The films provided in this project are to be used as additions to an existing cinema studies course syllabus, particularly an introductory course. My present calls for reform and movement away from the concept of a singular hallowed canon do not change the fact that to be successful and taken seriously in any film circles, one must be familiar with the contents of the contemporary film canon. Realistically, it will be years before such wishes of re-imagination are realized. In the meantime, the films present in this project (and those that will inevitably be added in the future) are ones for educators to consider including in their course syllabi alongside canonized works. Additionally, these films serve to extend critical conversations about innovative cinematography, performances, writing, etc. to popular and BIPOC and non-male directed works that are not typically engaged with in such a manner. To this end, I hope that students—from what they learn in the classroom and what they explore on their own—develop their own palettes and standards of quality instead of blindly inheriting those of generations past.
Meaningfully engaging with the anti-canon should not end at adding a few films to a syllabus for educators. To truly change the ways that we conceive of and interact with the established film canon also requires changes to the ways that we teach film. Educators must acknowledge the impact of their syllabi, as what you do not say about excluded films echoes just as loudly as the praise you may heap onto canonized works. What I seek for emerging filmmakers (and any student who takes an introductory film course) is for them to know the current canon and then some. However, I acknowledge that, for pedagogical purposes, having a select few films to draw from within the confines of a single academic term is practical and necessary. For this, these are questions I propose educators ask themselves every time they engage with the cinematic canon:
Do your film selections truly exhibit the cinematic technique you aim to teach, or do you feel “obligated” to teach this work because of its reputation within the canon?
If the works you are teaching are notably “problematic” in their representations of a condition, group of people, or event, are you properly contextualizing the work for your students (i.e. assigning this film alongside supplementary materials to explain the impact of the work)?
In what ways are you thinking of diversity beyond fulfilling racial or gender quotas? Is your syllabus also diverse in terms of genre, form, and degrees of popularity?
How are you engaging with and representing the canon in your syllabus? Are you making your students sufficiently aware of the ways in which the canon is a constructed entity of great influence within the film community?
Are you providing transparency into your processes of curating the films in your syllabus?
How are you attending to the films that you cannot teach because of the time constraints of the academic term? How are you framing the exclusions from your syllabus for students, in terms of giving students the opportunity to engage with them outside of the classroom and affirming their value despite their absence from your syllabus?
How frequently are you revisiting and revising the contents of your syllabus? In what ways is it self-reflexive? How responsive is your syllabus to current events?
To meaningfully take advantage of this website requires recognition of an educator’s power to build the framework through which a student will engage with film from the works presented in the classroom. I encourage you to be open-minded, responsive, and transparent in how you teach film. Much of this canonical reform can largely only be realized through the efforts of educators to change the way they discuss and teach film.