Campus culture of international film

While the Lotus festival fuels interest in international music around Bloomington, students more interested in film might be wondering how they can experience the town’s international culture offerings.

Long a multicultural campus, IU’s focus on international popular culture is reflected in its frequent foreign film series and foreign film studies classes.  

International film study is now prominent among students and faculty in classrooms across campus, said Department of Communication and Culture assistant professor Stephanie DeBoer. Because of that, students should start taking advantage of the multiple opportunities for viewing of international films available to them, she said.

On campus and in Bloomington, there are many opportunities to see films from
outside the U.S. or films that link the U.S. to the world, DeBoer said, mentioning the Ryder Film Series. She also said many area studies programs sponsor film screenings, such as the East Asian Studies Center’s biweekly East Asian film screenings on campus during the spring and fall semesters. Circolo Italiano, the Czech Club and the Scandinavian Film Series also have events coming up in October.
If students’ cosmopolitan curiosity isn’t satisfied just by watching movies from across the globe, they can get involved in international film studies classes.

Kevin Tsai, a second-year faculty member in the Department of Comparative Literature, will be teaching C291: Studies in Nonwestern Film in the spring and has studied international films and literature through his work in the departments of Comparative Literature and East Asian Languages and Cultures.

Students’ interest in international film and an increased interest in professional research in the field has led to the near completion of a new minor at IU, known as Global Popular Culture, and film will be a major part of the minor, Tsai said.

“I think it’s a little bit different from the regular pop culture studies (that are) basically limited to popular culture in the United States,” he said.

As a curiosity about other cultures takes hold and students remain curious about international film, organizations like Ryder and the University itself will continue to offer opportunities for them to try something new and different.

“What’s interesting to me about international film is that it gives you this immediacy,” Tsai said. “It gives you this chance to look into the lives of people of a different culture.

With written works, there is a bit more of an effort required to see what other people in other cultures are like, but with film it’s right in front of your eyes. It enables us to see the common humanity between us all.”

Information spotlight

Ryder Film Series

What: The Visitor
When: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3
Where: Upstairs at the School of Fine Arts

What: Son of Rambow
When: 7:45 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3
Where: Downstairs at the School of Fine Arts

What: The Foot Fist Way
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4
Where: Upstairs at the School of Fine Arts

More information can be found at www.theryder.com

East Asian Film Series

What: Repatriation
When: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11
Where: Woodburn Hall 101

What: The Blood of Yingzhou District;
Please Vote for Me
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25
Where: Woodburn Hall 101

More information can be found at www.indiana.edu/~easc/programs/index.shtml

More information on other departments’ international-film screenings can be found at www.events.iu.edu/iub.html