Genom en närläsning av filmerna Girl, Interrupted (James Mangold, 1999) och Min lilla syster (Sanna Lenken, 2015) söker denna uppsats att undersöka porträtteringen av kvinnliga karaktärer med psykisk ohälsa inom den kommersiella filmen. Huvudfokuset i uppsatsens undersökning är framförallt hur karaktärernas psykiska ohälsa framställs i enlighet med deras konformerande eller avvikande från acceptabel femininitet. Karaktärerna som är föremål för undersökningen är Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder), Lisa Rowe (Angelina Jolie) och Daisy Randone (Brittany Murphy) i Girl, Interrupted samt Katja (Amy Deasismont) i Min lilla syster. Med hjälp av feministisk filmteori söker uppsatsen att undersöka hur gestaltningen av karaktärernas psykiska ohälsa sammanflätas med dominerande föreställningar kring den kvinnliga könsrollen. Genom att använda termerna psykets estetik, delikat skärande, patientkarriär, fogliga kroppar och anorektiskt suicid blottlägger uppsatsen hur karaktärernas diagnoser genomsyras av kulturella föreställningar kring att vara kvinna och lida av psykisk ohälsa.

With increasing inequality in the world, having knowledge about the apparatuses maintaining unequal social structures is important. Utopian and dystopian science fiction films are a good source for analysis of social structures, due to their inherent interest in social critique and the role of semiotics in the spreading of ideology. This essay examines how ideology is presented and represented in the science fiction films Metropolis and Snowpiercer. Within a Marxist theoretical framework, the essay analyses the presence and actions of ideological state apparatuses in the films, with a secondary focus on how the ideology on display is presented to the viewer. The analysis of the films shows that several different ideological state apparatuses, such as school and politics, are represented in the films. The apparatuses are also shown to use a variety of pedagogic actions for teaching the dominant ideology of the respective film’s ruling class to the citizens of the films, such as lecturing, singing and communicating through clothing and architecture. The analysis also shows that while two different political ideologies are represented in the films, corporatism in Metropolis and neoliberalism in Snowpiercer, both ideologies serve the same purpose of maintaining the capitalist order of the films’ societies: the division of labour. The essay argues that the findings of the analysis motivate a Marxist approach to teaching, in order to actively work against inequality and provide all students with a well-rounded education, no matter what social class they belong to.

I denna uppsats undersöks den visuella gestaltningen av Gotham City i regissören Christopher Nolans The Dark Knight Trilogy med hjälp av en komparativ analysmetod. De berättelser som utspelat sig i Gotham och Batmans relation till staden har genom åren givit den en viss karaktär. Gotham har framförallt varit platsen där brott begås och Batman bekämpar dem. Dessa karaktärsdrag har i ett antal filmer gestaltats av en mängd olika personer inom i stort sätt alla visuella medier som existerar, alla med sin egen vision av hur staden ser ut. I tidiga filmtolkningar så var gestaltningen av staden återhållsam medan den i senare gestaltats som en dystopisk mardröm. När Nolan tog sig an Batmans värld valde han istället att förankra sin vision i realismen. Men när trilogin ses i sin helhet blir det tydligt att gestaltningen av staden skiljer sig åt mellan filmerna och att varje film visar upp en ny sida av den. Med en syn på Nolans konstnärskap som grundar sig i auteurteorin men med urban studies som huvudsakliga teoretiska perspektiv undersöks i denna uppsats hur gestaltningarna av staden skiljer sig åt mellan filmerna, hur dessa skillnader påverkar vår uppfattning av staden och filmernas narrativ samt i vilket utsträckning gestaltningarna är ett resultat av Nolans vision.

Uppsatsen syftar till att testa den kritiska teorins relevans och användbarhet vid analysen av en modern, politisk Hollywoodfilm som Judas and the Black Messiah (Shaka King, 2021). Utifrån narrativ, form och reception undersöks om filmen kan sägas förmedla subversivitet och samhällskritik. Resultatet visar att filmen följer en klassisk narrativ struktur som inte ger utrymme för samhällskritik. Dock finns vissa formmässiga brott som kan sägas göra det, inte minst i hur dåtid och nutid knyts ihop. I receptionsanalysen studeras amerikanska recensioner av filmen, och här återfinns flera exempel på hur recensenterna läser in ett tydligt antirasistiskt budskap i filmen och relaterar detta till den nutida Black Lives Matter-rörelsen. Å ena sidan går det att hävda att Judas and the Black Messiah därigenom förmedlar subversivitet och samhällskritik till åskådarna. Å andra sidan är frågan om antirasism idag verkligen kan ses som genuint subversivt, och huruvida detta vederlägger den kritiska teorin eller ej.

