This is probably a more controversial review, but Prof Brozgal did not teach any live lectures for this quarter (so all of them were pre-recorded) but she did have in person office hours and came to class once. Her class is a little bit harder to follow, her lectures were really dense (though I played them at 1.5x speed, it did take me longer than its original duration to do my notes as I went along) and she does not offer extra credit. I came into this class with no background in french/linguistics/humanities/history so this was probably why I found it very difficult to follow. Every week you are assigned 1-3 readings, 1 movie, 2-4 lectures so it is quite heavy in terms of workload but the lectures are async so you can take them anytime during the week. Discussions are in person. THIS IS NOT AN EASY A OR EASY GE. It is doable, and messing up 1 quiz will not drag you down but you do need to invest lots of effort and time into this class in order to get that A.

this class is a GE i would recommend. the workload is not that bad but is definitely dense (they usually average 40 min - 1 hour per video). the movie choices were also pretty interesting (recommend watching la haine even if you don't take the class). the class itself focuses on the conversation of race within the french context and history... so you get a different perspective on the issue of racism and classism and how that affects France today. there are three big quizzes for the class and as long as you took notes on the lectures, for the most part, you should be fine... there were definitely some questions that were a lil too nit-picky on some of the details so be aware that every so often you'll get a question like that. but again, the questions are heavily based on the lecture solely. also, because this does entail some film analysis there were some moments where even the professor or TA couldn't really give you a definite interpretation or answer on a particular concept of the films. so there were some moments where you were going into something a lil blind (even then these were very specific and isolated situations that occurred and weren't that big a deal). discussions are where you do the most engagement with the class, make sure you participate even if it's for a little bit. that's where you get most of your participation points and also you get an idea of who you would want in your group for your final project.

tips:
- make sure you stay on top of the due dates.... the professors and TAs aren't mean about due dates but they also aren't very lenient about them either... also for the final project there are multiple deadlines for it and those submissions are how you get points which eventually add up if you keep missing them
- the class is heavily dependent on your readings, lectures and movies so you can't really slack off on them. the three quizzes and final are really the only assignments you have throughout the quarter so you don't have as many opportunities to get points/improve your grade if you mess up. hence, make sure you pay attention and do your work.
- pay attention to the film vocab words... because the class is more focused on using movies in context of race in france, the film analysis stuff can get lost in everything when it comes to taking in content. but because the 'methods of evaluation' are dependent on your formal film analysis skills, you need to brush up on your vocab and understanding of formal film topics/concepts. this will especially help with your individual film analysis presentation and your final group project
- watch the video lectures at 1.5x speed... the videos average about 40 min- 1 hour and you have about 3-4 to watch per week on top of the movie and readings.... the material itself isn't hard to comprehend so i wouldn't say it's more difficult than some other classes but it's still a lot of information and i don't recommend trying to procrastinate it all in one night

While there aren't any prereqs, the TAs grade as if you have background in film and expect a lot more from your film analyses without ever having learned how to do them.

I absolutely loved this class. When I took this class it was asynchronous with the section in person. I loved this because it allowed you to watch the movies on your own time and also allowed you to watch the lectures on 2x speed which I did and still got an A. Grade is based on Quizzes (there's 3 or 4 of them I think) which you take online and are super easy as long as you have watched the movies and semi paid attention to the lectures. Participation in section and a small presentation you have to give in section which is easy. There is a final group project instead of a final which is not that much work and easy to do well on if you get a good TA. I would definitely recommend to take this class for the GE. The movies are really good and the lectures are genuinely interesting. The professor clearly knows what she is talking about.

Super interesting class, Brozgal is a strong lecturer who teaches interesting content, favorite class of the quarter!

I can't recommend this class enough. Definitely one of the easier GEs. The workload was super light, just occasional multiple-choice quizzes but the TA debriefs beforehand. Lectures were online and recorded and were not too hard to get through. The final is just a group project on a movie of your choice and it was pretty easy to do. Overall, pretty light workload and chill discussion, definitely a class worth taking.

I really enjoyed this class! Lectures were online/asynchronous with one in-person discussion a week. Throughout the week we were assigned a movie to watch and a few hours of recorded lectures breaking down concepts and information we needed to know. The content was really interesting, and Prof. Brozgal was always clear and informative in her lectures. Since the class focused on important and relevant topics - centering on racism in the context of France and its history - our weekly discussion section always had people engaged, with collaborative and insightful conversations taking place throughout the quarter.
Grading; we had weekly participation points from discussion, three quizzes throughout the quarter (all based on the lecture recordings, watch/take notes on those and you're golden) and a collaborative final project.
Overall would highly recommend! + shoutout to our TA Danielle!

I took French 41 during Winter 2015.

She is an absolutely incredible professor. Coming from the Engineering School, she is the reason why I believe that UCLA has a stronger Humanities professors than Engineering professors. Very articulate, top-notch French (though classes are never given in French if that's a concern), all around great person. I unfortunately could not go to her OH because it conflicted with a class but I'm sure it would have been a blast if I did go.

The class went like every week a movie and then a lecture on the next day of class. So, 10 movies in 10 weeks (yes!) and a lecture following each one. Also, each film we saw had some thematic discussion of race.

Lectures were well organized and presented valuable information. She does go into a "lecture voice" i.e. droning voice, but if you are interested in the subject matter you won't find yourself lost in her arguments. She definitely made insightful analysis that made the films much more easier to understand and made me appreciate the film much more.

TA Discussion sessions were alright. My TA was a History student so not sure if he offers the best filmic insights to the films (but good insight into the history behind it). I think most students preferred the other TA but I'm not sure if she will be TAing for future classes as she got her PhD at the end of our quarter. With my TA, I was lucky to have some pretty insightful classmates talking about the readings and film. Each week, someone led a discussion with the reading but the TA frequently "intervened" to get the discussion going (we were a pretty quiet bunch). Overall, a very welcoming environment so always speak up no matter what your ideas are!!

The movie choices were also amazing. The Intouchables was the first one we saw and it's a brilliantly made fun film. I lot of people liked La Haine as well but I was alright with it (not particularly hyped about it). Excluding The Intouchables, my personal favourites were the one about a teacher in a school, the French colony documentary, Welcome to the Sticks, and Welcome. You won't have trouble finding a film that you will enjoy.

My only complaint about the class was that I hoped to learn more filmic techniques, specifically French film techniques as I adore the French style of films, and because the course title included "French cinema." I wasn't expecting a quarter discussing race in France.

Tests were a bit tricky. You had to memorize a lot of film techniques and be able to visually identify them. What made the MC test challenging was that that you can't easily identify the correct solution unless if you "became the word." As a result, I didn't do too hot on the tests. Thankfully, they were not the big proportion of the class.

Regarding the essays, there were 3 (?) essays we had to write. 2 were on selected films and the last one was any film we saw. I was very scared on writing them because I never understood how to write a good analysis essay in high school. But I guess my TA likes my style of analysis so I got A's on all my essays. Given how my writing generally lacks the "pop," I'm pretty sure most students got A's as well. Another thing about the leniency of grading is that I wrote my last essay the night before it was due and the others were written MAX 3 nights before. Ended up with an A- in the class (I think my final weighted percentage was an 89%)

In summary, awesome class, great professor, GPA booster GE, learn a lot about France, learn cool things about films, and have a great time. French 41 is THE class for the cultural analysis GE (thank gosh I didn't take the Ling GEs, would have missed out on this golden class).