At the International Cultural Center, movies are not just forentertainment. Instead, the ICC utilizes movies to educate studentsabout other cultures.
The ICC hosts a movie night every Friday, showcasing a new movieeach week.
Maureen Hewitt, director of the ICC, said they usually showforeign films with English subtitles, but sometimes American moviesare shown with no subtitles if there is a powerful foreignelement.
“We are trying to represent everyone as best we can,” Hewittsaid.
Dinorah Balthazar, coordinator of the ICC movie night, said theevent is a great opportunity for international students to meetdiverse people.
“I try to be as diverse as possible and choose movies thatrepresent each culture and region,” Balthazar said.
Although not many American students attend, Hewitt said foreignfilms are very different than American films, and she thinksAmerican students would enjoy seeing them.
“Everyone has an appetite for movies. It is a universal art formthat you can’t quite overdo,” Hewitt said.
Balthazar said the movies help students understand culturesunlike their own. She said they are trying to eliminate stereotypesand represent everyone.
Hewitt said they welcome suggestions for new movies to show andchange their format of viewing depending on the type of movie. Shesaid sometimes the group will discuss the movie, while other timesit may be too powerful and require silence.
Balthazar said international movies are hard to find becausemost video stores do not carry many movies about diverse cultures.She said European movies are easy to find, but African, Caribbeanand Asian movies are not as plentiful.
However, Balthazar said she does her best to find differentmovies.
Hewitt said the movies are there for the experience and studentscan take what they want from the night.
“The movies give people a bird’s-eye-view [of other cultures],”Balthazar said. “We want to help people understand each other.”
Hewitt said movie night is open to the public and allinternational students. She said the movie, popcorn and drinks areserved free of charge.