Dr. Todd BerlinerTodd Berliner

Associate Professor of Film Studies

Curriculum Vitae (PDF file)

Education

  • Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
  • M.A., University of California, Berkeley
  • B.A., University of California, Berkeley

Contact Information

Phone: 910-962-3336
E-mail: berlinert@uncw.edu

Teaching and Research Interests

Film history, aesthetics, theory and criticism; American cinema; cognitive and neoformalist film theories; film genres; Hollywood films of the 1970s; John Cassavetes; Martin Scorsese; theater and cinema.

My courses focus on aesthetics, which is the study of what people in fact value about art (the pleasure it gives them) as opposed to what people typically feel they ought to value about it (its meaning).

Regular Courses:
   American Cinema 1927-1960                    Hollywood Films of the 1970s
   American Cinema Since 1961                    Introduction to Film Study
   Cognition of Cinema                                  Introduction to Hollywood Cinema
   Cognitive and Neoformalist Film Theory    John Cassavetes and Martin Scorsese
   Film Noir                                                    Studio Seminar in Film Production
   Film Styles and Genres                              Theater and Cinema

Selected Publications

  • Todd Berliner, “Visual Absurdity in Raging Bull” in Martin Scorsese’s "Raging Bull": A Cambridge Film Handbook.  Ed. Kevin Hayes. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, UK 2005), 41-68. PDF file
  • Todd Berliner, Review of Criterion Company DVD Box Set John Cassavetes: Five Films, Film International 17:5 (September 15, 2005), 58-59. PDF file
  • Todd Berliner, Review of Cassavetes on Cassavetes (Ray Carney, Faber and Faber), Quarterly Review of Film and Video 20:4 (Oct-Dec 2003), 292-295. PDF file
  • Todd Berliner and Philip Furia, "The Sounds of Silence: Songs In Hollywood Films Since the 1960s." Style , 36:1 (Spring 2002), 19-35.  PDF file or http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m2342/1_36/89985874/p1/article.jhtml
  • Todd Berliner, “The Pleasures of Disappointment: Sequels and The Godfather, Part II.” Journal of Film and Video, 53: 2-3 (Summer/Fall 2001). PDF file
  • Todd Berliner, "The Genre Film as Booby Trap: Seventies Genre Bending and The French Connection ." Cinema Journal 40:3 (Spring 2001), 25-46.  PDF file
  • Todd Berliner, "Hollywood Movie Dialogue and the 'Real Realism' of John Cassavetes." Film Quarterly 52:3 (Spring 1999), 2-16. PDF file or http://www.findarticles.com/m1070/3_52/54731367/p1/article.jhtml


Teaching and Administrative Experience, UNCW

  • Founding Chair and Associate Professor, Film Studies Department, 2002 to 2005.
  • Assistant Professor, Department of English, July 1996 to June 2002.


Selected Awards and Grants

  • Fulbright Senior Scholar Award to Vietnam, U.S. Department of State, 2005-2006. Taught film courses and helped develop film studies programs and curricula. Hanoi University of Theater and Cinema (Đại Học Sân Khấu & Điện Ảnh Hà Nội).
  • Named by one or more graduating seniors at UNC Wilmington as a faculty member whose impact on them at college was most significant, nine consecutive years (1997-2005).
  • Research Grant, UNC-Wilmington, 2004.
  • Speaker and Specialist Grant, U.S. Department of State, Office of International Information Programs. Assisted program and curriculum development for a new film studies program at Pontifica Universidade Católica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. May 10-18, 2002.
  • Charles Cahill Award, travel grant to conduct archival research in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Summer 2002.
  • Research Grant, UNC-Wilmington, 2000.
  • Curriculum Development Grant, UNC-Wilmington, 1999. Designed Film Studies Program curriculum.
  • Research Grant, UNC-Wilmington, 1997.
  • Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, U.C. Berkeley, 1994
  • Highest Distinction in General Scholarship (Summa Cum Laude), UC Berkeley, 1986
  • Phi Beta Kappa, UC Berkeley, 1986


