The World of Cinema/Cinema of the World

As a student in this Endeavor program, you will start by watching Chris Marker’s La Jet’e, a 20-minute experimental film that challenges our traditional sense of narrative structures. This cult film from the early years of the French New Wave has marked the history of cinema. We will continue with Agn’s Varda’s Cl’o from 5 to 7 and compare specific scenes of the film with the representation of masculinity in Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless. Students will explore how Varda’s approach to filmmaking and characterization challenges the dominance of the male gaze. Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation is a great film to spark conversations about the problematic representations of foreign cultures in American films.  Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s Shoplifters and Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland force students to reckon with class structures in capitalist societies from two very different perspectives, that of a poor family in Tokyo and that of an older woman traveling in her van through the American West. Finally, Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained is a film that invites discussions over what constitutes acceptable representations of racial violence in the context of slavery in the American South.  In addition to class time, you will take part in a number of events as a class to create a stronger community and connect with film outside the classroom. 
Expand All
  • Coursework Overview

    The coursework for this Endeavor community involves taking a one-unit course in the fall semester and a half-unit course in the spring semester, both taught by Dr. Delers.

    Fall 2025 Semester

    Spring 2026 Semester

    FYS 100: Great Filmmakers of the World (1 unit)

    IDST 190: The World of Cinema Seminar (.5 unit)

    FYS 100 satisfies a Web of Inquiry Engagement Learning Area; students are required to take one first-year seminar (FYS) during their first semester at Richmond. 

    IDST 190 is a half-unit project-based course part of the Endeavor program.

  • Specific Course Information

    FYS 100: Great Filmmakers of the World 

    In this course, students will be exposed to different ways of watching, understanding, and analyzing films from around the world. They will be encouraged to build their own interpretation of each film through discussion and lively debates. All the films, in one way or another, deal with the nature of cinematic representation and pose important questions about storytelling, history, gender, race, and censorship. 

    IDST 190:  The World of Cinema Seminar 

    In the spring semester, students will continue learning about important filmmakers from around the world. The spring semester course will be built around three main activities. (1) In small groups, students will choose one filmmaker and watch their entire filmography for a research project. (2) Students will attend a film festival in the Richmond area (possibly the newly established Italian Film Festival at the Byrd). (3) Students will learn the necessary skills to make a short film in a one-day workshop with a guest filmmaker and produce their own film.

  • Faculty Information
    Dr. Olivier Delers serves as a Professor of French and the Interim Chair, Department of Theatre & Dance. 
  • Endeavor Pre-Orientation Short Course Information

    As part of the Endeavor program, you will participate in the popular Endeavor Pre-Orientation program, where you will take a short course led by Dr. Delers.

    Short Course Description:  Cinema and Experimentation

    This short course will focus on the cult experimental film La Jetée (1962) by New Wave director Chris Marker. We will learn how to look at films and images closely and set up our semester-long exploration of a number of films that were heavily influenced by the French New Wave. We will spend time contextualizing the film by discussing the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust in Europe and we will analyze how La Jetée embraces existentialist philosophy while gesturing towards other ways of apprehending the real.