This course is an introduction to the history of cinema from 1895 to the present. In demonstrating how history energizes and complicates the movies, we will examine numerous film cultures and historical periods, including early short films from Europe and the US, Hollywood silent cinema, Italian neo-realism, the French New Wave, New German Cinema, recent Iranian and Taiwanese cinema, and a variety of other film movements from different historical epochs and cultures. Our aim is to establish a broad historical and global foundation for the understanding of film as a complex exchange between art, technology, politics, and economics. Screenings are mandatory.