Discussing the work of Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda in After Life (1998), Nobody Knows (2004), and, most importantly, Shoplifters (2018), this thesis aims to expand on the way the hybrid...Show moreDiscussing the work of Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda in After Life (1998), Nobody Knows (2004), and, most importantly, Shoplifters (2018), this thesis aims to expand on the way the hybrid documentary genre is defined by contemporary academic literature. Furthermore, it offers a different perspective on the lens through which we view Kore-eda’s recent filmography.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
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Dit eindwerkstuk houdt zich bezig met de rol van de vrouw in de vampierfilm. Hierbij worden de kenmerken van de vampier vastgesteld en wordt er gekeken naar zijn symbolische status en wat dit...Show moreDit eindwerkstuk houdt zich bezig met de rol van de vrouw in de vampierfilm. Hierbij worden de kenmerken van de vampier vastgesteld en wordt er gekeken naar zijn symbolische status en wat dit betekent voor zijn vrouwelijke tegenspelers. Zowel oudere vampierfilms, zoals Tod Brownings Dracula (1931), als nieuwere vampierfilms, zoals de Twilight Saga (2008-2012), worden besproken.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
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Why do boys seem to prefer the films rather than the books? In this thesis I try to come up with an answer by comparing the representation of gender within two Young Adult books and their...Show moreWhy do boys seem to prefer the films rather than the books? In this thesis I try to come up with an answer by comparing the representation of gender within two Young Adult books and their adaptations (The Hunger Games and Divergent). And analyse the way in which stereotypes are being represented and if these stereotypes are in any way appealing to the young boy or girl reader.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
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Het nietsdoen heeft een lange geschiedenis in zowel film als literatuur. In deze scriptie zal ik mij richten op twee onproductieve figuren in het bijzonder: de slacker en de flaneur. Ik zal deze...Show moreHet nietsdoen heeft een lange geschiedenis in zowel film als literatuur. In deze scriptie zal ik mij richten op twee onproductieve figuren in het bijzonder: de slacker en de flaneur. Ik zal deze figuren met elkaar vergelijken en hierbij uitweiden over hoe de flaneur van het einde van de 19e eeuw en het begin van de 20e eeuw zich verhoudt tot de slacker van het einde van de 20e eeuw en het begin van de 21e eeuw in film en literatuur. Is de slacker simpelweg een moderne flaneur of zijn de twee figuren en de werken waartoe zij behoren wezenlijk anders? Bestaan er 19e-eeuwse slackers of 21e-eeuwse flaneurs en zijn er flaneur films of slacker boeken of zijn deze figuren onlosmakelijk verbonden met hun gebruikelijke periode en medium?Show less
Research master thesis | Literary Studies (research) (MA)
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In this thesis I want to create an intersectional, queer intervention in animal studies taking previous animal, critical race studies and queer theory intersections – ecofeminism, material feminism...Show moreIn this thesis I want to create an intersectional, queer intervention in animal studies taking previous animal, critical race studies and queer theory intersections – ecofeminism, material feminism and queer ecology – into account within the context of literary studies and cultural analysis. Therefore, I want to ask: In what way do intersectional alliances – both theoretical and artistic – formed from an animal and queer studies perspective, affirmatively (re)imagine (material) queer intimacies human-nonhuman relations to contribute to an nonanthropocentric framework? To answer this question, I want to employ the term/concept queer as both a critical and productive tool that enables transgression of disciplines and even the academy itself, into the material reality of non-human animals to examine human-animal relations and intimacies.Show less
This thesis was inspired by a film. While watching James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta (2005), I came to notice the similarities between the film’s dystopian society and twentieth century totalitarian...Show moreThis thesis was inspired by a film. While watching James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta (2005), I came to notice the similarities between the film’s dystopian society and twentieth century totalitarian regimes—the Third Reich (1933-1945), Fascist Italy (1922-1943), and Soviet Russia (1922-1991)—and their respective treatment of art. In order to answer the question of how art is represented in films about totalitarianism, and contextualize this relationship historically, six films have been analyzed. These films have been selected for their depiction of fictional totalitarian regimes which bear resemblance to the aforementioned three historic ones. A discussion is created which analyzes how art and material culture in the films are used to indoctrinate the people and reaffirm the government’s power. This includes not only propaganda posters and images, but the use of symbols and sigils, as well as the use of art to establish the regime as a new religion. The desire for a “one true art form” to replace the degenerate arts and promote the regime, as seen in the Third Reich and Soviet Russia especially, is not seen in the films, which instead focus more on a holistic ban on art and culture. Finally, the way degenerate art is represented in the film shows it to provide support for the narrative. Most art seen in the films belongs to the characters who embody the rebellion or those with enough power and resources to exist above the illegality of art ownership.Show less
This thesis analyzes the representation of Kazakhstan as a multiethnic nation in contemporary Kazakhstani cinema. Although much has been made of how the state has attempted to build the image of...Show moreThis thesis analyzes the representation of Kazakhstan as a multiethnic nation in contemporary Kazakhstani cinema. Although much has been made of how the state has attempted to build the image of Kazakhstan as inherently multiethnic, in focusing on film, this thesis hopes to go some way to exploring the representation of Kazakhstani mnogonational'nost' (multinational-ness) at the popular level. In doing so, the thesis argues that there are several competing representations of 'multiethnic Kazakhstan'. One, arguably the more prominent, represents Kazakhstani mnogonational'nost' in a totalized, essentialized and depoliticized manner reminiscent of Soviet categories of nationality. Other emerging representations, meanwhile, appear to offer more complexity.Show less
