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79742-01 - Seminar: Georgian Cinema as Archive: Film, Memory and National Identity Across Empires (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Nino Dzandzava (nino.dzandzava@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This seminar examines the history of Georgian cinema from its early twentieth-century origins through the Soviet period, approaching it through an archival perspective. It encourages students to rethink cinema as a historical and cultural archive of images, identities, and political imaginaries, and as a site where memory is produced and manifested. The seminar explores the extent to which Russian imperial and later Soviet ideologies shaped film production, distribution, and reception in Georgia. It considers films as historical documents that reveal how filmmakers maneuvered within ideological dictates (adapting to, participating in, or resisting dominant frameworks), while contributing to the construction of national cinematic identity. Methodologically, the seminar moves beyond a linear, chronological survey of national cinema. Instead, it adopts a cross-chronological and thematic approach based on selected case studies. It examines the works of directors including Mikhail Kalatozov (Mikheil Kalatozishvili), Mikheil Chiaureli, Giorgi Danelia, Lana Gogoberidze, Nutsa Gogoberidze, Otar Iosseliani, Eldar Shengelaia, and Tengiz Abuladze and challenges the notion of Soviet cinema’s homogeneity. The course foregrounds questions of fragmentation, loss, and survival, asking how film history is reconstructed from incomplete and uneven materials. These include films, newsreels, censorship records, production documents, film posters, and other visual and textual traces that shape the historiography of Georgian cinema. In doing so, the seminar encourages a critical reassessment of existing film histories and the conditions under which they have been produced. The seminar will be taught in English. Knowledge of Georgian or Russian is welcome but not required, as all key materials will be provided in translation. |
| Learning objectives | By the end of the course, students will acquire historical knowledge and methodological tools for analysing cinema within cultural and political contexts. In particular, they will gain an overview of key periods, figures, and developments in the history of Georgian cinema and they will develop the ability to analyse films as aesthetic texts and historical documents. The students will engage with different types of sources relevant to film history, including audiovisual materials and paper archives. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block | See individual dates | ||
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 18.09.2026 | 14.15-17.45 | Nadelberg 8, Seminarraum 13 |
| Friday 02.10.2026 | 14.15-17.45 | Nadelberg 8, Seminarraum 13 |
| Friday 16.10.2026 | 14.15-17.45 | Nadelberg 8, Seminarraum 13 |
| Friday 30.10.2026 | 14.15-17.45 | Nadelberg 8, Seminarraum 13 |
| Friday 13.11.2026 | 14.15-17.45 | Nadelberg 8, Seminarraum 13 |
| Friday 04.12.2026 | 14.15-17.45 | Nadelberg 8, Seminarraum 13 |
| Friday 11.12.2026 | 14.15-17.45 | Nadelberg 8, Seminarraum 13 |
| Modules |
Modul: Literatur im Zusammenspiel der Künste und Medien (Master's degree program: Literary Studies) Modul: Spezialisierung «Geschichte und Polititsche Bildung» (Master's Studies: Subject-Specific Teaching and Learning) Modul: Visuelle Medien in Osteuropa (Bachelor's degree program: Eastern European Studies) Modul: Visuelle Medien in Osteuropa (Bachelor's degree subject: Eastern European Cultures) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Slavistik |