Montage in Short Films of the Current Cinemascape

Display Schedule

Subject guarantor

Name of lecturer(s)

Tomáš DORUŠKA, Marguerite FARAG

Department

The subject provides Department of Editing

Contents

Through exposure to a variety of short films, from all around the world, the students will

immerse themselves in the short format. Acquainting themselves with the diversity and the

flexibility of the montage of short films, particularly with ones from recent years. Students will

engage in stimulating discussions on the success or failure of these films based on its ability to

fulfill the director’s intentions and its impact on the audience. The students will also discover the

trends of the industry. Focusing not only on the editing, dramaturgy and the different structures

of films but also on the unique aesthetics and forms used on short film, this will give the students

a holistic approach in understanding the scene. Group presentations, screenings and writing

exercises prepare students to understand the format on a deeper analytical level.

Class 1: 03.10. Festival Circuit

• Class introduction and going over the syllabus
• The life cycle of a short film

Screening:

• I Promise you Paradise (Fiction)

Morad Mostafa, 25 min. Egypt 2023

• Passage (Experimental)

Ann Oren, 12 min. Germany, 2020

• Paradiso, XXXI, 108

Kamal Aljafari, 19min. Germany, 2022

Reading: Valck, Marijke de. “Supporting Art Cinema at a Time of Commercialization: Principles

and Practices, the Case of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.” Poetics (Amsterdam) 42

(2014): 40–59. Web.

→ Announcement and distribution of the presentations

Class 2: 10.10. Dialogue in a Nutshell

Topic: How to “Dialogue”?

Screening:

• The Voice of Others (Fiction)

Fatima Kaci, 30 min. France, 2023

• Ins Wilde Land (Fiction)

Emil Kascha, 20 min. Austria, 2024

• Ain’t No Time for Women (Documentary)

Sarra El Abed, 19 min. Canada, 2020

Reading: Excerpts from Arijon, Daniel. Grammar of the Film Language. Chapter 8: Editing

Patterns for Static Dialogue Scenes. Silman James Press 1976.

Class 3: 17.10. Non-Dialogue-Based Films

Topic: Silence is louder than words. How to engage without verbal communication?

Screening:

• Filipiñana (Fiction)

Rafael Manuel, 24 min. Philippines, UK, 2020

• Haulout (Documentary)

Evgenia Arbugaeva, Maxim Arbugaev, 25 min. UK, 2022

• SH_T Happens (Animation)

Michaela Mihalyi, Dávid Štumpf, 13 min. Czechia, 2019

→ Distribution of mini assignment

Class 4: 24.10. Afro-surrealism

Topic: Afro-surrealism manifesto and other examples

Presentation of mini assignments.

Screening:

• Atlanta (Series)

TBD, 2016-2022

• Excerpts from the works of Elia Suleiman.
• Alright - Kendrick Lamar

Colin Tilley and The Little Homies, 7min. USA, 2015

Reading: Miller, D. Scot Call it Afro-Surreal The San Fransicso Bay Guardian, 2009. Web

Class 5: 31.10. Mixed Media

Topic: How can the personal be effective? How to mix media to build an emotional arc?

Screening:

• Zisma (Documentary)

Jorge Sánchez Calderón, 33 min. Czechia & Spain, 2020

• Bella, (Hybrid)

Thelyia Petraki, 25 min. Greece, 2020

• Dinosaur - Cairokee (Music Video)

Yasser Azmy, 4 min. Egypt, 2017

• Cowboy (Experimental)

Sami AlSalamoni, 5 min. Egypt, 1973

Potential Guest Speaker: Jorge Sánchez Calderón (Director, Editor)

Class 6: 07.11, Mother Trilogy

Topic: Blurring reality in fiction and mammy issues

Screening:

