3764 - Twelve Moral Tales in Film (Robin Bernat)
Course Description
Instructor: Robin Bernat
This six-week film discussion series, Twelve Moral Tales in Film, brings together twelve films that explore ethical conflict, memory, faith, responsibility, and the difficult choices that shape human lives. Spanning intimate personal dramas and larger historical reckonings, the series pairs works by internationally acclaimed directors to examine how cinema confronts questions of conscience, truth, sacrifice, and moral ambiguity. Through weekly screenings and conversation, participants will engage with films that challenge certainty and invite reflection on the complexities of human behavior and judgment.
Week 1
Sven Nykvist: The Ox (1992) – Amazon
Kelly Reichardt: First Cow (2020) – Amazon
Week 2
Steven Spielberg: Saving Private Ryan (1998) – Kanopy
Sara Colangelo: Worth (2020) – Netflix
Week 3
Liv Ullmann: Faithless (2000) – Criterion
Maggie Gyllenhaal: The Lost Daughter (2021) – Netflix
Week 4
Sebastián Lelio: The Wonder (2022) – Netflix
Michael Haneke: The Seventh Continent (1989) – Amazon, Criterion
Week 5
Norman Jewison: Agnes of God (1985) – Amazon
Paweł Pawlikowski: Ida (2013) – Amazon
Week 6
Steven Spielberg: Munich (2005) – Amazon
Gavin Hood: Official Secrets (2019) – Netflix
Students will be required to rent films on various streaming platforms including Amazon, Netflix, and Criterion. Some films will also be available through Kanopy.com.
Bio: Robin Bernat is a visual artist, filmmaker, writer, and curator based in Atlanta, Georgia. Her work has been exhibited nationally at The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, The High Museum, MOCA-GA, The Cheekwood Museum, and the Masur Museum. Her work, autobiographical in nature, embraces the fleeting and the provisional and their dark cousins, while also drawing upon classical ideas of beauty. From 2010–2023, she was the owner and curator of Poem 88 gallery in Atlanta, GA.