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Maggie Hill
Julie Hicks
HONR 3702 Film
28 April 2015
Final Reflection
Coming into this class, I had never seen a foreign film and had never been to any
countries outside of the United States other than Canada. I decided to take this class as a good
way to start expanding my world view. Furthermore, I enjoy watching films, so I figured that this
class would be a good match for me. I was surprised to discover how much I enjoyed foreign
films and how much the films we watched this semester impacted me.
Almost all of the films we watched this semester impacted me in some way, but Wadjda,
Departures, and Sin Nombre made the greatest impact on me. These three films all had a unique
impact on me that helped me develop my world view more. After watching them, I now have a
better understanding about the cultures of those countries. In addition, these three films also
helped me to appreciate film and everything that goes into it more.
Wadjda is one of my favorites of all the films we watched this semester. This is partially
the reason that it impacted me so much. Since I enjoyed it so much, I was willing to explore the
ideas presented in it more. This film helped me understand more about film in other countries
due to everything that the director Haifaa Al Mansour had to go through to film Wadjda. For
example as I stated in my Wadjda reflection, the idea that she had to direct the outdoor scenes
from inside a van using a walkie-talkie is interesting. Even though she was wearing an abaya, she
still could not be out in public filming. When I read about this in the NPR interview article
before watching this film, I was already getting a good idea of what the culture in Saudi Arabia
looked like. This was the first time I was really exposed to how restrictive the Saudi Arabian

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culture is on women. Moreover, this made me realize just how much directors sometimes have to
go through in other countries to make a film. Another impact related to film that Wadjda had on
me is that it made me realize how much the United States takes for granted the fact that so many
films are filmed here. Again, as I wrote in my Wadjda reflection, the idea that this is the first
movie that is filmed in Saudi Arabia is new to me and therefore made me stop and think about
this concept for a while. Since it is so common for films to be filmed in the United States, we
often do not think about how it is such a privilege. Wadjda also impacted me by drawing my
attention to the major social issue of the culture of Saudi Arabia: the treatment of women. First of
all, the fact that Haifaa Al Mansour is the first female filmmaker in Saudi Arabia gave me a hint
at how different this culture is from ours. Wadjda illustrates many of the restrictions that are
placed on the women. Since it is told from the perspective of a young girl, it is easier to
understand these restrictions. For example, as I discussed in my reflection:
There are many restrictions placed on the women in the Saudi Arabian society. For
example, the women must be completely covered in an abaya when in public, so that only
their eyes are showing. The men are not supposed to hear their voices either. The school
teacher yells at the girls for laughing in public on the way to school because this allows
the men to hear their voices. In addition, the women and girls are not supposed to be
alone with men who are not related to them. Abdullah and Wadjda break this rule all the
time because they are just children and do not understand why this is frowned upon.
Additionally, the women are supposed to make and serve the food to the men. When
Wadjdas father has men over for dinner one night, Wadjda and her mother have to make
and serve the food and then are not allowed to eat until the men are done. The women eat
the mens leftovers and then must clean up the dishes. Furthermore, the women need their

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husbands permission to work and are not allowed to drive, as shown in the film by Iqbal
the driver and as discussed in the articles for this week.
All of these examples of the restrictions placed on the women made me really consider and
overall come to a better understanding of what it is like to be a woman in other countries around
the world. This is the main reason why Wadjda impacted me so greatly.
Departures made a huge impact on me due to the understanding that I gained about death
in different cultures after watching this film. Furthermore, this film made me realize how a
fictional film can be used to bring attention to a cultural issue. For example, this film explores
the theme of abandoned children, which is a major problem in Japan due to their cultural values.
I thought Departures did an excellent job of presenting this issue throughout its storyline. This
made me think about my changing viewpoints on film. Before this film, I was used to the
American idea that most fictional films are just for entertainment. After seeing this film though, I
began to understand a new way film could be used. More importantly though, Departures
impacted me by helping me to understand death more. As I stated in my response for this film,
Before this film, I had never heard of encoffination or anything like it. The idea of it kind of
grossed me out when I read the articles on Moodle about it. After I witnessed it through the film
though, I realized how beautiful it was. This realization caused me to reflect upon my own
experiences with death and how they differed from the families who had the encoffination ritual
for the deceased. As I was reflecting upon this idea, I thought about my most recent experience
with death, which was a few years ago with my grandmother. As I discuss in my response to
Departures, I feel that I have experienced on some level the gap that exists between American
culture and other cultures around the world due to the American viewpoint of death because it

