uwloo

VCULT 100World Cinema and Visual Culture

Units
0.50
Faculty
Arts
Subject
Visual Culture

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 3 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

Introduction to film analysis via national cinemas and their worldwide reception, taking into account the role of new technologies. This course acknowledges not only the importance of multiple languages and cultures on the planet today but also the rapidly growing international contexts, complicated chains of production and distribution, and vastly different cultures of spectatorship.

Prerequisites

None listed.

Antirequisites

  • Not completed any of the following:

Notes

  • All films will be shown with subtitles; no second language expertise is required.

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 0013317134 / 150W 18:30–21:20

Reviewed on UW Flow

77% liked it75% easy41% useful

From 44 ratings and 11 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • super easy class with no exam, and the lectures are pretty much just 3-hour discussions. I went to 2 classes and got an 80, if you have any previous knowledge of how to do film analyses its pretty much an easy A/B

    Jan 2023 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Really fun elective course!
    The coursework was also pretty easy and light, especially if you love movies. We had to watch a movie per week, which was then discussed in class. The assignments were pretty easy and were peer-reviewed (They were short essays that were based on that week's film).
    The professor was pretty passionate about his work.

    Mar 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • fun course and the prof was pretty passionate about the movies! all the movies were super interesting. the workload was pretty light, too, as we only had to write 5 400-500 word film journals out of the 10 films we watched. i would say that it's hard to get a high grade on the film journals though. they were explained pretty vaguely and you had to make a unique insightful point to get above an 80, which can be difficult. i only got the hang of it on my last film journal but oh well! pretty fun overall!

    Nov 2024 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Prof marked pretty hard for an elective course. He also took attendance (he deducts marks if you miss class more than once). Class was a bit boring as he just spoke for 3 hours about his opinion of the film we had watched that week. There were 9 short film reviews but he only took your top 6 so you don't need to do them all. Then there was also a video film review and 2 assignments w 2-3 essay questions each. No midterm or final exam.

    Dec 2023 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Don't listen to anyone hating on this course. This was genuinely the easiest university experience I've ever had. Took it online in 2021 and the breakdown was pretty much:
    - Watch 5 or 6 movies
    - Short 200 word posts about the movies, vaguely connecting them to course concepts
    - Quiz every other week where you get unlimited tries and you're pointed to the textbook page that answers your question
    - a couple reflections, basically short essays that were marked fairly.

    Jan 2023 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

27 posts and comments in 20 threads mention VCULT 100, October 2012 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Spring 2024

How to enjoy coming here?? 14 points, 19 comments

“I posted earlier about kinda being forced to go here. In turn with that, how do I enjoy this school? Every time I think about coming here I start crying (which I’m doing as I type this :’o ). …”

u/Jarydo: “… I’ve taken MUSIC140 (pop music), ENGL108A (superheroes), VCULT100 (world cinema), and more. …”

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Winter 2023

Bird Courses Faculty of Arts? 1 point, 2 comments

“Hey guys! I was wondering what the easiest first year arts courses / bird courses are where I can get high grades? I need to raise my overall average so please let me know, thanks!”

u/udoubleblue: “vcult 100 was perhaps the easiest class i ever took it's intro to film. you watch a film every week. i got 80s by just reading the plot sections off wikipedia. midterm was some kind of online multiple choice thing that had unlimited attempts.”

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Winter 2022

Watch a short film made by UW Engineers 16 points, 4 comments

“For the past 2 years now me and the crew have been working very hard on our second short film. We had our official premiere at Princess Cinemas last Sunday and are excited to share it for free with …”

u/fabulizer: “any film related courses you recommend (maybe you took some as electives)?”

u/NegotiationAncient77: “… VCULT 100 is fun too, super easy and can be interesting. It's just your general intro to film course where you get to watch all sorts of movies on a big screen with the class and then also do lessons on techniques like lighting and sound design. …”

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Fall 2021

Bird courses 10 points, 20 comments

“What are the birdiest bird courses you’d recommend? Any department I don’t care. I need something that’ll be a breeze next semester and bonus points if it’s online”

u/BizarreLT: “Vcult100 you just watch movies”

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Spring 2021

Film courses? 1 point, 5 comments

u/Jarydo: “I am starting my first term in the Fall and am a huge movie nerd. I was just wondering if there are any other film courses than VCULT 100 and MUSIC 246, and between the two, which one is better? UW Flow has mixed things about VCULT but the content seems very interesting”

u/Plane_Razzmatazz_143: “Haven't taken VCULT 100 but did take MUSIC 246. Absolutely LOVED the course with Professor Simon Wood. Honestly, one of the best profs I have had over my entire undergrad career! He is actually a composer himself who writes music for various films and tv shows. …”

u/uw_raccoon: “I took VCULT 100 in second year. Oh boy, what a course. It was really, I mean REALLY easy. I didn't watch most of the movies and did my written things based on the wikipedia pages and got 80s on all those. …”

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Fall 2020

Spring 2020

Day 1 40 points, 8 comments

u/CHARLIE_CHU_S_BLOG: “… So ENGL100A and VCULT100 starts today. To be honest, ENGL100A was not what I had originally intended to be. It wasn't the same old high school english class anymore. There were more readings and essays due. Yes, I said essays. …”

[deleted]: “Haha good ol' VCULT 100. Where my professor consistently plugged her "dogs in film" book and made us pay $100 for an online textbook we only used for 1 assignment. What a strange class.”

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Winter 2020

Fall 2019

Who has been your favourite prof at UW and why? 18 points, 32 comments

“Or which prof stands out in some specific way? (kindness, ability to teach, inspiring, bad-ass, awkwardly humorous...etc) Let's show some prof appreciation to those who made a big impact on our …”

u/scrunchedupwoodcock: “I've been in UWaterloo for only my first year, but from the ones I've had, definitely one of Alice Kuzniar (VCULT 100, Fine Arts professor) or Geoff Hayes (History professor). They were both extremely knowledgeable in their fields and knew exactly how to engage students. …”

u/ravlisad: “How was VCULT 100? What were the assignments like in terms of difficulty? I’m taking it this term!”

u/scrunchedupwoodcock: “… VCULT 100 was good. The quizzes were fair enough if you paid attention in class. You can do very well on the discussion posts if you back your analyses with examples from the movies and use as much of the film terminology as possible (use the terms accurately, of course). …”

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Spring 2019

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar