Murmures

On December 28, 1895, an audience of about 70 was treated to an exhibition of ten short films made with and projected by the Lumiere Brothers’ Cinematographe machine, a device that somehow transformed still photographs into moving images. It was at that moment that cinema as a technology and as an industry was being born – yet how was it that within just a few short years cinema would also be capable of producing great works of art, stories that could make us laugh or make us cry, appreciated by people around the world? In a series of illustrated lectures, Columbia University Professor of Film Studies, Richard Peña, will detail the history of film style and technique, showing key examples drawn from a wide range of films that trace the development of editing, camera movement, set design, lighting, sound and film narrative. In the final two sessions, we will screen entire feature-length films and then slowly analyze them, examining the specific stylistic choices made by their filmmakers in order to enhance the themes and ideas that each

wished to express in their given works.



Film Course

Introduction to Film Studies

The Origins of Cinema – Transition from Single to Multi-shot Films – Continuity Editing – Camera Movement – Film Narration –

Sound in the Cinema and much more. Includes screenings, workshop and discussions. 9:00 am – 1:00 pm



Film Screenings

A Panorama of Hollywood Cinema

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Selected screenings of Hollywood cinema classics with historical background, discussions, and question/answer

sessions each evening. Thee films are shown in original language with English subtitles. Admission is free.

Alliance Francaise, Kenya Cultural Centre, and Pawa 254. In the evenings, Professor Peña will present « A Panorama of Hollywood Cinema, » introducing and screening five American film classics while each time offering a brief lecture on the development of the American film industry, beginning with the arrival of synchronized sound in the early ‘30s and concluding with the emergence of so-called the « New Hollywood » in the ‘70s. Along with comments on the individual films, among the topics he will discuss in lectures will be the impact of World War 2 on the industry, censorship, the impact of the decline of audiences both at home and abroad, the

importance of genre in American cinema, and changes in the structure and finance of the American film industry.



Film Screening Schedule:

-August 18: SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, 1953, Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly. Venue: Alliance Francaise

-August 19: THE BIG SLEEP, 1946, Howard Hawks. Venue: Kenya Cultural Centre, Ukumbi Mdogo, opp. Norfolk Hotel

-August 20: I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG, 1932, Mervyn Leroy. Venue: Kenya Cultural Centre

-August 21: THE SEARCHERS, 1956, John Ford. Venue: Pawa254

-August 22: MEAN STREETS, 1973, Martin Scorsese. Venue: Pawa254