Dr. Peter Weller and Jordan Ledy

In the wake of the Second World War, a film movement emerged from the wreckage of fascist-partisan Italy that we now call Neorealism, although _**Realism **_might better encapsulate the films that were produced from 1943-1952. Utilizing real locations over studio sets and often authentic non-actors over trained professionals in addition to some of the most celebrated actors and directors of cinema history, these films sought existential meaning from the confused void of Italy's post-war ethic and were the first to explore social narratives of self-search within an economic blitz of poverty and pulchritude. While Hollywood continued pushing post-war glitz and glamour, Italy's liberation from fascist, male-driven narrative freed their cinema to depict the changing social reality of gender roles within their stories. In this course, legendary directors Fellini, Antonioni, Germi, De Sica, Wertmüller sail us further through Italy's post-war struggles to not only survive but reevaluate the dynamic between men and women jolted by the fall of Fascism, and to ultimately find a national identity through cinema.