Superhero film is currently a popular form of entertainment, which during recent years has become political in its content. While research has previously shown that the superhero narrative carries messages of ideology and social issues, little is known of how the film genre communicates regarding leadership. Through examining the narratives in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, this study aims to explore how leadership is constructed in relation to democracy in a democratic context by using the United States as an example. The study utilises theorisations of democracy as well as representation theory, supplemented by three concepts borrowed from the leadership theory trait theory. The narrative analysis and the narrative plot points are used as method with a model of analysis to retrieve the empirical evidence.  The study’s results show that the villain, while having a societal motivation which can be considered democratic, mostly represented nondemocratic traits. The superheroes mostly show democratic leadership, but they are not able to solve the conflict with the villain democratically. This suggests that the leadership constructed in a democratic context still contains some limitations, which could be connected to how nondemocratic actions are justified in some situations even in the democratic context.

Under min tid på Konstfack fick jag utrymmet att påbörja en animerade kortfilmsserie om manlighet och mansrollen med målet att nå ut till unga killar. Och när jag säger påbörjat så syftar jag till att jag har, under denna period på ett och ett halvt år, tagit fram två animerade kortfilmer i en serie som började i 6 delar. Som sen kan bli hur lång och hur kort som helst.  Utöver filmerna finns ett format, ett koncept och material som bara fick en kort stund i rampljuset under utställningen. Detta kommer jag djupdyka i bland annat under denna uppsats.

This study is a close reading of how Shapeshifters (Sophie Vuković, 2017) and Inuti diamanten (Viktor Johansson, 2020) produce social criticism through essayistic forms. Using relevant research and theories on essay film, the first part of this study explores essayistic form in above mentioned films. It demonstrates how the use of voiceover, narrative structure and other filmic forms in Shapeshifters and Inuti diamanten can be described as essayistic. The second part combines the implications of the first part with theories on essayistic form and its capacity of societal critique. It reveals how an essayistic form allows these filmmakers to produce social critique in similar and different ways. Research about essay film is an expanding field of film studies that has become increasingly relevant in our postmodern society. Investigating a more personal, complex and open style of filmmaking, essay film studies offer new ways of making, watching and analyzing film. A shortage of attentiveness to essay film in Swedish film studies has urged this study to expand the research and explore essay filmmaking in contemporary Sweden.

The aim of following thesis is to demonstrate the potentials of reassessing camp into a question of method. While others have argued for the definition of camp to lie in: an aesthetic; a question of taste; the extravagant theatrical; the male gay sensibility; or as an expression of parody, this thesis suggests that camp is to be found in the performative act of readings. With emphasis on ‘decoding language’, ‘the signifier/signified’ and ‘the camp eye’ I will argue for the relevance of ‘camp as method’ and situate former stated in relation to Bhabha’s concept of ‘conversational art’; a deconstructional examination of values of aesthetic experiences set into dialogue. Demonstrating for such conceptualization three theoretical approaches and themes will be outlined. First, a historical overview of camp followed by a reassessment of camp into a method. Second, an examination of possible extensions to the concept of rereading strategies within camp, including theories on queer phenomenology; queer space and time; topias and non-places; theories of curatorial methods and its agencies. And last, I will do an analysis of Moyra Davey’s video Hemlock Forest and show how Davey’s use and reference towards Chantal Akerman can be read as camp and constitutes ‘camp as method’ according to suggested reassessment.

Through its ability to create images of non-representable incidents animation expands the range and depth of what documentary can represent and how. This master thesis investigates the potential of animated documentary within social memory exemplified by the interactive animated documentary Saydnaya – Inside a Syrian Torture Prison (Forensic Architecture, 2016). By applying a feminist spatial approach, I aim to contribute to the understanding of the role of animated documentary images within social memory.Embodied and haptic spectatorship as well as haptic materiality are crucial in this case study due to the nature of the virtual screen images and interactive navigation (compared to montage) of the architectural 3D model. Testimonies and evidence presented in documentary film require a discursive establishment of truth. Indexicality is discussed in this regard and eventually a theoretical shift towards movement suggested. I demonstrate that Saydnaya extends the strategies in animated documentary that have been in focus so far, such as representing mental states and subjective experiences, by deploying methods of forensic aesthetics. This opens up novel ways to establish truth claims and persuasion in documentary filmmaking that require future research.

History welcomed the screwball comedy genre in 1934, a time where cinema was in urgent need of providing escapism to audiences victim of the Great Depression. Screwball films, therefore, chose to underline the distinction between social classes and to emphasise on the imperfections of the upper class. The following thesis aims to determine how Depression screwballs (screwball comedies released from 1934 to 1938) used their narrative power to establish this distinction between opposed social classes and how this reflects the undeniable importance of an overlooked genre. It is with a socio-historical approach, personal analyses and observations, that the following research has been conducted. In conclusion, it has been recognised that the genre drew its importance, not only in the way it represents social classes but also how it depicts their mutual interactions, therefore forming a significant whole.