The terrors of World War I produced a flight from supposed "reason" to the world of dreams and fantasies. All of the visual arts - painting, sculpture, photography, and especially cinema - offered both shelter from the present and an arena for new combat. One of the freedoms offered by filmmaking is creating alternative worlds of the imagination that are not strictly realistic. This course will cover a range of works in all media, from French pioneer Georges Melies to such modern masters as Jean Cocteau, Tim Burton and David Lynch. Histori cal practitioners such as Max Ernst, Salvador Dali and Hans Bellmer will also be investigated. The impact of surrealism, the exploration of inner life and the dream world, changed everything that came after. The debates as to its meaning and purpose continue even today.