​Third World Cinema

 

 The location for our film festival was at St. John

Bosco Church, located in Little

Havana. We held our event on a Thursday night, when the local youth group meets. The

films we showed varied from a range of different cultures; we showed one full length

film, along with three short films. The purpose for

showing the wide range came from

our wanting to expose them to different types of cinema from different cultures. Before

starting, we talked to the group about third world cinema, and spoke with them about the

differences from western cinema. The first film we s

howed was “Alarm,” an animated

short film that we felt they could easily relate to.

The second film was “Gotas de Fumaca,” or “Drops of Smoke,” a Brazilian short film that centered on more serious topics, such as death and regret. Our next viewing was the full length film, “The Color of

Paradise;” this was an Iranian film about a young blind boy who tries to connect with the people and life around him despite his disability. The group had many questions after the film, which led into a lengthy discussion with them. They were very interested in the film, and we even had questions asking about our class and what we spoke about. The last viewing was the final short film, “The Red Balloon.” This French short film endedthe event on a lighter note, and was a story about a boy who finds a balloon on the streets of Paris, accompanying him throughout his days. The event was successful, with just over forty kids coming and with many questions and discussions occurring between the films.

We gave them comment cards to fill out throughout the night, and were pleased at the responses we got back from them.