Event Details

'On this Side of the World', a short film by Film & English Literature Undergraduate student Niktaa Amirkhalili, and 'I See U', a short film by Film Studies Student Abbie Flaherty will be screened as part of the LICA Degree Show. Screening and Q&A of both films will take place on the 21st June.

Construction/Deconstruction: Abbas Kiarostami’s Treatment of Reality

"In this practice-based dissertation, I aim to explore Abbas Kiarostami’s construction and deconstruction of reality through my short film, On This Side of the World (Amirkhalili,2019). Kiarostami is one of the most prominent Iranian directors, often hailed as a master of Iranian neorealist cinema. As such, there is a wealth of literature that studies how he traverses the boundary between fiction and reality. This dissertation will argue that Kiarostami’s film making style does not just involve an intersection of fiction and reality, but instead an arc of construction and deconstruction, in which the director builds an immersive filmic reality only to break it down at a later stage. Thus, I will identify the techniques that contribute to this style and analyse their usage within several of his films, namely Nema-yeNazdik (Close-Up, 1990), Ta’m e Guilass (Taste of Cherry, 1997) and Dah (Ten, 2002). In the final chapter, I offer a reflexive analysis of my own short film, which emulates and illuminates the process behind the construction and deconstruction of reality."

“What’sYour Favourite Scary Movie?”: The Development of Style and Genderin the Hollywood Slasher Film

"In this practice-based dissertation, I have created my own short film I See Ü (Flaherty, 2019) combining both traditional slasher film characteristics with elements of contemporary horror films. To continue to keep the genre of the horror film interesting, it is important to note how tropes, narratives and characters have developed over time and how we can adapt this to keep the horror film relevant in cinema. In my written dissertation I explore the concept of the slasher film and its development, particularly focusing on the early creation of the slasher and its tropes that have continued into contemporary horror cinema. This writing also analyses how gender and feminism are used in the horror and how this has developed in the release of new slasher films."