International films are not only an excellent way to introduce students, staff, and faculty to different lands and cultures, but also a valuable component of outreach to your communities. Whether in the classroom or on campus as a film festival, this visual media is a powerful tool in internationalizing your college. This issue provides film collections at UNC, Duke and other universities that are available to community colleges, film and review databases, filmographies, and selected film publications. In each film collection list we have provided a link to annotated titles to help you select movies for your class or film festival. We have also included a discussion on how to teach Hispanic/Latino culture and history through film by Sharon Mújica, Outreach Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at UNC at Chapel Hill. The ideas presented in this discussion can be applied to the classroom setting or to the creation of an international film festival on your campus.
Film Collections at UNC, Duke, and Other Universities Available to Community Colleges
Center for European Studies UNC at Chapel Hill
Collection type: films and documentaries
Length of borrowing period: one week (not including mailing time)
Cost: none
Contact person: Associate Director, Ruth Mitchell-Pitts, rmpitts@email.unc.edu
Website: http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe
Click here to see annotated titles.
The Consortium in Latin American Studies UNC Chapel Hill and Duke
Collection type: films and videos
Length of borrowing period: one week (not including mailing time)
Cost: none
Contact person: la_films@unc.edu, (919) 962-0398
Click here to see annotated titles.
Center For Slavic, Eurasian and Eastern European Studies at UNC Collection Type: films and documentaries
Length of Borrowing Period: variable
Cost: none
Contact Person: Daniel Pellathy, pellathy@email.unc.edu
Click here for their website.
Duke University
Asian Pacific Studies Institute
Collection type: documentary
Length of borrowing period: two weeks (not including mailing time)
Cost: none
Contact person: Yan Li Administrative coordinator, liyan@duke.edu
Click here to see annotated titles.
University of Texas Austin
South Asia Institute – Outreach Asia Institute
Collection type: films and documentaries
Length of borrowing period: four weeks (not including mailing time)
Cost: none
Contact person: outreach@uts.cc-utexas.edu 512-475-6038
Click here to see annotated titles.
Film and Review Databases and Filmographies
Film Finder from the UNC Chapel Hill Library's Media Resources Center. This is a searchable filmography of more the 12,000 film titles available on WHS, DVD and 16mm in the MRC collection. The database allows users to search by title, genre, origin, and director.
Movie Review Query Engine (http://www.mrqe.com)
This is a free movie review database carrying more than 440,000 reviews of 44,000 plus titles. In addition to searching by title, the database has a number of preset lists of titles by award (Berlin, Venice, Montreal, Cannes and various US), recent and upcoming US and UK film releases as well as recent DVD releases.
Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com)
Our FilmFinder links directly to IMDB. This is a very useful site containing production data, awards, user reviews, plot summaries, and information on the commercial availability of the title (with a direct link to Amazon.com, for ordering). The database can be searched by film title, people (actor, director, writer, production crew, etc.), characters, quotes, biographies and plots.
Sight and Sound Review Archive Click here to visit this film review archive of film reviews published in the British Film Institute's journal. The database allows for searches by film title, country, director, year and all text.
Film Index International (http://fii.chadwyck.co.uk/home)
This database from the British Film Institute provides resources for the study of entertainment films from around the world and lists an index of films from more than 170 countries. The database allows for searching by six major international awards as well as by title, director and plot summary.
Filmography for Latin American Cinema
Click here to visit this webpage which lists UC Berkeley's Media Resources Center film holdings from Mexico, Central America, Cuba, the Caribbean, Argentina, Brazil, Columbia and Peru by title, date, director and includes a brief synopsis per film. This page also includes related websites and a selection of bibliographies.
Some thoughts and Ideas on Why and how to Teach Latino/Hispanic Culture and History Through Film by Sharon Sullivan Mújica
Part I Introduction
Latinos are the biggest minority in the United States, yet they are barely present in the mass media and Hollywood cinema. If they are present, they are often stereotyped, appear exotic or are depicted as the “Other". Therefore including a unit on Latino History and culture through film within a Latin American course or a course that has Latin American content, could be of great benefit to your students. It could also be beneficial in an intermediate to advanced Spanish language course. Perhaps such a course could promote a more substantive understanding of Latinos that would reach beyond the classroom out into the community and beyond.
Cinema as art and popular culture directly present vivid images for students, making possible powerful effects and intense reactions. Therefore putting film into a course can only make it more alive, more “real” for the student. We can better look at the content of the Latino experience as depicted in film and the accuracy of that content in describing the diversity and truth of the Latino experience in the United States, particularly in regard to gender, race and class.
There are many films, both feature and documentary, to chose from. (We invite you to use our collection free of charge at Latin American Studies at UNC- Chapel Hill and Duke University.) If short documentaries, they can be shown and commented on during class. Film Clips can also be used. If a feature film is selected, it can be put on reserve for students to watch outside of class and a paper can be assigned. It is important when choosing the films/documentaries to remember that many have been made in the United States, directed and produced by Anglos. However, just as many have been made by Latinos and these should be given careful consideration for their very important point of view. If feasible, it would be good to show the different experiences of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Cubans, and Mexicans in the United States. This could be accomplished easily by showing film clips. Students should also be given a list of the many films available so that hopefully at least some will continue to search for selections long after the class is over.
Part II – Ideas for a course
Use Lectures and discussion to supply background and reflective points of departure on the films or film segments to be shown. Brief reaction papers can be kept by the students in a notebook as a journal, which can serve to stimulate further discussion and also to lead to a final paper on topics chosen.
Some of the course goals might be:
- To teach students about Latino culture and to uncover and challenge stereotypes.
- To teach students to think critically about films and about other forms of popular culture.
- To improve student's writing by keeping journals and then turning them into final papers.
While viewing films, students can be asked to take note on the following topics on each film while viewing it:
- Setting: time, place, context.
- Story: Describe plot, central events, main symbols, and from whose point of view the story is being told.
- Major characteristics and actors: pay attention to the gender and ethnicity of main actors and characters. Do Latinos play Latino characters? Are Latinos good, neutral or evil? Is their status high, middle or low? What are their roles? Are they valued or devalued roles? Are they stereotyped or authentically portrayed?
- Gender, Class and race: How does the film portray relationships and Latinos and others, between men and women, and between different socio-economic groups? Does the Film have a progressive message? Does the film normalize or challenge oppression and hierarchy?
- What is the overall intent, message or meaning of the film?
Film Festivals in the Triangle, Triad, and Charlotte
Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University
www.unc.edu/depts/ilas/outreach.html
If you are interested in observing an area studies film festival the following festivals can provide a model for bringing a film festival to your college. Every November the Outreach Office of the Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University together with NC State University, NC Central University, UNC-Greensboro, and Guilford College sponsors a Latin American Film Festival. The Consortium also co-sponsors The Annual William Wilson Brown, Jr. Latin American Film & Video Festival in Charlotte. Films encompass the wide variety of nations and diverse cultures that make up Latin America. Pre-film lectures and visits by renowned film directors are also organized as part of this event. All of these events are free and open to the public.
