Queer Asian Cinema
Instructor: Ungsan Kim (Assistant Professor, he/him/his) E-mail: sankim@uw.edu
This course surveys the evolution of queer Asian cinema as a critical and artistic mode of production. In this course, students will rigorously examine and analyze representative works of queer Asian cinema beyond cultural and national borders. Students will also deliberate on the meaning, politics, and usability of cinema in times when people stopped going to the movies by historicizing and contextualizing queer Asian cinema as a minor cinema. Ranging from queer avant-garde films of the 1960s, through politically charged and stylistically innovative queer films of the 1990s, to the recent mainstream films, the course will historicize queer Asian cinema that has survived various historical setbacks, oppression, and crises. To better conceptualize queer cinema, students will be encouraged to approach primary texts (films) from two different angles: the representation of LGBTQ+ on screen and queer cinematic aesthetics. The course will mainly focus on films that demonstrate both artistic quality and historical significance, while also covering a few more popular genre films, including Boys’ Love films.
There will be two or three online Q&A sessions with filmmakers, film festival programmers, or industry specialists.
Note 1: Graduate students only. No auditors.
Note 2: This course is a cinema studies course. Cinema here refers to films made for theatrical screening, as well as to the spatial and social contexts related to movie theaters. The course does not cover other media, including TV, social media, streaming services, and short-form media.