2021 – Summer

Film Journalism (Session 1)

Course Number: SS1: JOUR-UA 202.002

Day & Time: Tue/Thu - 4:00-7:00pm

Location: Online

Albert Course Number: 5997

This “supercalifragilisticexpiali(dope!)ciously intense” course is designed for students with a serious interest in writing about movies for print and digital media, and a sense of humor. Students practice various forms of film journalism, from hard news to profile writing. They also develop a critical understanding of the art form through screenings and close readings of important works by celebrated and contemporary writers: Pauline Kael, François Truffaut, Donald Bogle, Brooks Barnes, Stephanie Zacharek and the Internet. This course equips students with a working knowledge of the film journalism landscape, as well as an understanding of major film movements and artists. Students attend and cover the 2021 Brooklyn Film Festival. Other planned class trips include Film at Lincoln Center, the nonprofit organization that is home to the New York Film Festival and offices of Film Comment magazine. We do lots of classwork and hot takes, writing exercises, topic-inspired lessons, presentations and pop-up workshops on journalism skills and ethics. Guest speakers will offer guidance on specific topics like reporting techniques, film programming and criticism. By the end of the course, students will have raised their cinema I.Q. and completed several publishable articles.