The course examines cinema on both Northern Atlantic shores throughout the 20th century history. It is not only about cinema in its aesthetic, stylistic, and technical aspects. Cinema is interpreted as a mirror of the processes that changed the so-called Old World from the end of the 19th century. We will touch upon the culture of Europe and countries such as Russia and the United States, which are in the field of European cultural (re)production. We will talk about the industries of pre-digital cinema that made it the first mass media of the age of technological revolution. I start from the premise that there is no such thing as uninteresting cinema; you just need to understand the purpose for which you watch it. Our goal is to see how cinema visualises and transforms the life-world (Die Lebenswelt according to Edmund Husserl). We will learn about the prerequisites for France’s leading position in the global film industry in the first half of the 20th century and about the peculiarities of film production organisations in Eastern European countries. We will determine the role of German cinema in the creation of classic Hollywood aesthetics and try to understand whether it is acceptable to engage in Soviet cinema in the time of new European war and how this can be realized. These and other topics will help you watch films with greater awareness and broaden your understanding of this key contemporary medium.