Course Description

Instructor: Robin Bernat

Existentialism posits that the meaning of our existence can be derived through our experiences, actions and interactions, faith and disbelief. Essential to the thinking is the primacy of free will. This series of films touch on aspects of these ideas sometimes through the portrayal of love and loss, through pivotal life choices, through ethical action or through the lack of these things. Another aspect of Existentialism is the concept of historicity - we are inextricably wedded to our time in history. Each film says something about the human condition —some use humor while other stories through tragedy.

Please note, you may need to rent the movies to watch on your own, normally just a small fee if you do not have access to a subscription service that offers it free. 

Movies:

1. Take Waititi: Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), Wes Anderson: The Royal Tenenbaums (2002)

2. Derek Cianfrance: The Light Between Oceans (2016), John Cameron Mitchell: Rabbit Hole (2011)

3. Toa Fraser: Dean Spanley (2009). Ildiko Enyedi: On Body and Soul (2017), Netflix only

4.  Luca Guadagnino: I Am Love (2010). Sarah Polley: Take This Waltz (2011)

5.  Duncan Jones: Moon (2009), Denis Villeneuve: Arrival (2016)

6. John Curran: Tracks (2013), Tyler J. Kelley, Araby Williams: Following Seas (2017)

7. James Kent: Testament of Youth (2014), Jim Sheridan: Brothers (2009)

Bio: Robin Bernat is an artist and writer, and, from 2010 - 2022, the owner and curator of Poem 88 gallery in Atlanta, Georgia. Her work has been exhibited locally, regionally, and nationally and has been collected by many important institutions including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Kemper Museum of Art, the Library of the Art Institute of Chicago, The High Museum of Art, MOCA-GA, and The Weatherspoon Museum. Working primarily in film and video, Bernat’s work explores the fleeting and the provisional.