During Tuesday’s class, we watched the film Barravento (1962) and discussed many aspects of it afterwards. During this discussion – sparked by a question from the final slide during a classmate’s presentation – we discussed how the film views and presents women. Many of my classmates brought up many points supporting the view that the film gives women a very important role in the society of Barravento (1962). Women are in charge during religious ceremonies and are the only seen religious leaders. They try to keep others in the village from using spells to curse people and are the people’s moral compass. I agree that women do play a significant role in the film’s religion,Candomblé, however, I feel like the film is more complicated with how it treats the women in this film. The camera and plot don’t treat women who are religious leaders the same way it treats women the audience is supposed to be attracted to. This could be entirely unintentional,but these older women are “othered” from the younger women in the film. The younger women in the film are allowed to be sexual and are sexualized by the camera. During a scene where the people are dancing,there are low angle shots that focus on the breasts of the younger women as they move. This continues in the medium shots where there is a focus on the woman’s rear end as she dances. Maybe I am internalizing Western views on sex that associate these moves with sensuality,but I did notice that there isn’t as much focus put on the men when they do the same dance. The camera doesn’t focus on the same areas when it turns towards the older woman. Instead of zooming in on their rumps,the camera puts focus on their arm movement,and in one case a woman’s feet. Even if one was to argue that it was due to religion,I’d like to point out that the younger women who also play a religious role are allowed to be seen as pretty. In one frame of a younger woman in religious clothing,a woman is framed like a painting. A single tear runs down her cheek when she is upset in the scene,showing her sadness while not making the “ugly” faces that people usually make when crying. The younger women are allowed to be seen as sexy and elegant by the audience while the older women are not.

SPAN 2910 es un curso diseñado para profundizar en los aspectos hablados y escritos del idioma español y, sobretodo, de las culturas latinoamericanas, españolas y del mundo hispanohablante a través del estudio y reflexión sobre de algunas de las más reveladoras películas de los últimos años. La imposibilidad de atender a todos los ámbitos geográficos y culturales hace que la selección se centre en unos cuantos contextos representativos. No obstante, el curso estará abierto a explorar películas de todos los países hispanohablantes y lxs alumnxs podrán elaborar trabajos finales sobre cualquiera de ellos.

Los temas de estos films, como culturas juveniles, música y arte, raza y racismo, género y orientación sexual, se analizarán a través de tres ejes: la estética, la producción y el contexto cultural. Para guiar las discusiones en clase habrá una selección de lecturas sobre teoría del cine. Este tipo de discusiones se verán nutridas por textos procedentes, entre otros, de los campos de Latin America studies, Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Gender Studies y Decolonial Studies.

Lxs estudiantes organizarán y curarán su propio festival cinematográfico en el que se podrá ver una muestra de películas latinoamericanas y españolas recientes. Las proyecciones tendrán lugar en uno de los auditorios de Brooklyn College y serán abiertas para toda la comunidad universitaria.