'GENRE' | FILM COURSE
Fridays 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th November
Course Sessions: 11am – 12:30pm
A new four-part film course at Linden Hall Studio in the heart of Deal. Taught by John Wischmeyer, Cinema Lecturer at City Lit.
John Wischmeyer returns to LHS with a new four-part course exploring some of cinema's most enduring and influential genres.
From the sweeping landscapes of the Western to the shadowy intrigue of Film Noir, this course examines how different genres developed their own distinctive visual styles, storytelling traditions and emotional impact. Each morning session will explore the history, themes and techniques of a classic genre, followed by an afternoon matinee screening of a landmark film that exemplifies it.
The course features four celebrated classics: Shane (Western), Written on the Wind (Melodrama), Only Angels Have Wings (Romance) and The Big Sleep (Film Noir). Together, the course and screenings offer a fascinating journey through Hollywood’s golden age, revealing how genre became the foundation upon which much of cinema was constructed.
COURSE FORMAT
Each Friday includes a film lecture and discussion:
11:00am – 12:30pm
Optional matinee screening of the film discussed in the session:
1:30pm
Participants attending the morning course receive a discounted ticket for this afternoon screening.
FILMS & TOPICS INCLUDE
Friday 6th November – WESTERN
One of cinema’s earliest and most influential genres, the Western established a powerful visual language of wide-open landscapes, frontier communities and solitary figures confronting questions of justice, loyalty and morality.
From the earliest silent films to the great Hollywood productions of the 1930s and 1950s, the Western became central to American cinema before being reimagined by filmmakers around the world. This opening session explores the genre’s development, its enduring conventions and the reasons it continues to be revisited today.
- Matinee Screening: Shane (1953, George Stevens) starring Alan Ladd and Jean Arthur.
Friday 13th November – MELODRAMA
Melodrama places heightened emotion, personal conflict and domestic life at the centre of the story. Often dismissed as excessive or sentimental, the genre has produced some of cinema’s richest and most visually sophisticated films.
This session considers how colour, costume, music, setting and performance can express emotions that characters are unable to articulate. It will also explore the Hollywood studios and filmmakers who transformed melodrama into a distinctive and influential cinematic form.
- Matinee Screening: Written on the Wind (1956, Douglas Sirk) starring Lauren Bacall and Rock Hudson.
Friday 20th November – ROMANCE
Romance is one of cinema’s most enduring and adaptable genres. Its conventions can be found within comedy, melodrama, adventure and even film noir, reflecting the many different ways in which cinema has portrayed attraction, companionship, sacrifice and desire.
This session explores how romantic stories are constructed through character, performance and expectation, and how filmmakers balance emotional intimacy with the demands of other genres. Howard Hawks’s exhilarating combination of romance, adventure and danger provides the perfect case study.
- Matinee Screening: Only Angels Have Wings (1939, Howard Hawks) starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur.
Friday 27th November – FILM NOIR
Emerging from hard-boiled crime fiction, German Expressionist visual style and the uncertainties of wartime and post-war America, film noir brought a new darkness to Hollywood cinema.
Shadowy streets, morally ambiguous characters, corruption, desire and despair became the defining features of a genre that turned the American Dream into something altogether more troubling. This final session examines the origins and visual language of film noir, together with its lasting influence upon contemporary filmmaking.
- Matinee Screening: The Big Sleep (1946, Howard Hawks) starring Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall.
Course session: 11am – 12:30pm
Optional film screening: 1:30pm
TICKET OPTIONS
Film Course (morning sessions)
£12 per session
£40 for the full four-week course
Matinee Film Screenings
£10 per film
£6 for those attending the morning course session
Full Course + All Screenings Package
£60 total
Morning film course sessions and afternoon screenings can be booked separately.
Complimentary tea, coffee and biscuits during session intervals.
Tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable.
Please read the booking options carefully before purchasing tickets below. If you need assistance, a member of the gallery team will be happy to help.