Dr. Sutherland is a unique professor. She is a true expert in the art of film criticism. Her course is meticulously prepared and immaculately organized. She gave informative, discerning lectures and provided explanations that helped us understand and engage with the films on a deeper level. She brought our attention to nuances in texts and film that revealed hidden themes and undercurrents in the work. We learnt to interpret cinematic means, such as camera movement, angle, light, composition, color and relate those to the film's meaning. She presented her lucid theories which involved historical and psychological perspectives, and highlighted the bigger picture. Dr. Sutherland is an excellent moderator, stirring up lively discussions and debates. The beautiful thing about the class is that we worked with different types of media - film, music, screenplays, novels, artworks - which made the learning experience multidimensional and wholesome. Doing the readings was crucial to staying on track and understanding the concepts.
Dr. Sutherland is deeply passionate about teaching film and literature, and her excitement is contagious. Most importantly, Dr. Sutherland was genuinely interested in everyone's opinion, welcomed alternative interpretations, took real joy in hearing people's subjective input and always provided insightful feedback. It was also wonderful to continue discussions during her office hours. The class has been a valuable experience that helped me develop an appreciation of film as an art form, taught me tools to analyze it and expanded my understanding of Peter Weir's work as well as cinema in general.