This talk begins with the influential The Battle of Algiers (1966), to consider the paradox of the film's deployment of Orientalist stereotypes to celebrate the Algerian independence struggle against the French colonizer. Dr. Alan O'Leary reconsiders postcolonial ideas of hybrid culture and third space in relation to theories of difference and the exotic, examining the so-called 'Banlieu cinema' in France as well as more recent material like Beyoncé's 'Lemonade' film and Kendal Jenner's reviled Pepsi advert.
Dr. Alan O'Leary is Professor of Film and Cultural Studies and Director of Research and Innovation in the School of Languages and Cultures and Societies at The University of Leeds.
The event is co-sponsored by The Department of French and Italian, The Film Studies Program, The Department of Comparative Studies, and The Wexner Center for the Arts.
