Forum

One of the interesting threads of the SIG's first Reading Group discussion focused on the topic of genres. How does a genre like action films or road movies travel across global boundaries? For example, what happens when a samurai film like Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954) is adapted by Hollywood as a Western: The Magnificent Seven, directed by John Sturges in 1960? Or when much of its plot becomes the basis of a a Hindi classic, Ramesh Sippy's Sholay (1975). How are the settings, characters, and themes reshaped by local traditions of history and culture? What role do national or regional production practices play in shaping the film's narrative, look, and reach? What can our students learn about people elsewhere in the world--what makes them laugh, what they fear-- by comparing English-language comedies or horror films to their counterparts in Africa or East Asia? I invite others to join me in exploring the implications of this topic for scholarship and teaching.

How have you managed to meet the challenges of remote teaching? Share your experiences with online courses, Blackboard, Zoom, and other electronic tools.

Some of us who teach movies within a language department use Italian films or Chinese films to explore issues of language and culture. Our students get to watch native speakers interacting on the screen in real-life scenarios or re-enacting historical events. What other advantages do they enjoy? For others, though, foreign languages and unfamiliar cultures are impediments to understanding the characters and their stories. What are the impediments to understanding of a "foreign" film? What gets lost in translation? How can we overcome the distractions of subtitle, misinterpretations of body language, and confusions about cultural contexts?