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mirrors the gap that exists in my mind between my familys experience and my experience with
my grandmothers death. Since I was able to connect what I had learned through the film to my
life, I realized just how much Departures had impacted me.
Sin Nombre significantly impacted my view of illegal immigration from Latin America
and of gangs. Before watching this film, I did not know much about either of these topics. As I
was watching this film, I began to realize that there is a lot more to these issues than I had
realized. This film made me curious about all of the dangers that the illegal immigrants who are
traveling from Latin America to the United States face. Many of them were briefly mentioned in
the film, but as I researched it, I began to understand how dangerous it really is. This impacted
me by making me aware of how big of a global issue this really is. In addition, Sin Nombre made
me aware of the culture of the gangs in Latin America. I grew up in a stereotypical suburban
neighborhood in Ohio, so there are no gangs there. This film opened my eyes to the distinct
culture of them and how they fit into the culture of the country.
My responses to Departures, A Separation, and The Syrian Bride are my best responses
out of all of the ones I have written this semester. Throughout each one, it is clear how my
understanding of that film grew as I reflected upon it in my writing. I am very proud of each one
of these responses. My responses to Departures and A Separation earned two of my highest
grades out of all my film responses, which confirms to me that these responses are as excellent as
I think they are.
My film response to Departures is one of my best responses from this semester because
this film impacted me greatly. I believe that is the reason why I was able to write such a good
response to this film. Through reflecting upon what I had learned from this film so that I could
write my response to it, I came to the realization that I could make a personal connection with

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ideas in this film. Sometimes there were concepts in the films that we watched that were hard for
me to understand since I could not connect to them or understand the rationale of the culture
behind them. For this reason, when I was able to make a connection for this film between the
idea of an encoffination ceremony bringing closure to the family versus the ritual of death in the
United States and my own experiences with my grandmothers death, I think it took my response
to another level compared to my other film responses. In addition, I believe it is evident how my
thought process concerning death and death in our culture versus other cultures changed as I
progressed through writing this response. Being able to look back on this response and see that
progression also makes me realize how much this film response impacted me. This confirms for
me that my response to Departures is definitely one of my best.
Another film response that I think is one of my best is the one to A Separation due to my
many reflections throughout it. By reflecting upon the title, I was able to explore the idea of all
of the different types of separations featured in this film. These separations, whether physical or
emotional, are the basis behind most of the film. Successfully reflecting upon them in my
response allowed me to deepen my overall understanding of the film. In addition, I came to
better understand parts of the culture of Iran through my reflections in my response to this film.
For example, my response illustrates my increased understanding of the judicial system of Iran
through research and reflection.
Additionally, I consider my film response to The Syrian Bride to be one of my best ones
for two reasons. First of all, I was able to take a brief discussion we had in class about some of
the moments of grace of the different characters and expand on this discussion in a way that
illustrates my understanding of the moments of grace. In some of my other responses, I have
tried to do this and have not succeeded with it as much as I did in this response. I was able to use

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these moments of grace to also gain a further understanding of some of the conflicts in the Golan
Heights. Secondly, I enjoyed this film immensely after all of the sadder films we had been
watching right before it, and I think this showed through my film response. I was more devoted
to this film and thus spent more time on my response so that I had a better understanding of the
film overall.
All of the films we watched this semester reflected the culture of the country in some
way. Sin Nombre is one of the films that reflects the culture most accurately. This film portrays
the different social classes through the gang members and Martha Marlene. Martha Marlene is
from a higher class than Willy and the other gang members. This is shown in the film through her
house and clothing versus the house of Lil Mago and the gang members. Sin Nombre addresses
race as the characters travel through Mexico on their way to the United States. Some of the
Mexicans help the immigrants from Central America. For example, as I discussed in my response
for this film, at one point in the film the immigrants are at a stop and there are Mexican citizens
cooking food and offering showers to the migrants from the train. On the other hand, there are
also children who throw rocks at the immigrants on the train. This illustrates how some people in
Mexico are accepting of other races and are willing to help their fellow human beings, but others
think that their race is better than the Central Americans. Sin Nombre shows how age is an issue
in the gang culture in Latin America through Smiley and his friends. Smiley is only a young boy.
He should be out playing with friends, not being initiated into Mara Salvatrucha and killing
people. When he hangs out with his other friends outside the gang, he tells them all about
everything he has done and they are excited to hear it and want to join. This is an issue of the
Mexican gang culture that this film is trying to bring attention to. Going along with this issue is
the one of poverty. A lot of the gang members join because they are poor and have nothing better

