Hamid, I see that your request has been posted for 5 days now without a reply. I hope this finds you well. I teach "World Cinema" and there are a number of texts that you can access in the field of cinema inquiry that can serve you well. One compendium you might consider reviewing is Susan Hayward's "Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts" (2013, 4th Ed, Routledge) as well as the Oxford Press tome edited by Leo Braudy & Marshall Cohen, "Film Theory & Criticism" (2009, 7th Edition... but I'm sure there is a later edition that would be more up-to-date by now). Also from Oxford press, I would recommend the John Hill & Pamela Church Gibson edited "The Oxford Guide to Film Studies." Mine is an older copy (1998 first edition). Each of these texts has an extensive bibliography that you can tap into as well.

In my sub-field of cinema studies, I would recommend the Nagib, Perriam, & Dudrah edited text "Theorizing World Cinema" (2012) which is part of the I.B. Tauris World Cinema Series and Shekhar Deshpande & Meta Mazaj's text, "World Cinema: A Critical Introduction (2018, Routledge). Another worthy compendium is "The Routledge Companion to World Cinema" (2018) edited by Stone, Cooke, Dennison, & Marlow-Mann.

Outside of these "all-inclusive" texts, it would probably behoove you to choose a sub-discipline in Cinema Studies to specialize in. This, of course, would align with your preferences so I can't tell you what to pursue in this regard. My focus is on Indigenous representation in World Cinema and the "accented cinema" of diasporic filmmakers. If this interests you, I highly recommend Hamid Naficy's ground-breaking book "An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking" (2001, Princeton).

As for suggested films... Well, do a search of the AFI's top 100 best films and go from there! ;-) Personally, I would strongly recommend that you "sample" from iconic films that are not just from Western cultures... Good Luck!

Dear Dr. Ogden,

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I will check them one by one.

You are most welcome Hamid!

I thought a bit more about the request for suggested films... Everyone's taste in films is different, but I would point you to some World Cinema "movements" and directors that may be useful: German Expressionism (F.W. Murnau & Fritz Lang), Italian Neorealism (Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini), French New Wave (Jean-Luc Godard, Jean Renoir), Hong Kong New wave (especially the films of Wong Kar-Wai), Japan (Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu), Japan New Wave (Hiroshi Teshigahara, Yoshishige Yoshida). Korean director Bong Joon Ho is another important filmmaker (Parasite, The Host, Snowpiercer, Okja). I would also suggest exploring India's "parallel cinema" directors like the neo-realist Satyajit Ray (Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Apur Sansar), Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay!), Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur: parts 1 & 2), Deepa Mehta (her elements trilogy is particularly good!). Of course, directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovski, David Lynch, (Mulholland Dr. and Blue Velvet being particularly interesting), Guillermo del Toro (especially Pan's Labyrinth & The Devil's Backbone), Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, Network), Spike Lee (She's Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X). Also, one of the co-founders of Dogme 95 movement, Lars von Trier (Dogville, Dancer in the Dark, The Boss of It All), and the Iranian New Wave director Abbas Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry, Certified Copy, Like Someone in Love), and one of my favorite Iranian films, "A Girls Walks Home Alone At Night" (directed by Ana Lily Amirpour). Finally, the 3 colors trilogy directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski and the controversial Tunisian-French director Abdellatif Kechiche's film, "Blue is the Warmest Color."

That should get you started! ;-)

Excellent. I am grateful for your support.

I am preparing for a field examination (Ph.D.) in film studies, and I need to build my list. But, first, I need to set off on the journey with some general resources and, step by step, get closer to the domain on which I would like to write my dissertation, Iranian Cinema. So, I will try to look up the materials you shared with me, and if you don't mind, I will ask you some related questions.

Thanks, Dr. Ogden

You are most welcome Hamid, any time! :-)

In addition to Michael R Ogden's answer, I believe "Rashomon" by Akira Kurosawa is a good start.

BFI is re-releasing rashomon. May you find the trailer interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2E_DfExUmU

Also, this is a quick breakdown of the film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP2MhghDal4

Senal Dharmasiri

Thank you, Senal. I appreciate it.