Around the World in Cinema

Quickly, name a non-American film you’ve seen recently. Okay, now list 5. It’s tough right? A few years ago, I gave myself the mission to watch one film from every country in the world. I don’t work on this challenge actively (which explains why I haven’t finished), but it gives me an incentive to seek out films from countries I’ve never explored. To date, I’ve watched 43 films from 43 different countries!

I started this challenge because the U.S. film industry—unsurprisingly—focuses mostly on itself. The Oscars rarely highlight films beyond Western Europe and occasionally, East Asia. To quote Bong Joon-Ho, “The Oscars are not an international film festival. They're very local.”

The world is massive, and its film industries are just as diverse. Yet, Americans barely scratch the surface. Bollywood? Nollywood? Can they even name a Chinese movie? Not even on the radar.

I went to -ahem- film school and one of the most memorable classes I took was called Post-Colonial Cinema. The class explored how colonization shaped African cinema and its storytelling. The class was interesting because African films are rarely ever mentioned in the American or European zeitgeist and while I took a World History class in high school, it barely scratched the surface of African history. For example, I had no idea just how horrific Belgian colonization was in the Congo.

One filmmaker who stuck with me was Ousmane Sembène, a Senegalese filmmaker who was called the “father of African cinema.” His most famous movie, Black Girl (1966), follows a young Senegalese woman who moves from Senegal to France to work as a nanny. While at first, it feels like a dream come true for the young woman to escape her poor living conditions in Dakar, it quickly becomes a nightmare. The white French family mistreats the woman and she essentially becomes a prisoner in their home. While the French no longer “officially” physically colonized Senegal at that point, the movie points out that colonization takes other forms.

Although I graduated film school long ago, I believe films are a great way to learn about other countries and what their cultures are like. I believe it’s especially important to be open to learning about other cultures so that we can take important lessons about the hardships they’ve gone through and apply it to our own lives. Besides, as artists, we should expand our palates beyond the typical western lens—life and art is a lot more interesting that way.

I want to discuss some of my favorite underrated films that I’ve seen as part of this challenge.

Wake in Fright (1971) is an Australian New Wave film that follows a school teacher’s moral degradation as he finds himself stranded in the brutal Australian outback. The film is so visceral you can practically feel the heat radiating off the screen. Every frame drips with sweat, beer, and desperation. If I could get alcohol poisoning through a TV screen, this movie would’ve done it. It’s incredibly haunting and controversial because the filmmakers engaged in animal cruelty by shooting actual kangaroos. For this reason, I do hesitate to recommend watching this movie as I don’t endorse such a violent action to innocent animals but I do think it’s an important film to watch if you want to engage in Australian cinema.

Whisky (2004) is a Uruguayan movie that feels very reminiscent of a Wes Anderson or Yorgos Lanthimos film due to its deadpan delivery of the characters. It follows two elderly Jewish Uruguayan brothers who struggle to relate to each other. Jacob runs a small stocking factory and lives an isolated life but everything changes when his brother, Herman, arrives in town. Determined to impress Herman, Jacob ropes his employee into a fake marriage—cue the awkward shenanigans. It’s filled with awkward characters and awkward silences which adds to the humor and absurdity of their situations but in a way, it’s tragic also. It’s a very Jewish movie in that I can relate to wanting to impress family members that are hard to impress. Jewish people can also be very biting and critical to their loved ones which made the film all the more relatable to me.

Bad Genius (2017) is a Thai comedy/thriller movie about a brilliant student, Lynn, who starts an exam cheating business by taking other people’s tests for them to inflate their grades. It’s slickly edited and filmed and moves at a rapid pace. You’re invested in the characters from beginning to end and root for them, despite all of their bad decision making. Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying (yes I had to google how to spell her name) caught my attention in Bad Genius, and I was thrilled to see her shine again in Hunger (2023). She’s definitely someone to keep an eye out for. I think people who live outside of Southeast Asia don’t realize what a powerhouse Thailand is in terms of its movie and TV productions. Thai dramas are incredibly popular and consumed widely by its next door neighbors.

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (2019) is an Indian comedy/romance movie about a lesbian woman who faces pressure by her parents to get married to a man. Misunderstandings lead to a series of humorous hijinks. The movie is vibrant with lots of fun dance sequences and songs as expected from a Bollywood film. LGBTQ movies are slowly becoming more normalized in India and it was nice to see a movie about a lesbian couple that has a happy ending.

My challenge has allowed me to be exposed to completely new films that I’ve never heard of before. It’s also neat to see distinctive filmmaking styles of different countries—Whisky was slow and calm while Bad Genius was frenetic and fast-paced. Bollywood is a completely unique genre in that most of its films include musical interludes even if it’s about a serious subject—something that takes getting used to but makes every movie completely joyful to watch. For those reading this, I implore you to challenge yourself and watch a movie from a country you don’t know much about. You never know, maybe you’ll discover your next favorite film this way.

I’d love film recommendations from lesser known countries. What are some international films that you love?