Much Ado About Culture: The Interplay of Language & Culture Around the World

The following are a collection of short student made films on cultures from around the world. This special project was completed as part of their assessment in my class titled Anthropology Matters! over a period of three (3) months! Students were asked to explore the concept of culture, language and mind and in doing so they were assigned the task of creating an all new, never before seen or heard of short film on their chosen culture! Students drew upon various sources and explored the concepts being presented in class. Their only limitation was their imagination! The purpose of this project was also designed to help dispel negative stereotypes or at the very least, contextualize them. By allowing students to take responsibility for their learning, they in turn have been empowered to help teach others! We hope that you enjoy these short films... you never know, you might learn something new!

- Mario R.J. Corbin

Singapore is one of the rare independent city-states in the world. It prides itself in trying to become an autonomous and modern city where anybody can live in harmony, no matter the religion or culture. From this city is a father of a 7 years old child that has no knowledge of his roots. One summer night, the young boy cannot resist his own curiosity about his origins. When his father comes to put him to sleep, he asks his father about Singapore. The father, happy to transmit his roots to his son, embarks on a nostalgic journey in the “Lion City”. He goes back in time to show his son the history of colonization, war and independence he was himself taught when he was still in Singapore. He explains how the country is a haven for all religions and cultures; that it takes pride in its multiculturalism. He teaches his son the many peculiar linguistic practices such as the use of Singlish in the everyday life of Singaporean citizens. He explains the many religions and the never-ending celebrations inside the city. Last, but not least, he teaches his son the phenomena that is street food. He explains the importance it has for the city and the value of its multicultural influences.

Tibet: A Burning Desire for Freedom is a short film discussing the cultural genocide occurring in Tibet. The opening scene is footage of the famous Potala Palace of Lhasa, along with other footage of the country depicting a calm political climate and a generally happy lifestyle for the inhabitants of the country. Next, a nameless narrator enters the scene accompanied by three speechless characters that he mistakes for nomads travelling through the country. After asking the “nomads” to share some details on their culture and being met with blank stares, the narrator takes the lead and informs the audience on various aspects of Tibetan life. The information presented is overwhelmingly positive, and is the type of knowledge one could acquire from doing a simple Google search. The narrator does not provide any cultural depth, only superficial qualities of the region and population. The narrator then reveals the information that everything he has been saying is only a half-truth. Returning on every point he has previously mentioned, the true Tibetan situation is exposed in all of its horror and injustice. Challenging us further, the reality of self-immolation protests is discussed and a newsreel is shown on the topic. Resistors of the occupying Chinese state are seen running through crowded streets burning to death as a statement against the injustice of their situation. When the footage returns to the narrator, he is seen lit by a large flame but remaining calm and serene. In a last effort to get my point across, he quotes the 14th Dalai Lama in saying “[t]he Chinese government wants [us] to say that for many centuries Tibet has been part of China. Even if [we] make that statement, many people would just laugh. And [our] statement will not change past history. History is history” (Liu, 2008). The scene fades the black until the only thing left is the flickering flame- the internal flame ignited in Tibetan’s seeking peace.

When talking about South Korea, one may hear many things. Some say it's "stuck in the 50s" while others say it's some sort of "futuristic land". What's the truth? Can such statements even be measured? Mathieu, the narrator, guides the viewers into making their own opinion by discussing many aspects that are a part of South Korea's culture. By looking at its legends, arts, conflicts, politics, human rights problems, religions and popular culture, the viewers will be able to appreciate and understand a little bit more this rich culture. This documentary-like video is accompanied by visuals that help in the understanding of the topics at hand, ranging from visual supports to quirky animations.

Living with the Past and Future: A Maori Reality 

By William & Phillip Dupont and Raphaël Simard

The video, Living with the Past and Future: A Maori Reality, is the journey of a young journalist named William Dupont, who is traveling all the way to New Zealand in order to find responses to his questions. His journey begins at the University of Auckland, New-Zealand, where he is going to meet Amiri, a young maori historian. Amari will explain how the European’s arrival in New-Zealand affected the maori tribe and culture. After his interview with Amiri, William will meet Te Ariki, a maori student of the university. In this interview, Te Ariki is talking about how it is to be a maori in a modern environment. William will end his journey in the village of Ngati Ngahere with T.K. Maxwell, one of the only true maori still alive. He will talk about how the Maori tribes were persecuted in the past and how they are treated today.

