Social Education 71(4), pp 177–181 ©2007 National Council for the Social Studies Bringing Latin America to Life with Films in the Classroom Harry E. Vanden Mark Twain often observed that we, Americans, are not too aware of other and cuts from the City of God (Cidade cultures. A war critic, he reserved some of his best barbs for American ignorance de Deus) the first day. The former is a of foreign languages and cultures and the imperial endeavors of his day. Upon brilliant Chilean-made short that I hap- returning from traveling in Europe, he wrote, in The Innocents Abroad, “In Paris pened upon in the Museum of Modern they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! Art on a visit to New York. It skillfully We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.” examines the reduction of modern life Twain was especially critical of U.S. imperial involvement in the Philippines and to the smallest unit—the silicon micro- attempts to suppress the Philippine Insurrection, writing in A Pen Warmed Up chip and the reduction of Chile’s old in Hell, “I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons growth forests to one more exportable on any other land.” 1 commodity—the wood chip. These two “chips” are gracefully tied to the external One would hope that we as educa- such as Like Water for Chocolate or exploitation (the first chip is strongly tors could provide our students with (Pancho) Villa, the Latin American real- associated with Japan’s modernization a better understanding of other coun- ity would spring into their consciousness and the second fuels that country’s insa- tries and cultures than was the case and give them a means of connecting to tiable appetite for more wood-based when Mark Twain was pricking the a little known reality. Would that it were paper products) that has marked Latin national consciousness. Yet this task so easy. There is, I found, little danger America’s insertion into the world econ- is not a simple one. In three decades that the art of teaching (as practiced by omy. The film’s perky futuristic beat of teaching, I have found that most of the teacher) can be so easily replaced by also suggests the modern Latin America our students have a genuine ignorance a few videos. Each film, each director, that is emerging. The second film is an of the conditions in which our fellow each epoch, each take, is but a small exquisitely made full-length Brazilian citizens of the Americas live. Telling part of the reality we wish to bring to film that explores the violence and des- personal anecdotes or colorful stories our classrooms. As educators, we must peration of youth in a Brazilian housing is one good way to bridge this gap and select the films and videos, prepare the project turned slum, the “City of God.” can establish the personal links that help students for what they are to see, give It is reminiscent of Spike Lee’s incur- to make the material more relevant to background and history, and pose the sions into the violence and desperation students. But the world is diverse and important questions that highlight the of life in inner city neighborhoods and few of us can tell tales of all the lands plot even before we darken the room. can offer a fascinating way of connect- we want to teach about. That is, it is up to us to provide the con- ing life there to life here through the Frustrated at times in my attempts text in which the action occurs, tease out common desperation of so many youth to educate my students about the Latin the main themes and then connect them in both places. America I have grown to love, I have to the subject at hand and the reality Such films and videos probably offer often turned to film and video as a way that our students are living. the best means (save a field trip to the of exposing my charges to the world With this in mind, when I teach my region) of bringing Latin American beyond our borders. Indeed, I first Latin America Through Film course, I reality to life for our students. Feature- thought that if I just show some films, begin by showing Micro Chip al Chip length films shown on large screens with M AY /J UNE 2 0 0 7 177 good sound are particularly effective. Scenes of graphic sex and violence can be omitted (and sanitarily summa- rized by the teacher) to avoid parental or administrative discomfort. After providing context and chronology, the teacher can Actress Salma begin by using a more traditional means of augmenting text Hayek, dressed reading, class lecture, discussion, and homework assign- in a traditional ments—the documentary. Most are familiar with the offerings blouse used by found in the catalogs sent out by Films for the Humanities the indigenous women of and Sciences. Other distributors like Bull Frog Films, New Juchitan and Day Films, Facets World Cinema and the Filmakers Library favored by offer a wider