Teaching innovation: BIP “Space and Performance in the Cinema” at the Universidad de Zaragoza

From 13 to 17 April 2026, the Universidad de Zaragoza hosted the in-person phase of the Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) “Space and Performance in the Cinema,” organised within the UNITA university alliance. The BIP was organised by team members Pablo Gómez-Muñoz and María del Mar Azcona Montoliu, with the support of the Erasmus+ programme and the Institute for Employment, Digital Society and Sustainability (IEDIS).

The course offered an introduction to the study of cinema through the lens of cinematic space and its relationship with real and imagined spaces. Drawing on examples from American, European, and Australian cinema, it explored themes including mobility, gender, intimacy, transnational dynamics, and urban spaces. Sessions took place primarily at the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, with two additional activities outside the university: screenings at the Ecozine environmental film festival and a visit to the Pixar exhibition at CaixaForum Zaragoza.

The BIP brought together 34 students from universities across the UNITA alliance — Beira (Portugal), Pau and Savoie Mont Blanc (France), Turin (Italy), Timișoara and Brașov (Romania) — and from other European partner institutions: the University of Galway (Ireland) and the Université Paul Valéry Montpellier (France).

The teaching team included Rob Stone (University of Birmingham), Conn Holohan (University of Galway), Martha Shearer (University College Dublin), David Roche (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier), Alberto Spadafora (University of Turin), Ioana Dorobanțu-Gordon (West University of Timișoara), Bogdan Popa (Transilvania University of Brașov), Celestino Deleyto, and Julia Echeverría (Universidad de Zaragoza).