Course: Cinematic Currents: FLEFF and the History of Film Festivals CNPH 22000-00
Professor: Dr. Andrew Utterson, Associate Professor of Screen Studies and Associate Programmer, Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival
Attributes and Designations: Non-liberal arts (NLA)
When do students enroll:
This course is offered in the spring semester to coincide with the annual Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival (FLEFF). It is open to all students on campus, including the BA in Documentary Studies and Production. The second longest-running environmental film festival in the United States, FLEFF is now in its 26th year.
What it covers:
Matching content and context, the courses invites students to learn more about the history, curation, and day-to-day running of film festivals while immersing in the many screenings, visiting filmmakers, music, writers, activists, scholars, talkbacks, master classes and other very special events of FLEFF. This semester-long course provides a framework for experiential participation in this public festival, which runs on the Ithaca College campus and downtown at Cinemapolis, the local nonprofit arthouse cinema. Students can earn college credit and also work as interns for FLEFF.
How it is taught:
Lectures, discussions, and workshops prepare students to engage this major festival in real time, with a guided experience of the festival itself and subsequent reflection on personal highlights and lessons learned along the way.
Why I teach this course:
Teaching a course so immersed in the cutting-edge screenings and other special events of an established festival is a rich cultural experience in itself. I am privileged to share this immersion with a wider community on-campus with students and beyond with wider public committed to documenting and discussing the world through the moving image.