mixture of documentaries and foreign films on Mexican icon VHS and DVD formats. By mixing documentaries, lecture, Frida Kahlo, and discussion with feature films, important aspects of foreign holds a pistol cultures and their historic realities are made to come alive. during the film- ing of the movie An excellent documentary series is the five-part PBS-based Frida in Puebla, video set Buried Mirror, narrated by the well-known Mexican Mexico, April 9, writer Carlos Fuentes. It relates the dynamic series of events 2001. (AP Photo/ that have transpired in the Americas from the arrival of the Pablo Spencer) Spaniards in the fifteenth century to the present. But even the best of documentaries pale in comparison to stunning feature-length films likeThe Mission, El Norte, Like Water for Chocolate, or The Battle of Chile. Even black and white classics like the Mexican adaptation of Romulo Gallegos’s great Venezuelan novel Doña Bárbara seem to captivate A Link To The Past: Engaging Students In The Study Of History Michael M. Yell, Geoffrey Scheurman, with Keith Reynolds NCSS Bulletin 102, 93 pp., 2004 JAMES MADISON Teachers will benefit from these powerful, GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS tried and tested strategies for getting students AVAILABLE UP TO involved in the study of history. The authors offer tips for all stages of a history unit: $24,000 introducing the topic; involving students in discussion; enhancing writing Available to secondary school teachers of American and reading skills; teaching big ideas; and organizing and evaluating effec- history, American government or social studies to undertake a master’s degree program emphasizing tive projects. The book offers useful lesson plans and a selection of valuable the roots, principles, framing and development of resources for teaching history. Its practical tips will help teachers who seek to the U.S. Constitution. interest students in history in ways that assist in fulfilling the requirements of Fellowships pay the actual cost of tuition, fees, a standards-based history curriculum. Author Michael Yell points out that books, and room and board. “strategies that get students discussing, thinking and interacting with the con- For information and to download an application, visit tent are invaluable for helping them learn and understand that content.” www.jamesmadison.gov 040102 Price $22.00/NCSS members $14.00 General inquiries can be sent to [email protected], or call, 1-800-525-6928 Order toll free 9am–5pm ET: 1 800 683-0812 James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation S OCIAL E DUCATION 178 student audiences and stimulate animated Books on Latin American Film questions and discussion. The outpouring of world-class films from Latin America Susan Denver, Celluloid Nationalism and Other Melodramas: From Post in recent years and their availability in the Revolutionary Mexico to Fin de Siglo Mexamérica. Albany, N.Y.: State University of United States provide excellent sources. New York Press, 2003. Central Station, Pijote and the previously Stephen Hart, A Companion to Latin American Film. Woodbridge, UK; Rochester, mentioned City of God are recent produc- N.Y.: Tamesis, 2004. (Contains excellent critical synopses of major Latin American tions from Brazil, depicting daily struggle in films.) Brazilian cities, that have met with consider- able success in U.S. theaters, as have Cuban Joanne Herschfield and David R. Maciel, eds., Mexico’s Cinema: A Century of Film productions like the depiction of a gay man and Film Makers. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 1999. in Havana in Strawberries and Chocolate. The Official Story from Argentina chron- John King, Magical Reels: A History of Cinema in Latin America, 2nd ed. London icles that country’s military rule and the and New York: Verso, 2000. (An excellent introduction and basic text on Latin American cinema.) Dirty War through the eyes of a mother who unknowingly adopted the daughter Michael T. Martin, ed. New Latin American Cinema. Detroit, Ill.: Wayne State of a young woman the military had “dis- University Press, 1997. appeared.” It complements the U.S. film Missing (staring Jack Lemmon and Sissy Chon A. Noriega, ed. Visible Nations: Latin American Cinema and Video. Spacek), the story of a young American Minneapolis, Minn.:University of Minnesota Press, 2000. fatally caught in the bloody September 11, 1973, coup in Chile. Ann Marie Stock, ed., Framing Latin American Cinema: Contemporary Critical To increase knowledge and understanding Perspectives. Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota Press, 1997. of Latin American cinema and the films it has produced, educators can consult several EISENHOWER ACADEMY An Institute for Teachers • July 8–13, 2007 The week long academy is held at Gettysburg College in historic Gettysburg, PA.