Category: Film Studies

  • The Making of Timbuktu with Abderrahmane Sissako

    In this Carsey-Wolf Center Global presentation, acclaimed co-writer/director Abderrahmane Sissako discusses his film “Timbuktu” with moderators Richard Watts and Peter Bloom. “Timbuktu” was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and in 2016 was voted as one of the top 50 films of the 21st century. Sissako details the development of the […]

  • Bringing Dinosaurs to Life: How a Best-Selling Novel Became a Major Motion Picture

    Screenwriter David Koepp had only six motion picture screenplay credits to his name when he was tapped to help best-selling author Michael Crichton adapt one of his novels for the silver screen. Even as a novel, “Jurassic Park” was ahead of its time – using futuristic DNA cloning techniques to return dinosaurs to the planet […]

  • Go Behind-the-Scenes of Long-awaited Film, Dune

    It was the most anticipated science fiction movie in recent years. Fans around the world eagerly awaited the release of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune which has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. With a creative process that spanned nearly five years, Dune did not disappoint!  In this episode […]

  • Script to Screen: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

    Don’t miss this episode of Script to Screen where Destin Daniel Cretton, director and co-writer of Marvel’s Shang-Chi, answered questions about the film from moderator Matt Ryan. Cretton discussed a wide range of topics, including the casting of legendary actors Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh, as well as the intense physical training and emotionally complex […]

  • Global TV

    Television has traditionally been understood through national frameworks, corresponding to national networks of television distribution. The Carsey-Wolf Center series “Global TV” explores the way some contemporary television programs and formats have become unmoored from their national contexts of production and distribution. The series spotlights a number of recent shows that showcase this phenomenon, including a […]

  • Of Faith and Resilience

    Commercial filmmaking often follows promising trends, whether consciously or not, and the result may be a spate of similarly themed movies appearing on the market at roughly the same time. For example, in the 1980s one such trend was the so-called “save the farm” films, in which Hollywood stars struggled valiantly to hold onto scenic […]

  • The Future of Cinema

    Since its inception in 1885 with the Lumiere Brothers’ public screening of La Sortie de l’Usine Lumière à Lyon (Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in Lyon), cinema has been a collective experience, the modern equivalent of gathering around the campfire for storytelling. It continues to shape our perceptions, our attitudes, and the larger culture by […]

  • Genre-bending is Not for the Faint of Heart

    Blending movie genres can be a tricky business, one often as not doomed to failure. Combining horror and comedy is especially fraught, since the two genres would seem to be mutually exclusive if not diametrically opposed in tone & subject matter. A few brave filmmakers have forged ahead regardless, including Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, […]

  • Between Cultures

    “Despite the current attempts to whitewash U.S. history, ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity is the predominant feature of the U.S. experience.” – Charles Musser Almost from their inception, motion pictures have dealt with the question of cultural assimilation. This was certainly true in America where many of the country’s film industry founders were themselves either […]

  • The Truth 24 Times Per Second

    The Carsey-Wolf Center’s Spring 2019 screening series at UC Santa Barbara explores the international legacies of cinematic New Waves, including films from France, Cuba, China, Italy, and Iran. Whatever their disparate eras or sources, these selections share an emphasis on stylistic and narrative experimentation, a rejection of traditional film conventions, a sympathetic response to youth […]