What are the geopolitical, institutional, and ethical imaginaries that shape the idea of "world cinemas" and how do they intersect with the senses of worlds within what may be called worlds within cinemas or "cinematic worlds"? Following Naoki Sakai’s critique of nationalist insularity and the binaries of "the West and the rest," we will consider empire, decolonization, and Pax Americana in the constitution of the "world" of "world cinemas." Through critical and creative juxtapositions of films and philosophical texts, this class is an invitation to investigate the possibilities of thinking world and worlds, world-formation and worldhood.