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College Updates From World View
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The Consortium in Latin American Studies UNC at Chapel Hill and Duke University |
| 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: Gali Beeri, International Education Program Coordinator, gali@unc.edu, 919/962-6765 Click here to see annotated titles. |
Asian Pacific Studies Institute Duke University |
| Center For Slavic, Eurasian and Eastern European Studies UNC at Chapel Hill Collection type: films and documentaries Length of borrowing period: variable Cost: none Contact person: Jacqueline M. Olich, Associate Director, jmolich@email.unc.edu, 919/962-0901 Annotated titles will be available on the Website this winter. |
World View UNC at Chapel Hill Collection type: films and documentaries Length of borrowing period: three weeks Cost: none Contact person: Neil Bolick, Associate Director, nebolick@unc.edu, 919/843-5332 Click here to see annotated titles. |
Film Recommendations
Karla Loveall, Asian Pacific Studies Institute at Duke University
In "Wings of Defeat" (2007) filmmakers Risa Morimoto and Linda Hoaglund explore the travesty of war through interviews with surviving Kamikaze pilots, rare WWII battle footage, and Japanese propaganda. This documentary offers a rare glimpse of World War II and Japanese history and provides viewers the chance to consider the complexities of historical narratives.
The documentary "Please Vote for Me" (Chen, 2007) follows one class of
8-year-olds in a Chinese elementary school as they experiment with
voting for a class monitor. Viewers have the opportunity to explore
the complexity of this process as these third graders furiously
compete, with the help of parents and friends, for the office. The
story that unfolds reveals much about issues in contemporary China
and even more about the messy process we call democracy. A great film
for discussing civic process while presenting a small slice of life
in today's China.
Martine Antle, Center for European Studies UNC at Chapel Hill
"On Boys, Girls and the Veil" (Nasrallah, 1995) offers excellent interviews with young men and women about the "hijab" and its cultural, social and religious implications. An excellent springboard to speak about the "hijab."
"Good Bye Lenin" (Becker, 2003) is the perfect film to introduce a key moment in European history, the Fall of the Berlin Wall. It is a parodic and self reflexive film, which points to the artificiality of reconstructing (or attempting to reconstruct) history in film.
"Harem Suare" by Ozpetek (1999) recreates the last days of the Ottoman Empire in the Yidiz Palace in Istanbul. Love, eroticism and power are expected in the Harem, however the questions presented weave an intricate dialogue with recent feminist writings on the Harem (Mernissi's writing in particular).
Will you be seduced by "Chouchou" (Allouach, 2003)? As a North African immigrant "queer" character, Chouchou, played by one of the top French stand-up comedians Gad Elmaheh, seduces all of Paris, including the priest and a sexy psychoanalyst. As in all comedies, the film ends up in marriage, and Chouchou ends up marrying the man of his life. Excellent film to present current social issues.
Jacqueline Olich, Center For Slavic, Eurasian and Eastern European Studies UNC at Chapel Hill
"Global Voices Comprehensive: the Music and Culture of Kyrgyzstan" from the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center (Mailybekova and Huseynova, 2008) and a film entitled "Beshkempir: The Adopted Son" (Abdykalykov, 1998) are both recent additions to the Center For Slavic, Eurasian and Eastern European Studies lending library. Both DVDs serve as an excellent complement to the archived program "The Silk Road: Music Across the Kyrgyz Mountains," a UNC Area Studies GlobalMusic Show.
Enver Casimir, The Consortium in Latin American Studies
UNC Chapel Hill and Duke
"La vida no es facil" (Martinez and Sabella, 2006) is a documentary that deals specifically with North Carolina and addresses some of the issues that have come to the fore as the Latino population in North Carolina has grown. Given that it deals with individuals of college age, it is particularly suited for a community college setting.
Film and Review Databases and Filmographies
Film Finder (search.lib.unc.edu/filmfinder) from the UNC at Chapel Hill Library's Media Resources Center is a searchable filmography of more than 12,000 film titles available on VHS, DVD, and 16mm in the MRC collection. The database allows users to search by title, genre, origin, and director.
Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com)
This useful site contains 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, person (actor, director, writer, production crew, etc.), character, quotation, biography, and plot. You can enter "international film" as a keyword to access international titles.
Sight and Sound Review Archive (www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/)
This site is an 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 (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
(www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/LatinAmfilm.html)
This webpage lists UC Berkeley's Media Resources Center film holdings from Mexico, Central America, Cuba, the Caribbean, Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, and Peru and includes a brief synopsis. This page also includes related websites and a selection of bibliographies.
Movie Review Query Engine (www.mrqe.com)
This is a movie review database carrying more than 440,000 reviews of over 44,000 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, and recent DVD releases.
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 course could be of great benefit to your students. This 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 presents 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.) Short documentaries 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 students' 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 North Carolina Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at UNC at Chapel Hill and Duke University Every November a Latin American Film Festival is sponsored by the Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at UNC at Chapel Hill and Duke University together with NC State University, NC Central University, UNC-Greensboro, and Guilford College. 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. |
| The Riverrun International Film Festival This Winston-Salem film festival presents a diverse collection of cinema from around the world. Each spring the festival features high-profile premieres, celebrity tributes, family matinees, classic retrospectives, and panel discussions. Most screenings are introduced by the actors or filmmakers themselves, with the opportunity for audience members to ask questions. |
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