American Film Noir: The Classic Period, 1940s & 1950s

Directorate of the Institute of Film and Media Studies
First Published: Saturday, November 1, 2025
Last Update: Monday, November 10, 2025

Boğaziçi University’s Institute of Film and Media Studies presents its November 2025 film screening program, “American Film Noir: The Classic Period, 1940s & 1950s,” a month-long exploration of Hollywood’s darkest dreams and postwar anxieties.

Emerging in the 1940s from the convergence of hardboiled fiction, German Expressionist-influenced cinematography, and a culture marked by war, disillusionment, and urban alienation, film noir is less a fixed genre than a shifting constellation of tones, styles, and narrative tendencies—cynicism, moral ambiguity, chiaroscuro lighting, and protagonists caught in labyrinths of desire, guilt, and fate.

From private detectives and doomed lovers to corrupt cops and amnesiac drifters, noir’s figures move through a world where institutions fail, justice is unstable, and desire becomes a trap. This program invites audiences not only to appreciate noir’s stylistic hallmarks—low-key lighting, oblique compositions, voiceover, flashbacks—but also to rethink noir as an evolving critical lens on American modernity, masculinity, class, and power.

Across the month, viewers are encouraged to trace how these films question the myths of innocence and moral clarity that classical Hollywood so often sought to uphold. Taken together, these screenings offer students a focused immersion in the visual, narrative, and ideological textures of American film noir at its most inventive and unsettling.

Mon, Nov 10, 2025, 18:00
The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941)

Tue, Nov 11, 2025
Laura (Otto Preminger & Rouben Mamoulian, 1944)

Wed, Nov 12, 2025
Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)

Thu, Nov 13, 2025
The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946)

Fri, Nov 14, 2025
Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)

Mon, Nov 17, 2025
Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947)

Tue, Nov 18, 2025
White Heat (Raoul Walsh, 1949)

Thu, Nov 20, 2025
In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950)

Fri, Nov 21, 2025
Sunset Boulevard | Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, 1950)

Mon, Nov 24, 2025
The Big Heat (Fritz Lang, 1953)

Tue, Nov 25, 2025
The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)

Wed, Nov 26, 2025
The Killing (Stanley Kubrick, 1956)

Thu, Nov 27, 2025
Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957)

Fri, Nov 28, 2025
Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)

--
Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu & Fri
18:00
Mithat Alam Hall (Open: Monday to Friday, 9:00–21:00)
--
For Students (Open to External Students)
Free Admission (Registration Required for Each Event)
--
Follow us on Instagram @ifms.filmscreenings for weekly event registration forms and updates.
For questions or further information, contact us at filmscreenings@bogazici.edu.tr
--
Copyright & Fair Use Disclaimer: The film screenings at the IFMS Mithat Alam Hall on our university campus are conducted exclusively for educational purposes, with no commercial intent. This educational use complies with the “fair use” provisions established under national and international copyright laws and treaties. Both domestic and international laws governing copyright exceptions for education and research—including the Turkish Copyright Law (The Intellectual and Artistic Works Act 1951, No. 5846, Article 33), the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Article 10/2), the TRIPS Agreement (Article 13), the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT, Article 10), and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT, Article 16)—explicitly permit the screening of cinematic works within educational institutions, provided there is no financial gain involved. Our screenings are strictly for educational purposes and fully adhere to these legal frameworks. Admission is free of charge and open exclusively to students. However, external attendees may also join, provided they present a valid student ID card at the South Campus entrance. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding in maintaining the educational integrity of these screenings.

Etkinlik Başlığı:

American Film Noir: The Classic Period, 1940s & 1950s

Etkinlik Türü:

Aylık Film Gösterim Programı

Yer:

Mithat Alam Hall, Güney Kampüs

Tarih ve Saat:

Pazartesi, Kasım 10, 2025 - 18:00