NSB Film School: The Films of Greta Gerwig [Durham, NC]
**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+
Full Tuition: $200 — Scholarship options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select.
Instructor: Nicole Berland | 3 Weeks + Optional Preliminary Class | Thursdays | May 16 - 30 (Preliminary Class May 9, 6-7:30 PM) | 6:00 - 9:30 PM ET | IN PERSON, 719 N Mangum St., Durham, NC
Join our in-person film screening and discussion series at Night School Bar for cocktails and confab about Barbie and its precursors.
Once a darling of the mumblecore movement, Greta Gerwig graduated from acting to become one of the most celebrated directors in recent years. Most recently, her star-studded 2023 feature, Barbie, surprised no one by becoming the highest-grossing film of the year. And not without controversy—while right-wing commentators deride the film as woke propaganda, many on the left dismiss it as corporate propaganda. But is it propaganda? And, if so, does that mean we shouldn't enjoy it?
Against the sparkle and spectacle of Barbie, Gerwig’s earlier, character-driven dramas, Lady Bird and Little Women, may feel relatively subdued, but we can find within them many of the thematic and stylistic impulses that Barbie casts in explosions of song and color. One of our tasks in this course will be to use Gerwig’s earlier work to help us understand Barbie’s politics. How do Gerwig’s films articulate their own cultural critique, and how have they, like the Barbie doll itself, become objects upon which others can map their own designs and desires?
In this mini-course, we will meet in person to watch the three films that comprise Gerwig’s directorial portfolio: Lady Bird, Little Women, and Barbie. The course will be preceded by an optional preliminary session. Those who choose can meet and discuss some preliminary critical and theoretical readings. Each of the three subsequent screenings will be preceded by a brief introduction and followed by a discussion of roughly one hour.
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This class will take place in person at Night School Bar in Durham. Night School requires that students refrain from attending in-person classes when sick. For more on our class policies, see our FAQ. Instructors will also follow this policy. If your instructor is sick, class may be moved to online for a session or rescheduled to the week following the final scheduled session at the instructor’s discretion.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage, and your tuition goes toward supporting this practice. Please pick the payment tier that corresponds to your needs, and consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. We will never request or require proof of need, and do not use an income-based sliding scale; we trust you to decide what payment tier is right for you. If you would like additional support deciding or would like to learn more about the practice of using a sliding scale, we recommend this resource from Embracing Equity.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month.Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.