Foreign Movies Mental Empowerment

-

A very sad film about two friends in the Beijing Opera, directed by Chen Kaige.

Foreign movies are foreign to you, but English and French movies are also ‘foreign movies’ in North Africa, Asia or South America.

Before the pandemic, people who love movies and had money to travel went on the festival circuit, which includes Milan, Hong Kong, New York, Berlin and of course, the world famous Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

This is where producers and directors discuss film production in their respective countries: how they raise money; shooting when money dries up; finding costumes; why they shoot in particular locations and government censorship in certain countries.

I’m into foreign movies because they are economy class. I don’t have to buy a plane ticket and book into a hotel. I just sit down and watch a movie about other countries. The sitting down used to be in a movie theatre but we catch movies on computers, now. 

Not just economy class. Foreign movies contribute to my personal development. They give me a speck of understanding of how other humans live.

For example, the importance of the necklace called mangalsutra for Hindu women; the meaning of Chinese girls’ name; the importance of palm wine in Nigerian weddings or the prevalence of Roman Catholic priests in Italian movies.

Foreign movies don’t take anything away from me, they shore me up.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elections And Political Bullies

-
Image
Forget democracy.   It should be called political bullying. We are watching it in the prelude to the Canadian election on the 19 th of October, 2015.   Americans have also started their political bullying for the looming presidential election next year. So many trees wasted on books about democracy.   Some countries have big budgets for invading other countries ‘ to defend democracy’ but it is seldom practised in campaigning for elections.   Calling opponents names and printing flyers attacking each other is behaviour that will not be tolerated in kindergarten, but it is all legal, in campaigning.   It is irritating and such a let-down to the whole notion of democracy.   Grown-up men and women behaving like Grade One kids. It is also misleading because many voters believe it is real hatred.   Don’t let that fool you.   These politicians play golf together, attend the same dinner parties, eat and drink at the same social events, share jokes and cut deals in parliament.   They
Read more

Comfort Food As Regret Food

-
Image
Chicken curry. Comfort food is good for the soul, which usually bleeds in winter from icy roads, bad drivers that want to annihilate pedestrians, frozen fingers and toes that take a sabbatical.   What happened to my toes?   I thought I was wearing special socks for boots? We therefore have a right to comfort food which throws doctors’ orders out of the window and has no loyalty to calories.   No calculator on the table, thanks very much.   Piece of bread 5 calories, half a banana 10 calories, sugar-free cheesecake 2,000 calories.   Ah! Ah!  We only live once. Naw!   Comfort food is old school food with its compulsory second helping.   It involves licking fingers and giving a big sigh, about the good life, which is shelter, food, love and debt.   The problem is the zip.   The jeans remind you that comfort food can also be called you will regret food .   Home sweet home is even sweeter in winter after surviving blowing snow and bumper to bumper traffic. What is more welcoming th
Read more

No Air Miles

-
Image
I don’t have Air Miles.   I’m considering putting that on a T-Shirt because I cannot go to the drugstore (chemist) or coffee shop without the cashier asking me if I have air miles. We waited for about two minutes the other day, while this guy looked for his Air Miles card in his overweight wallet.   For what?   For a few points. I don’t have air miles because Mathematics is a foreign language.   I was never good in numbers. That is why I squashed the idea of being an investment banker very early in life.   I understand you can invest in cornfields before the soil is turned up or pork bellies even before a baby pig is born. That is how I view air miles, investing in tomorrow or the unknown.   I’m the dumb one.   Some people understand this air miles’ thing so well, I overheard one customer saying: I can even convert my points into cash. Points and air miles are the same thing in Canada and the U.S.   Drugstores or clothing stores even give you a card to collect point
Read more