorf is an amazing and knowledgable professor. I took this class to fulfill a requirement and ended up really loving it. You don't need to be a film major to take this course! Professor Insdorf selects good films that are thought provoking and original (along with some great classics). I wish I could have taken another class with her. Her lectures were genuinely interesting. I always enjoyed hearing her thoughts about the film and the discussion that occurred after the screening each week.

annette’s an amazing lecturer and you’ll learn a lot in this course — biggest issue i had with her is her complete ignorance of the current genocide in gaza while teaching films about genocide, war, and the politics of memory. represents a certain cognitive dissonance and lack of application of theory to real life that she ironically preaches about in this class.

I'm surprised to see all the sniping reviews here about Insdorf. It seems everyone I talk to absolutely adores her. Anyway, I'm not alone in thinking she's quite wonderful and a highlight of my time at Columbia. Insdorf's lectures are quite sexy -- full of insight, infectious passion and charm. She knows many top figures in the film business and isn't shy about sharing those relationships if you need access to people for your thesis research. She's a top figure in film criticism and a major player on the festival circuit, so yes, she's insanely scattered and busy during her office hours. You can't go into her office needing emotional hand-holding or support - you probably won't get the coddling you're looking for. But I disagree with the other reviewers who think she doesn't care about her students. I've seen her give warm attention and respect to even the most insane rambling from students in senior seminar. I've seen her dance like a freak in the office when a student's song was playing over the Internet. She's great. Really cool, very human. And she built one of the most prestigious film departments in the world on a shoe-string budget. It's simply not true that she gives an overly academic or literary approach to film study. If you do the reading in, for example, American Film History, you'll find that there are long, difficult chapters on film technology, camera work, and…

You're not gonna learn "hard" knowledge about filmmaking, etc. in a course like this. It was a survey of Kieslowski's films with in-depth analysis on their themes, style, direction, music, cinematography, etc.

I learned new skills in film analysis and how to write a better thesis.