Women exert only a modicum of production power in 21st century cinema despite its growing accessibility and spectatorship through the developing technologies of the digital era. In 2007, of the top 250 grossing films in Hollywood, only 10% were written, and 6% directed, by women, and just 16% contained leading female protagonists. Why, after the gains of the film feminist movement, is there such a significant gender imbalance in mainstream film, and an imbalance that is only increasing over time? More significantly, what are the possibilities and limitations for reel woman’s subjectivity and agency, in and on screen, in this male-dominated landscape? As a female filmmaker in this current climate I conduct an autoethnographical scriptwriting-based investigation into female subjectivity and agency, by writing the feature length screenplay Float, which is both the dramatic experiment and the creative outcome of this research. The exegesis works symbiotically with my scriptwriting journey by outlining the broader contexts surrounding women filmmakers and their female representations. In this self-reflexive examination, I use an interdisciplinary methodology to unravel the overt and latent sites of resistance for reel woman today on three interdependent levels. These comprise the historical, political and philosophical background to woman’s treatment both behind, and in front of, the camera; my lived experiences as an emerging writer/director as I write Float; and my representation of the screenplay’s central female character. I use the multiple logic of screenplay diegesis to explore the issues that have a bearing on women’s ability to be active agents in the world they inhabit, including: the dichotomising of female desire, the influence of familial history, the repression of the mother, the dominance of the male gaze, the disavowal of female specificity, and women’s consequent dislocation from their self-determined desire. These obstacles are simultaneously negotiated as I map my process of writing Float and deal with the challenging contexts in which the screenplay was created. In the course of my scriptwriting investigation, film feminist and French poststructuralist paradigms are considered and negotiated as I experiment whether it is possible for female filmmakers, and their female characters, to overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds facing women’s actualisation today. My research brings to light the critical need for more inclusive modes of practice across the film industry, discourse and pedagogy that are cognisant and respectful of reel women’s difference, and allow them to explore their own specificity. The thesis argues that it would be advantageous for female filmmakers to challenge their ‘fixed’ status in phallocentric discourse, and to deconstruct their patriarchal conditioning through engagement with forms of identity and writing resistance that recognise the fluidity of their subjectivity, and the consequent potential for change. I also highlight the importance of an accessible and affirmative feminist cinema pertinent to the 21st century, to integrate feminist ideals into the mainstream, and finally bring reel woman out of the margins.

The idea of what is suitable for children depends on the understandings and expectations of what childhood is and should contain. While "suitable" films have been praised for their obvious pedagogic function, "non-suitable" films (such as popular and violent films) have also managed to emerge into the film pedagogic context with varying arguments, e.g. that film education should reflect the reality of the youth or that children will see the films anyway and need guidance.     This thesis explores a contemporary Swedish example of a contested children's film that was produced for school cinema but classified as harmful for children under the age of fifteen by the Swedish Media Council. By situating the case in relation to film pedagogic history and aspects from  the use of violent films in the 1980's, the study shows how the film pedagogic discourse can be influenced by an anxiety concerning the "child's best".  The study enhances the significant role of "enthusiastic teachers" and  the importance of considering the current film pedagogic conditions.

This thesis aims to examine students and teachers’ attitudes towards the use of fiction film in religious studies in upper secondary schools in the province of Scania in Sweden. The thesis has a particular focus on the use of film in order to facilitate understanding of different religions and views of life and what students report gaining from viewing film in the classroom. For this purpose, two research questions were formulated: “How do teachers of religious studies in upper secondary school view the use of fiction film as a teaching resource for the purpose of facilitating understanding of different views of life and religions?” and “How do students view the use of fiction film as a learning resource in religious studies and what do they gain from watching fiction film during religious education?” In order to answer these research questions, ethnographic empirical material was collected from surveys of students as well as a survey of religious education teachers in upper secondary schools in Scania. These surveys were combined with three interviews with upper secondary religious education teachers from two different schools in Scania. This material was later analysed from a hermeneutical perspective with a grounding in previous research in the use of film as a teaching resource. The research found that teachers in upper secondary schools who responded to the survey and were interviewed had a generally positive view on the use of fiction film in religious studies and were positive towards the use of film to facilitate understanding of different views of life and religions. However, teachers showed a bit more trepidation towards the use of fiction films to show how people live their religions. Teachers also expressed that lack of time was a main factor in avoiding the use of fiction film in their teaching. Students were mostly favourable towards the use of film as an educational tool in religious education, however not as big of a majority as the teachers. They also showed a propensity towards wanting to watch fiction films in combination with discussions and group work.

In this study, the Japanese animated film My Neighbor Totoro was analyzed with regards to what childhood discourses can be found in it, and why these discourses in particular appear. To do this, discourse theory was used as the main theoretical basis, and certain aspects of hermeneutics were also used, such as combining the hermeneutic spiral with basic film analysis as a method. The childhood discourses that are discussed are the natural child, adult children and child adults, the competent child, the vulnerable child, postmodern childhood, the lonely/psychological child, and gender discourses. First, the life context of Hayao Miyazaki was examined to see what childhood discourses that might have influenced him. The natural child seems to be the most prominent discourse throughout Miyazaki’s life and his previous work, and the discourse appears in My Neighbor Totoro as well. However, so do all the other discourses. The results are that the view of childhood expressed in the film is that children develop the best in proximity to nature and the divine. Children should aspire to become competent adults, but adults should also come closer to childhood and nature. Postmodernity is dismissed as bad for children, and the natural childhood is deemed to be in need of saving. Children are also according to the film beings capable of complex thoughts and feelings relating to fears, death and family relations. These difficult thoughts are dealt with by their imagination – an imagination that is non-separable from their reality. This could indicate another childhood discourse: the imaginative child. Apart from all this, ways to use films like this one in education are also briefly discussed through film pedagogy. / <p>Slutgiltigt godkännandedatum: 2022-01-14</p>