Selected Conference Presentations

  • “The Construction of Film Space,” part of a panel—consisting of two cognitive psychologists and two film scholars—that I co-devised and co-chaired on “Cognition of Cinema.”  Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, London, England, April 2, 2005.
  • “The Pleasures of Disappointment:  Sequels and The Godfather, Part II,” Film and Literature Conference. Florida State University, Tallahassee, January 31, 2004.
  • “Aesthetic Perversity in Hollywood Cinema: Narrative Nonsense in The Philadelphia Story and Raging Bull’s Visual Chaos,” Society for Cinema Studies Conference. Denver, May 23, 2002.
  • “The Godfather and the Sequel,” University Film and Video Association Conference. Emerson College, Boston, August 6, 1999.
  • “The Exorcist’s Other Shock Value,” University Film and Video Association Conference. North Carolina School of the Arts, Winston-Salem, N.C. August 7, 1998
  • “Seventies Genre Films, The French Connection, and the Police Thriller,” University Film and Video Association Conference. University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, August 8, 1997.
  • “Movie Dialogue, Cassavetes Films, and ‘Real Realism,’” Society for Cinema Studies Conference. Ottawa, Canada, May 16, 1997.


Selected Speaking Engagements and Invited Lectures

  • “The Construction of Film Space,” Speakers Program, Public Affairs Section, Embassy of the United States – Hanoi, Vietnam, June 9, 2006.
  • “Hollywood Storytelling,” Speakers Program, Public Affairs Section, Embassy of the United States – Hanoi, Vietnam, May 26, 2006.
  • “Classical Hollywood Narration.” Film Studies Program, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, March 15, 2006.
  • “The Function of Film and Film Criticism.” Film Studies Program, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, March 3, 2006.
  • “How Cinema Corporations can Survive and Develop in Vietnam.” Roundtable discussion, Department of Planning and Finance, Vietnam Ministry of Culture and Information. November 24, 2005.
  • “Independent Filmmaker John Cassavetes,” part of the series, “American Independents.” Hanoi Cinemateque, Vietnam.  November 2, 2005
  • “Unforgiven and the Evolution of the Western,” part of the series, “Cowboy Classics.” Hanoi Cinemateque, Vietnam. September 17, 2005. 
  • “Not Directing the Actor.” Presented to directing and acting students at the Department of Film and Media, Hunter College, New York, October 4, 2004.
  • Host and Panelist, with Frank Capra, Jr., “It’s A Wonderful Life Holiday Screening.” Screen Gems Movie Studios and UNCW Film Studies Department, Wilmington, NC. December 3, 2004; December 12, 2003; December 5, 2002; December 15, 2000.
  • “Gangsters, Private Eyes, Low Lifes — Forties Film Noir,” part of the series, “You Must Remember This: A Celebration of 40s Popular Culture.” UNC-Wilmington’s Randall Library & Battleship North Carolina. February 22, 2000.
  • “Hollywood Movie Dialogue and the ‘Real Realism’ of John Cassavetes.” Presentation to the Department of Radio, TV and Film at The University of North Texas. Denton, Texas, October 28, 1999.


Filmmaking and Film Series Programming

  • Programmer and Host, “The Forgotten and Underrated Film Series,” dedicated to films that never achieved proper recognition or popularity. Conceptualized the series, selected 15 films, wrote copy, and introduced. Hanoi Cinemateque, Vietnam, June 5-15, 2006.
  • Co-programmer, Documentary Film Series. Series screened 19 recent documentary films. Hanoi Cinemateque, Vietnam, February 10-28, 2006.
  • Associate Producer, “Snapshot,” a short film by Andrew Lund, 2005. Screened: Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC (April 2005); University Film and Video Conference, Chicago (August 2005); Avignon/New York Film Festival, New York (November 2005); Avignon Film Festival, Avignon, France (June 2006).
  • Host and Programmer, Fabulous Fifty-Cent Fantail Film Festival, Battleship North Carolina. October 2003 (1939 Hollywood Film Series), October 2002 (Hitchcock Series), and October 2001 (Screwball Comedy Series). Programmed three annual series, introduced films.
  • Board Member, Cinematique, Wilmington, NC, 1997-2005; film selection and programming for weekly art and independent film series.
  • Co-founder and Co-Organizer, Cape Fear International Film Series; Wilmington, N.C., 1998; devised, planned, and obtained funding for the first annual International Film Series in North Carolina’s Cape Fear area; organized publicity; selected, scheduled and introduced films.


Course Materials

SPRING 2007 COURSES

FST/ENG 376 American Cinema 1927-1960

Course Syllabus and Policies (pdf)

Writing Assignments (pdf)

GLS 561 The Hollywood Studio Era

Course Syllabus and Policies (pdf)

FALL 2006 COURSES
FST/ENG 377 American Cinema Since 1961

FST 496 Senior Seminar in Film Studies: The Cinematic Mind