The key aim of the module will be to develop students’ understanding of the styles, forms and attitudes of genres in relation to World Cinemas. In particular, this module will track the genre case study of gangster films and films about gangs in American mainstream and independent cinema as well as a wide range of examples from world cinemas, including French, Australian, Mexican, Argentinian, Nigerian, Korean, Hong Kong and Japanese cinemas Examples of genre filmmaking will be approached as cultural, industrial and artistic products, with a secondary attention paid to the relationships between film and national identity, particularly in relation to the representation of the family. Specific approaches to the study of genre, and how this genre travels and changes throughout world cinemas, will be covered in the case studies of films dealing in gangs and gangsters in order to encourage close appreciation and awareness of genre as a means of interpreting and analysing film.