These seven movies will take you on a journey around the world
I’ve heard from some of our great editors from Sweden, Turkey, Korea and Morocco, who’ve picked their favorite films that proudly represent their cultures
I spent most of my teenage years taking acting classes and being part of an amateur theatrical group. In order to inspire the actor’s apprentices to create new sketches, the troupe director would recommend us songs, books and movies.
Somedays, I would skip afternoon classes (ok, not too proud of that) to go to the movies as part of my acting assignments. In my hometown in Brazil, there is this tiny street movie theater called “Cine Arte”, where mostly foreign indie movies are screened.
At first, it was strange to watch actors speaking in languages that were neither my mother tongue, Portuguese, nor English, but then the curiosity of learning about other cultures eventually grew on me. Whether about historical facts or current events, a film can be the perfect medium to present the essence of a people in the form of art.
You know that at Unbabel we love when our amazing community members share their insights and tips, so I asked some of our editors which movies from their home countries represent their culture the most!
Are you ready to take a quick virtual tour through the world of the big screen and discover some interesting cultural traits?
Sweden — Overcoming prejudice with equality and fairness
Swedish editor Anna picked the movie Min Papa Marianne, from 2019. “It is based on a true story about a small-town vicar that decides that he finally wants to come out as transgender.” Anna highlights that the way the community reacts to the main character’s transition describes the Sweden’s essence: “Not with shock, fear, or disgust, not with moral teachings or religious condemnation. But with the sentiment that is so deeply rooted in us — equality and fairness”.
Like Anna, our editor Pernilla brought up a story about fighting against prejudice. Sami Blood (2016) is about the Sami, an indigenous people in the northern parts of the Nordic countries, from whom many people in the North of Sweden are descended. “It is a strong movie. The story is from around 1930 and tells us about racism and how one girl broke all her ties to her people to get better education […] this movie makes you think of how we treat others according to heritage and about our own prejudice.”
Turkey — Fighting injustice in the past and in the present
Moving from Scandinavia to the Anatolian peninsula, Gülnihal tells me that all the movies that truly represent Turkish culture were made by two directors: Yılmaz Güney (1970s-80s) and Nuri Bilge Ceylan (1990s-today). “Yılmaz Güney’s films are all tauntingly real and perfectly represent Eastern Turkey. Nuri Bilge Ceylan, on the other hand, uses both the East and the West and mingles them. The interaction between his characters reveal the values, beliefs and point of views of different groups of people from various social backgrounds”,Gülniha tells me.
Despite causing much controversy and being banned in Turkey until 1999, Yol, from director Yılmaz Güney, won numerous honours, including the Palme d’Or at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. Yol, which means ‘path’ in Turkish, tells the stories of five political prisoners given a week’s home leave.
“I am from Turkey and we are known for our hospitality and mercy”, says another of our editors, Furkan. He suggests the movie Ayla (2017), based on a war veteran named “Süleyman Dilbirliği” who was sent to Korea when the country needed help from the Turkish army in 1950. “When I see that movie, I can feel what Süleyman feels as it is in our culture to care for the innocent”.
South Korea — A socioeconomic gap in a fast-changing society
Editor Kyungsub chose the 2020’s Academy Award winner Parasite as the perfect movie to represent present-day South Korea. “The film shows current issues in Korea like a high rate of youth unemployment, the demands of pursuing higher education, and the crisis of home affordability.”
I’ve had the chance to watch Parasite a couple of times myself, and what I can add to Kyungsub’s quote is that the plot twist is so insanely well built that you don’t want to miss a second of it! Besides that, it made me think about how the hustle culture we’ve been nurturing can be destructive to modern society.
Morocco — Cultural blend and language diversity
Moroccan editor Abdelhamid presents us with a beautiful coming-of-age story. Le Grand Voyage (2004) is a road trip movie about a son and a father embarking on a religious trip to Mecca. Abdelhamid says the flick “will help you to embrace the deeply rooted Moroccan culture, which is a mixture of Andalusian and Arabo-Islamic ones.”
The movie explores various generational differences and cultural blends, for instance which the teenager son speaks only in French to his father, the latter chooses to speak only in Arabic.
Brazil — All together: for better and for worse
Of course I couldn’t end this article without sharing my pick with you. Brazilians are known for being cheerful and positive, but don’t get fooled by the smiles: behind them there is resilience. In Bacurau (2019) we see a small town community fighting with all their resources as their village is being attacked by a group of foreigners.
The film is full of metaphors which, for me, define Brazilians: a people that overcome all adversities without losing their joy of living.
Have you seen these movies? Do you have any suggestions to share? Let me know in the comments section below!