Italy - More Than Just Pizza

By Corentin Messina, Charles-Étienne Belleau, Camilo Rangel

Culture is and has always been a very big factor in the comprehension of mankind. You want to understand people? You need to know their backgrounds, but also their culture. This is the main objective of our video! In our short film, we present Italian Culture in an instructive way, with a software named PowToon. We aboard many factors of Italian Culture. We start by explaining their geographical situation and evolution by talking of their neighbours, their political ties whether amical or not and their physical geography into account. We then discuss from the Roman Empire to the 21st century but we put special emphasis on their history at the beginning of the formation of the Italian State during the 18th century through Victor Emmanuel II, their King. We also explain the flag of this country, because the flag is quite important, it is usually a great object of pride in a culture. We then continue to look at their culture by looking at other fundamentals of culture: the arts. We first start by talking about art itself by looking at very important artistic and historical Italian figures like Leonardo Da Vinci and take closer look at some of his greatest pieces like the Vitruvian man. We then jump to another form of art, the cuisine. Italian cuisine is very different depending of the regions, it is what we tried to emphasis in our short film. We then jump again to music where we tried to give the viewer a complete view of the Italian musical spectrum by looking at throw traditional music to modern music like pop music. Also we talk about four males and two females singers. We then finally took a look at the Italian way of life and how it changed since the beginning of the 21st century. Italy’s traditions are not in constant movement, and haven’t changed very greatly through the decades. What have changed is the composition of family and the demography of the country. The demography is directly link with the fact of having a modern way of life with old traditions and having a patriarchal way of thinking. People use to throw objects by the window at New Year’s Eve, sometime their wife. In the end, our only hope is that we managed to give a complete and detailed appreciation of the Italian culture since, as a culture it deserves to be treated with care and respect.

I Spy: The Azande 

By Ariane Simoneau

This is the story of a young boy that starts to volunteer for humanitarian assistance. He became friend with a volunteer full of experience that already know the culture were they are going to give help to people. The young boy called Anthony seems really curious about the Azande’s culture, and the more his new friend Edward talks about them, the more he wants to learn about them. Doing their trip with a grumpy pilot called George, they are in a helicopter to go to the Southern Sudan. Edward soon talk about his limp when George felt the need to say that he doesn’t see the point of losing anything as precious as that to some savages. Then starts an argument between the two. Edward explained to Anthony why calling the Azande savages was actually a misconception. A group of people with culture make a civilization in itself and so the only argument necessary is to say that the Azande do have a culture. Once there, Anthony is quite chocked by some of their ways of doing things. Passing from witchcraft, to HIV/AIDS, to polygamy, there is not that much that makes the Zande uncomfortable. Anthony see a couple arguing about a second wife, and a witchdoctor dancing a ritual in the path. He then receives an album done by Edward the first time he came to help the Azande, and that they gave him the nickname Ture, a trickster in their culture that breaks social norms. Some pictures are old, and goes to our present day. Such a good gift from Edward thinks Anthony, and certainly what a great experience this volunteering gave him.

A Foreigner’s Journey in Japan

By Dania Paradis-Bouffard, Eve Dutil & Adrianna Torres

A Foreigner’s Journey in Japan is the story of a Canadian exchange student that lives in Japan for a year. This documentary shows her experience through the different people she meets such as a Japanese family, a Buddhist priest, a Japanese student and much more. Moreover, the exchange student narrates her own experiences and it is through her explanations that we learn about the Japanese history and various Japanese traditions. The exchange student, Isabelle, finally returns home at the end of the month of January. With her newly found experiences, she mentions that she was changed by the culture that she came in contact with. She became more aware of this culture, but also more open minded, and it is a similar experience that is offered to the viewers through Isabelle’s narration of the events.