Cinema has played a central role in Spain’s national identity since the country’s first film screening in 1895. In this lecture series over four consecutive Friday mornings (April 5, 12, 19 & 26) Constantin Icleanu, Senior Lecturer of Spanish and Coordinator of the First-Year Spanish Language Courses at SMU, explores how Spanish history has been understood and reimagined through its cinematic production, from the silent film era to the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) to the contemporary moment. Key themes will include avantgarde experimentations with the medium, the use of film as propaganda, and how cinema has served to highlight social concerns. The series will highlight such influential directors as Segundo de Chomón (1871–1929), Luis Buñuel (1900–1983), Victor Erice (b. 1940), and Pedro Almodóvar (b. 1949), and will conclude by considering the future of Spanish cinema.

$60 for the four-week series; free for Meadows Museum members and SMU faculty/staff/students