What are the memories of childhood that keep coming back to you? Oftentimes, they are of the first movie we saw. Movies are profound (and often intense) experiences for first-timers. Think back to your first visit to a cinema: whether it was a public screening or a private viewing at home, when the lights went out and the movie came up, you were alone in your own experience. This great gift of cinema helps create those memories that are so clearly affixed in our minds.
Now do you think that memory from your childhood, that cornerstone in the foundation of your life, influenced who you are today? If you’re were a kid in America in the 70s who turned on the Afterschool Specials on Wednesdays at 3:30pm when they were playing foreign films, chances are that is why you are tuning into KidConfidence and this blog today. And look at how similar things around us are to the 70s.
Cinema has always played a large part in the memory of our American society. Those 70s kids’ parents spent entire afternoons in the cinema for a nickel watching Betty Grable, Clark Gable and the stars of the 40s and 50s. Their parents remember the advent of the “Talkie.” No doubt, vivid memories of cinema days were passed on. But with so much media at our fingertips today, parents have to make more careful choices about providing the opportunities for those memories. What is the exposure that is going to make the lasting impression and perhaps plant seeds that continue to inspire your child as her or she progresses to adulthood?
International Cinema. There’s a lot out there, beautifully produced, with different paces, aesthetics, and styles of storytelling and in a different language from a different country. The viewing experience levels the playing field because we don’t have expectations for something foreign; therefore, we watch and allow the familiarity to surprise us and the fresh stuff to inform us about the world. The exposure to a foreign language early in life makes us more capable of learning a second and third language. Those of you who speak more than one language recognize the value of more than one vocabulary that allows us to find solutions in more than one source. If the roller coaster adventure ride of many films made for children today is too much for your thoughtful, introspective child (and you), consider a film that allows for discovery of the globe or to regard a different beauty, as an alternative to being chased or hyped-up into a superhero. At the same time, feel good that you’ll be planting a cornerstone memory that can do what it did for you: made you into a thoughtful citizen of the world.
My name is Katy Kavanaugh, I’m a 70s kid from San Francisco, I produce Screen 360: Films for Children of the World with a team of worldly people who want to see this next generation of children grow up with joy, wonder, and a world view and the ability to communicate with their international peers. We believe we can help that happen through the greater exchange of international stories for and about children told through cinema. Take look at our upcoming program in San Francisco, July 27-29 and Portland, August 4 and 5 on http://crush3r.com/pages;allevents. Watch for our PODCASTS here on Kidconfidence.com
Take a look at the interviews that Chris and Uta Ritke at 49sparks did earlier this month.