Foreign Film as a Gateway to Cultural Studies

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to share an example of how a foreign film has been used as a pedagogical vehicle to understand and study the culture and society of a foreign country. It also explains how this teaching method was used to go beyond just showing the film, through a post-viewing artistic activity that used a medium reflective of the culture portrayed in the film. This article considers the following questions: How was the foreign film used as an interactive teaching tool? How did the foreign film capture and portray the country’s culture and societal issues in a visual manner? What was the role of metaphor and symbolism in the film? What were the viewer’s connections with the images, dialogues and sounds in the film? Did the activity of creating a visual artwork using the materials native to the culture in the film enhance the viewer’s understanding of the foreign culture?