Course overview

One of the revolutionary art movements of the early 20th century, surrealism was made for the movies. Artists keen on challenging the boundaries of form, genre and art itself, quickly made use of the possibilities of the moving image. Beyond that, early filmmakers discovered film’s potential for the ‘unreal’. In surrealist cinema, questions about identity and reality, challenges to social norms, the subconscious, dreams and the fantastic meet.

Course description

In this 5-week course, you’ll get an introduction to key characteristics, directors and films of surrealist cinema, from the beginnings of the movement and its film makers like Bunuel to 1960s experimentation.We’ll also look at pioneers of the cinema fantastic like George Melies and how they contributed to surrealism as a major strand of filmmaking.

We’ll trace its history via key film makers like Cocteau, Fellini, Terry Gilliam and David Lynch.

This course is open to those new to film studies as well as those who already have some experience.

During our session, we’ll look at film clips and discuss them. It isn’t a prerequisite to watch the films in their entirety.

Background will be provided as will resources on further viewing and reading afterwards.

What financial support is available?

We don't want anything to stand in your way when it comes to bringing Adult learning within reach so if you need anything to support you to achieve your goals then speak to one of our education experts during your enrolment journey. Most of our courses are government funded but if you don't qualify or need alternative financial help to access them then let us know.

What other support is available?

All of our digital content, teaching and learning activities and assessments are designed to be accessible so if you need any additional support you can discuss this with the education experts during your enrolment journey and we will do all we can to make sure you have optimal access.

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