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to do. The gang provides them with something to do and a way to have a life. Furthermore,
poverty is addressed through the film by all of the immigrants traveling to the United States. This
is a very dangerous journey, so they would not be making it if they did not need to get to the
United States to have better jobs and a more prosperous life. Overall, Sin Nombre does an
excellent job at presenting many different aspects of the Mexican and Latin American culture.
Next, Wadjda also does an excellent job of accurately portraying the culture in the film.
This film is focused on the culture of women in Saudi Arabia. There are many restrictions that
these women face. This film provides viewers an insight into some of these restrictions.
Furthermore, it does so through Wadjda, who is a young girl, so it also illustrates the culture of
young women in Saudi Arabia. As I stated in my response to Wadjda, the school teachers and
the principal spend all day at school teaching the girls how to properly behave in Saudi Arabian
society. When Wadjda goes home, her mother then takes over in teaching her how she is
supposed to act according to their culture and traditions. The culture of Saudi Arabia has the
older women teach the younger girls how they are supposed to act. The restrictions of the culture
on the women only increase as they grow up, so it is important that the girls start learning as
soon as possible about it. Out of all the films we watched this semester, I believe that this film is
the one that most accurately portrays a part of the culture of the featured country. As always,
there is more to the culture than what is shown in Wadjda, but this film does a good job at
exploring certain parts of the culture.
Finally, Turtles Can Fly additionally accurately reflects a part of the culture of the Iraq.
This film focuses on the culture of the Kurds. The film explores the effects of the Iraq war on the
culture, especially of the children. The lives of the children in this film revolve around the land
mines that were placed by the Americans. The children spend their days deactivating and

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collecting them for money. This is very dangerous work, but it shows how poverty affects the
culture of these children. They need the money to survive, so they risk their lives every day to do
this. The culture of this country would be very different if the Americans had not invaded Iraq.
Turtles Can Fly illustrates just a section of the culture of Iraq though. Not all of the children in
Iraq live this culture, so it is important to remember this to avoiding experiencing the Danger of
a Single Story that we discussed at the beginning of the year.
After watching twelve foreign films from eleven different countries this semester, my
world view has definitely grown greatly. I now know about more social issues than I originally
did. Before this class, I only was concerned about social issues of other countries if they were
major ones in the news. Now, I have started to learn about many different types of social issues.
For example, after watching Central Station I now know about the street children of Brazil and
also the black market of selling children for organs. These are not social issues that I would have
been concerned about before watching all of these films. After this semester, I understand the
importance of being interested in all of the different social issues around the world and how they
affect each culture.
Going along with this idea, I am now more open minded about other countries. Before
this class, I was not really interested in learning about a lot of other countries. I would rather
learn about or visit new places within the United States. After being introduced to so many new
countries through the films in this class, I am more open to learning about new countries. For
example, I did not think I was going to enjoy Best Exotic Marigold Hotel because I had no
interest in learning about the culture of India. Therefore, I was surprised when I immensely
enjoyed this film and learning about the culture of India. Overall, after this semester I am trying
to remain more open minded about other countries and learning about them.

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Another way my world view has changed after this class is that I realize that the people
of the world, no matter what country they are from, are a lot more similar than I used to think.
Before this class, I had the stereotypical American view that people in the United States were the
best in the world. After watching all of the films this semester, especially Babel, I came to realize
that this is not true and that we are all much more similar to each other. Babel features characters
from Morocco, Japan, the United States, and Mexico. These characters all behave similarly to
their situations, especially when stressed or in trouble. This shows how everyone is the same
underneath, no matter what country we are originally from.
Foreign films are important to watch to have a better understanding of social issues that
exist in other cultures. Although these films do not represent every part of a culture or all of the
social issues, they can help to raise awareness of them at least. For example, Amores Perros
presents a glimpse into a few different social issues of the Mexican culture, such as dog fighting
and poverty. Even though the film features a few different social issues, it does not explore every
social issue of the Mexican culture nor does it represent every aspect of the social issues that it
does feature. Foreign films offer enough of a glimpse to raise awareness about an issue. From
there, the viewers have to be willing to investigate it further on their own if they want to be able
to more fully understand the issue. The foreign films are only the first step or another step
towards understanding the issue. For example, before watching Johnny Mad Dog, I knew that
child soldiers existed and I knew a little bit about them, but not much. After watching this film
though, I began to understand how huge of a social issue child soldiers are, especially in Liberia.
This film served as a way for me to add to the base knowledge that I previously had about this
social issue. For someone like me who has only been out of the country once, foreign films

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provide a way for me to begin to experience the world around me and to start learning more
about the cultures and social issues of the countries.
Now that the semester is almost over, I can confidently say that this class has had a
positive impact on me by helping me start to get a better idea about the world around me. These
films have introduced me to some of the social issues and cultures of different countries. In
addition, this class has helped me to improve my writing and reflection skills. Overall, I would
highly recommend this class to anyone who is interested in learning about the many different
cultures of the world.