– Why Cinéma and not Cinema?
– The course is called political cinéma to remind us that ‘cinéma’ is both the production and projection of films. In 1895 the Lumière brothers first used the cinématographe motion picture system (a camera, projector, and film printer at the same time) to make and show their short films. So, the course in political cinéma politically analyses the way cinéma both represents and constructs contemporary politics for a popular audience.
– As this is a new course at the department, how’s it going? I guess it’s not just popcorn and entertainment...
– This is a new course at the ‘C-level’ / ‘Bachelor’s level’ that pushes students to both think across the various sub-disciplines of political science and think outside the box of conventional politics to analyse cultural politics and political culture.The course is going great – as an ‘Active Learning’ (student-centred) course the students get the opportunity to read the literature and view the films in small groups outside the seminar room. Then we engage in group-based learning, discussion, and plenary sessions inside the seminar room.
– Has the revolution already been televised, in the context of “sometimes truth is stranger than fiction”?
– The revolution will not be televised (Gil Scott Heron, 1970), but critically-thinking revolutionaries adopt the cultural language of cinéma across the world. To give just three examples:
- The ‘Anonymous Mask’ taken from the film V for Vendetta (2005) is worn at political demonstrations against tyranny across the world since the film was released.
- The ‘Three-finger salute’ taken from the film The Hunger Games (2012) is used by pro-democracy movements across South-East Asia since 2013, including Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Philippines.
- The red costume of The Handmaid's Tale (2017) is worn by protesters against the oppression of women across the world, including USA, Argentina, Ireland, and UK since 2017.
In political cinéma the truth is stranger than fiction with the film Wag the Dog (1997) being shown round the clock on Serbian TV as NATO conducted the 1999 bombing campaign, just after the Clinton-Lewinski scandal broke. The film Contagion (2011) portrays in clinical detail the political consequences of a global flu epidemic similar to the COVID-19 pandemic. The language of the authoritarian government in George Orwell’s 1984 (film released 1984) is now widely used in popular culture (e.g., Big Brother tv series), and by far-right parties and governments, such as Orwell’s ‘Newspeak’ found in the Trump administration’s ‘alternative facts’.
– Which movie so far in the course, would you say, has brought the most surprising discussion?
– The most surprising discussions in the course have been around the five mainstream films Tomorrowland (2015), Black Panther (2018), In Time (2011), Syriana (2005), and Arrival (2016) which deal with environmental politics, postcolonial politics, political economy, international conflict, and international politics.
– Now with new technological ways of manipulating and producing fake videos, do you see a new era of propaganda movies?
– The use of Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) characters such as Princess Leia/Carrie Fischer in Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker (2019), Rachael/ Sean Young in Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) demonstrate that with new technological ways of manipulating and producing convincing cinéma and videos, it is highly likely that we have already entered a new era of propaganda movies, as predicted in Wag the Dog (1997).
– What else would you like to share about the course and your teaching?
– The course in political cinéma is not just about films and their impact – it is about understanding that popular and political culture are interdependent and shape our understanding of ‘The Political’ (the boundaries of what counts as politics) and ‘Political Science’ in ways most untrained analysts have not yet considered. Students taking the course experience a student-centred learning experience that encourages them to understand and analyse outside-the-box of traditional political science through a ‘capstone course’ (a course that cuts across conventional boundaries within political science) that serves as fitting end to their bachelors’ studies.
To the course page for Political Cinéma
Read more about the inauguration ceremony here: Professorsinstallation den 17 mars: möt Ian Manners! | Statsvetenskapliga institutionen (lu.se) (in Swedish)