Title of the Project: “Spanish 497. Cultures and Film”: A new class in

SEED GRANT FOR INTERNATIONAL CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
REPORT
Title of the Project: “Spanish 497. Cultures and Film”: A new class in the Spanish Section of the
Department of Modern and Classical Languages.
Purpose: Acquisition of films and books necessary to teach the class, Spanish 497: “Cultures and
Film.”
Applicant: Hugo Garcia, PhD. Assistant Professor. Department of Modern and Classical
Languages.
Seed Grant Awarded: Fall Quarter 2010.
Introduction
The Department of Modern and Classical Languages has decided to create a new class
Span 497 which will focus on film and cultural studies. The class will be called “Cultures and
Film”; this broad title will serve as an umbrella that will permit each faculty member the
opportunity of giving to this class a specific content depending on his/her own research interests,
following always the relationship between the film production with the rest of the cultural
aspects of the country and/or historical period selected.
The first version of the class
To teach Spanish 497 for the first time, I have crafted a class titled “Film and Revolution
in Cuba: Esthetics, Ideology, and History.” I have decided to start with this first topic because
Cuba remains much underrepresented in cultural and literary studies in general, and because I
have observed the students’ desire for knowing about Cuba, its history, and its society.
In this class students will learn to analyze film as art, becoming familiar with essential
cinematographic principles. It is one of my goals that students learn to approach film from a
semiotic perspective that will permit them to understand film as a cultural discourse for them to
interpret scenes, metaphors, allegories, and/or references for the better understanding of the topic
represented in the film or documentary.
The main objectives of this class will be:
1. to expose students to the film production of Cuba,
2. to discuss economic, social, and political issues that have affected Cuba, and are present
in the Cuban filmography,
3. to teach students how to see and analyze films as art,
4. to deepen the interdisciplinary approach to the study of languages and cultures,
5. and ultimately, to contribute to a complete and interdisciplinary education of Western
students.
Benefits of the Seed Grant
The Seed Grant has permitted to acquire a good quantity of Cuban films produced
between 1960 and 2010 that will be the essential material to be analyzed and discussed. The
Grant also permitted to purchase several books that will serve as theoretical support to approach
the study of Cuban films. Following is a table that describes the material purchased for the class.
Report of Materials Acquired for the Classes.
Texts
Braudy, Leo, and Marshal Cohen, Eds. Film Theory and Criticism.
Introductory Readings. 6th Ed. New York & Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2004.
Rosenthal, Alan. Ed. New Challenges for Documentary. Berkeley,
Los Angeles, 7 Londo: University of California Press, 1988.
Chanan, Michael. The Cuban Image: Cinema and Cultural Politics
in Cuba. London & Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985.
García Osuna, Alfonso J. Cuban Filmography. 1897 through 2001.
Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2003.
Noguer, Eduardo G. Historia del cine cubano. Cien años. 18971998. 2ª. Ed. Miami, FL: Ediciones Universal, 2002.
Vega, Jesús. El cartel cubano de cine. La Habana: Editorial Letras
Cubanas, 1996.
Álvarez Álvarez, Luis and Pérez Padrón, Armando. Introducción
al cine. La Habana: Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria
Cinematográficos.
Díaz, Marta and Joel del Río. Los cien caminos del cine cubano.
Ciudad de La Habana: Ediciones ICAIC, 2010.
Total in texts
Price
(includes taxes and
shipping and
handling)
$61.78
$32.55
$36.28
$46.02
$68.34
$58.58
$45.49
$61.59
$410.63
Films
Maluala Dir. Sergio Giral.
Un rey en La Habana. Dir. Alexis Valdés.
Las doce sillas. Dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea.
Alicia en el pueblo de Maravillas. (1991). Dir. Daniel Díaz Torres.
Lucía. Dir. Humberto Solás.
Suite Habana. Dir. Fernándo Pérez.
Se permuta. Dir. Juan Carlos Tabío.
Guantanamera. Dirs. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea y Juan Carlos Tabío.
La muerte de un burócrata. Dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea.
La última cena. Dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea.
Hasta cierto punto. Dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Balseros. Dirs. Charles Bosch and Joseph Maria Domenech
Barrio Cuba. Dir. Humberto Solás
Historias de la revolución. Dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea.
De cierta manera. Dirs. Julio García-Espinosa y Sara Gómez.
El otro Francisco. Dir. Sergio Giral.
Amor vertical. (1997) Dir. Arturo Sotto Díaz
Kleines Tropicana. (1997) Dir. Daniel Díaz Torres
Adorables mentiras (1992) Dir. Gerardo Chijona
Una novia para David (1987) Dir. Orlando Rojas
Plaff. (1989) Dir. Juan Carlos Tabío
El elefante y la bicicleta. (1994) Dir. Juan Carlos Tabío
Total in films
Grand Total
Price
(includes taxes and
shipping and
handling)
$24.40
$6.49
$19.44
$24.40
$24.67
$22.58
$23.75
$20.51
$19.46
$34.61
$40.06
$19.52
$24.40
$31.42
$23.52
$23.54
$15.95
$15.95
$15.95
$15.95
$15.95
$15.95
$478.47
$889.10