This course is an introduction to the history of cinema from the late nineteenth century to the present. In demonstrating how history energizes and complicates the movies, we will examine numerous film cultures and historical periods including silent cinema, Italian Neo-realism, the French New Wave, New German Cinema, experimental cinema, and cinemas of exile that defy nation-based categories. This course aims to establish a broad historical and global foundation for understanding film as a complex exchange between art, technology, politics and economics. Weekly screenings will be part of the course.