Extreme Cinema

Extreme Cinema examines the cultural, aesthetic, and ethical boundaries of cinema that shocks, unsettles, and challenges audiences. What makes a film ‘extreme’? Is it purely a matter of graphic content, or something more complex?

Extreme Cinema, led by Dr Connor Winterton, will examine the cultural, aesthetic, and ethical boundaries of cinema that shocks, unsettles, and challenges audiences. What makes a film ‘extreme’? Is it purely a matter of graphic content, or something more complex?

Using a range of controversial case studies — including Irreversible (2002), Martyrs (2008), The Human Centipede (2009), 9 Songs (2004), and Happiness (1998) — we’ll navigate the spectrum of extremity in relation to violence, sex, trauma, and taboo. Alongside close textual analysis, the course will engage with the politics of representation and censorship, encouraging critical reflection on spectatorship, ethics, and affect.

Designed for those with a strong stomach and an open mind, Extreme Cinema is not only about the films themselves, but what they reveal about society, power, and the boundaries of taste.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Price: £20 / £18 Members

Tutor: Dr. Connor Winterton

Booking Information:

This one day course will run at Phoenix on Saturday 15 Nov, 11.30am - 5pm.

You must be 18 or over to attend.

Cancellation Policy:

We do not offer refunds for cancellations of bookings, except in exceptional circumstances. In the event that an advertised course is withdrawn, we will endeavour to give 7 days’ notice and a full refund will be made.

View our Learner Agreement. [https://dfzeoowdb3y1w.cloudfront.net/uploads/2019/01/Phoenix-learner-information-and-agreement-FINAL.pdf]

ABOUT THE TUTOR

Dr Connor Winterton is course leader and lecturer in Media Studies at Loughborough College, and has previously worked as an Associate Lecturer in Media and Communications at Birmingham City University. Connor is also an active researcher, and their main expertise lies in representations of gender and sexuality in contemporary media. However, they have many interests in the fields of film and media, which range from auteur cinema to audiences and spectatorship.