Movies and Culture Social Awareness Project



|Movies and Cultures Awareness Project ( The Interaction of National Culture and Movies |

Overview:

In this research project, students will develop a presentation (PowerPoint or paper) that will use hyperlinks to movie websites and trailers. Each student will choose a specific country to work with [U.S. movies should not be your topic WITHOUT SPECIAL PERMISSION], and he or she will then research the current issues of the movie industry of his or her country and how movies affect the local culture.

The Task:

Each student will individually identify and research a specific current and hot issue in a particular country concerning movies and culture and will then choose a popular movie of that country that relates to the issue. You will create a presentation of your findings and will include links to the movie websites and trailers so that clips can be shown.

Presentations will be posted on the class website.

2 WEBSITES TO GET YOU STARTED:

The 10 Best Countries for Film Production

The 7 Most Influential Film Countries of the ‘00s

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR PRESENTATION - Provide the following information and answer the following questions about the movie you have chosen for this assignment:

1) Name of movie, year of release, country that produced the movie, director, writer, principal actors, languages

2) Short plot synopsis / summary (one paragraph)

3) Links to movie website and trailers

4) What are the cultures making contact with each other in this film?

a. What is the main cultural clash or change that is featured in the movie? How do the characters deal with this conflict?

b. Is the cultural conflict resolved? If so, how?

5) How are the cultures of the principal characters involved in the clash or change reflected in the movie? (For this question, think specifically in terms of expressive culture – music, art, clothing, food, sports, theater, architecture, etc.)

6) What is your opinion of this movie?

Music and movies often reflect culture change and contact in very direct ways. In one sense, movies could be characterized as a culture’s storytellers. For example, not only do Hollywood films reflect certain commonly held attitudes and beliefs about what it means to be American, but they also portray contemporary trends, issues, and events, serving as records of the eras in which they were produced.

Some reasons to view movies from other cultures include:

• Raising awareness of cultural influences and their impact

• Encourages openness and respect for people from other places

• Increase our own flexibility with different ways of thinking and become comfortable with ambiguity.

• Create a global mindset, while challenging our own mindset and assumptions

• Allows us to observe other behaviors, value systems different to our own

• Pure enjoyment and great conversation starters with friends and family

Some questions to consider:

1. How does the movie illustrate the “culture and values” of the country? (Both past and present?)

2. In what ways does the movie draw on stereotypes (about men, women, race, religion, age) in society?

3. What were the different groups in the movie? What are the dynamics of their interactions ( how do they treat each other? How does that connect to status ( which group(s) is more respected?

4. What are the various ways that social behavior is controlled in the movie ( what are the rules?

5. How is deviance (being different) defined? How was deviance portrayed in the movie?

6. If the movie is in black-and-white, why did the director make that choice?

Whether you like, dislike, agree, or disagree is not the point of your research. This is not a movie review, but an analysis of how movies can shape our perspective on countries, peoples and cultures.

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