This thesis analyzes the stereotypical representation of North Korea in the film "The Interview." Furthermore, it explains how this film led to increasing tensions between North Korea and the...Show moreThis thesis analyzes the stereotypical representation of North Korea in the film "The Interview." Furthermore, it explains how this film led to increasing tensions between North Korea and the United States and the controversial hack of Sony Pictures.Show less
This thesis focuses on human rights film festivals, in particular Movies that Matter Festival (MTMF) – a relatively small yet significant human rights film festival based in the Netherlands....Show moreThis thesis focuses on human rights film festivals, in particular Movies that Matter Festival (MTMF) – a relatively small yet significant human rights film festival based in the Netherlands. Alongside the festival itself, I investigate the MTMF 2019 film program and the process of film programming leading to its creation. As a film festival with a focus on human rights issues, one can expect MTMF to attempt a varied and all-encompassing approach to its selection of themes and films. Although MTMF does not centre its film programming (and consequently its film program) to gender and genre inclusivity, it is precisely this that offers an opportunity for the study of gender and genre. In this thesis, I examine how MTMF, and specifically the film programming undertaken in 2019, draws on recent developments in contemporary human rights theory in order to implement inclusivity and diversity. As I shall establish, inclusivity and diversity are pillars of both critical film festival studies and human rights film festivals. To achieve this goal, I have organized this thesis into three main chapters. In the first chapter, I study the significance of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” (1948) to human rights theory and human rights film festivals today. Moreover, I investigate the fundamental theoretical concepts from human rights theory that apply to the field of human rights film festivals. In the second chapter, I closely examine 50502020 Pledge for Gender Parity and Inclusion in Film Festivals (2018) and study the MTMF 2019 film program from the perspective of gender and genre. I question the impact a film programmer’s, as well as filmmaker’s gender, may have on a film, especially given that the majority of films released in both commercial and art-house cinemas present the male gaze, as I shall demonstrate. I end with a third chapter that offers a close analysis of the process of film programming, an area which my research reveals to be sadly under-examined by film festival scholars. Here, I delve into the methods and power structures of film selection, deriving from film programmers’ presupposed ideas of on what a human rights film and a human rights film festival could be.Show less
Colour. A colour, the colour, any colour. Colour in everyday life. Coloured things that individuals use regularly. Colour on the walls, colour in the frames. Colour in the photographs. Colour on...Show moreColour. A colour, the colour, any colour. Colour in everyday life. Coloured things that individuals use regularly. Colour on the walls, colour in the frames. Colour in the photographs. Colour on the multiple screens. Colour in media and films. Furthermore, via things, colour has this potential to speak and evoke memory. In this thesis, I discuss how colour links with memory. More precisely, I analyse how coloured things work as memory’s mediators in two films: And the Wife shall Revere her Husband (1965), and The Red Balloon (1956). In the first case, I claim that coloured things can evoke memory, while in the second, how coloured things work as memes that create memory. In this process, my personal stories assisted me to approach colour in this way. Colours work within a network with their surroundings. In the following pages, I reflect on my own past experiences and I claim that colour and memory have an indisputable connection.Valuable theories and methods from different disciplines, such as media and film studies, sociology and philosophy, stand by my side in this journey. Colours are endless and constant. Without any further delay, allow me to remember and analyse moments through a rainbow costume, a homemade pie, a white hat, and a red balloon.Show less
This thesis targets count Dracula, in some of the many western cinematographic adaptations that have been based on Bram Stoker’s novel. The main objective is to show how this character can vary...Show moreThis thesis targets count Dracula, in some of the many western cinematographic adaptations that have been based on Bram Stoker’s novel. The main objective is to show how this character can vary across those films. Thereof, two theoretical axes will construct an epistemological device, to evince Dracula’s variations; these correspond to Jungian theory and Mieke Bal’s narratology.Show less
This thesis analyses the uses of nature in the creation of an Israeli national image. It traces the uses of nature from early Zionist thinking through to the modern day. It exIt examines how nature...Show moreThis thesis analyses the uses of nature in the creation of an Israeli national image. It traces the uses of nature from early Zionist thinking through to the modern day. It exIt examines how nature was used as a tool to create a nation, to claim land from Palestinians and how it has been used as a dividing factor between Ashkenazim and Mizrahim, through the kibbutz and ma'abara. Films and music are analysed in order to assess how these ideas and discourses have lasted through until the modern dayShow less
This thesis investigates hybrid documentary-fiction films that were constructed through a close collaboration between the filmmakers and the subjects, and in which the subjects’ personal...Show moreThis thesis investigates hybrid documentary-fiction films that were constructed through a close collaboration between the filmmakers and the subjects, and in which the subjects’ personal experiences and ideas about self-representation influenced both the content and the form of the film. The objective of the filmmakers is to raise questions about how to understand somebody else’s experiences, what it means to insert oneself as a filmmaker into the lives of others and how to make the spectator aware of these issues. They do so by using formal methods that are usually associated with fiction filmmaking and by foregrounding the film’s construction. Since the filmmakers do not offer a conclusive perspective on the story or an interpretation of the images, the spectator is made to invest his or her own experiences, which are equally valuable as those of the filmmakers and the subjects of the films. Taking Jacques Rancière’s emancipated spectatorship as a guideline, I will investigate which formal methods associated with fiction filmmaking can employed to activate the spectator, how, and to what effect. I have divided my thesis into three chapters that each treats a specific formal method: identification through ambiguous focalisation; the uncertain relation between voice, text, and image; and database logic as an alternative to narrative logic.Show less
