Introduction
1.  Historic perspective on Spanish film; the Spanish film industry compared to the American film industry;
young directors in Spain.
2.  Spanish society: social groups, workers, politics and society, rural and urban Spain.
3.  Views of society in film: fiction and reality; the documentary film and narrative fiction in film. Glossary of cinematographic terms.
4.  Pedro Almodóvar, the most representative of the Spanish filmmaker at home and abroad: his life and work.
The Spain of Almodóvar: reflections on Spanish society.

Films and Themes
Films will be viewed in Madrid’s commercial movie theatres, so the choice of films depends on local listings. The
study of each film will consist of the following sequence: Film viewing.
Discussion of themes, treatment of characteristics of Spanish society, narrative film time and present time, comparisons with customs in the U.S.
Discussion of the director and his cinematography
Study of terms, expressions, and language used in the film.
Study and discussion of other recent Spanish films of the same themes.
Study of short films of the same theme; the vision of the short film; discussion with a filmmaker of short films.

1.  The Spanish woman: the man and woman in Spanish society. Women before 1978. Maternity, youth, and family. The working woman. Love for the home. The citadel of sons. Views of the mother in the media.
Possible films:
Hola estás sola? Dir. Icíar Bollaín. Solas. Dir. Benito Zambrano.
Cuando vuelvas a mi lado. Dir. Gracia Querejeta.

2.  Family and the young: the Spanish family; family traditions, the conventional family; the one-parent family, other family types, the youth of Spain: habits and customs.
Possible films:
Todo sobre mi madre. Dir. Pedro Almodóvar. Familia. Dir. Fernando León.
Historias del Kronen. Dir. Montxo Armendáriz

Mensaka. Dir. Salvador García.

3. Immigration, racism and xenophobia: social problems of the immigrant; the foreign worker in Spain; racism; Latin American immigration; rich and poor.
Possible films:
Flores de otro mundo. Dir. Icíar Bollaín
Cosas que dejé en la Habana. Dir. Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón
Las cartas de Alou. Dir. Montxo Armendáriz.

4. Rural Spain: a country in transformation. The farm and the city: two worlds. Possible films:
Los Santos Inocentes. Dir. Mario Camus
Secretos del corazón. Dir. Montxo Armendáriz
Tierra. Dir. Julio Medem

5.  Living on the margin: delinquency and the slums; the “other” youth; the development of cities and their
peripheries; urban infrastructures and development. Possible films:
Barrio. Dir. Fernando León
Nadie hablará de nosotras cuando estemos muertas. Dir. Agustín Díaz Yanes. La primera noche de mi vida. Dir. Miguel Albalandejo

6.  Problems of the working class: the unemployed and marginalization; the industrial sectors; different working types; habits, customs, and routines.
Possible films:
En la puta calle. Dir. Enrique Gabriel
Pidele cuentas al Rey. Dir. José Antonio Quierós