Film histories: From 1895 to the present

The unit introduces you to key moments in film history from the earliest days of cinema up to the present day. It covers aesthetic, technological and industrial developments, while also exploring the relationship between the cinema and the changing historical contexts of its production, distribution and exhibition. It also examines different types of cinema from across the world, covering a range of filmmaking nations, genres and styles. In discussing the main periods in film history, you will engage with issues of historiography as well as the critical approaches and debates that have shaped understandings of the cinema and its evolving relationships with culture and society.