• Mother Prays All Day Long

Hoda Taheri, 24 min. 2022

• As if Mother Cried

Hoda Taheri, 19 min. 2023

• Mother Is a Natural Sinner

Hoda Taheri & Boris Hadzija, 15 min. 2024

Potential Guest Speakers: Hoda Taheri & Boris Hadzija

Class 7: 14.11. Personal Stories

Topic: Different shades of intimacy

• See Heaven (Documentary)

Naomi Kwase, 10 min. Japan, 1995

• You can’t get what you want but you can get me (Documentary)

Z Walsh, Samira Elagoz. 13 min. Finland, 2024

• Sea Salt (Fiction)

Leila Basma, 19 min. Lebanon, Czechia, 2023

• Image of Victory (Documentary)

Adi Mishnayot, 30 min. Israel, 2019

Reading: Mishnayot, Adi. (Director of Image of Victory) Interview. Melbourne Documentary

Film Festival. July 2020. Web

Potential Guest Speaker: Leila Basma (Director & Editor)

Class 8: 21.11. Comedy

Topic: Visual vs. Wordy Comedy

• My Gig in Sweden (Fiction)

Simon Vahlne, 15 min. Sweden, 2023

• A Short Film about Kids (Fiction)

Ibrahim Handal, 10 min. Palestine, 2023

• Squish (Fiction)

Xavier Seron, 21 min. Belgium, 2020

• Nobody Speak - DJ Shadow feat Run The Jewels (Music Video)

Sam Piling, 4 min. USA, 2016

Class 9: 28.11. Queer Films

Topic: Authenticity and creativity in queerness, how to edit tactility?

Screening:

• Blood Like Water (Fiction)

Dima Hamdan, 13 min. Palestine, 2023

• Compositions for Understanding Relationships (Experimental/Animation)

David De La Fuente, 5 min. USA, 2022

• Heaven Reaches Down to Earth, (Fiction)

Tebogo Malebogo, 10 min. South Africa, 2020

Potential Guest Speakers: Tebogo Malebogo (Director) & Petrus van Staden (Editor)

Class 10: 05.12. Poetic Documentary

Topic: How to start with a non-narrative documentary?

• Workers’ Wings

Ilir Hasanaj, 19 min. Kosovo, 2024

• In Between (Documentary)

Samir Karahoda, 14 min. Kosovo, 2019

• The First Bridge (Documentary)

Laila Pakalnina, 12 min. Latvia, 2020

Poetntial Guest Speaker: Enis Saraçi (Editor)

Class 11 & 12: 12.12 -19.12: Remaining Students’ Presentations

In this class, students who didn’t present yet will have the opportunity to do so

Ressources:

https://www.shortoftheweek.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@Omeleto/

https://www.locarnofestival.ch/media/vod/locarno-shorts-weeks.html

https://www.aflamuna.online/en/

Learning outcomes

Course Expectations:

● Students will research, and analyze the montage of a short film for their presentation.

● Students are expected to actively participate in class discussions and presentations.

● Students are encouraged to show their work in progress to the class for feedback

Outcomes:

● Acquired skills to analyze technically and aesthetically short films.

● Understanding of how short films craft their stories.

● Enhanced critical thinking and visual literacy skills.

● Grasp over the film industry, specifically in the short films’ circuit.

Prerequisites and other requirements

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Literature

Reading assignments will be made available before the class.

Excerpts from: https://leidenshorts.nl/leiden-shorts/rewatch-reread/

Evaluation methods and criteria

Attendance and participation: 40%

Mini Assignment: 10 %

Student Presentation: 50%

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Total: 100%

If a student fails to attend 60% of the classes they will have to submit a 500 word written essay

to be delivered on the final day of classes to marguerite.farag@famu.cz

Please note that changes in the schedule, screenings, or readings are possible.

Note

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Further information

This course is an elective for all students of this school

Schedule for winter semester 2024/2025:

• Week view
• List

Schedule for summer semester 2024/2025:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

The subject is a part of the following study plans

• Montage_2020 (Required elective subjects)
• Editing - Bachelor_2021 (Required elective subjects)
• Editing - Master_2021 (Required elective subjects)