With the global population growing, it may be surprising to think that the world is actually becoming smaller. Rapidly developing technology, and its infinite possibilities, means that the other side of the world is not so far away. The most important of these advances is cinema, a medium with the power to traverse cultural boundaries, entertaining as it charges forward.
Film is truly a cultural exchange; in the UK we experience the excitement of Bollywood, the thrill of Japanese film, the drama of French pictures and a plethora of other World Cinema. Likewise, Hollywood film and British cinema are transported around the earth, constantly in dialogue with other film industries.
Bollywood, described by Forbes.com as “the world’s most popular movie industry”, is the Mumbai based Indian film world. Churning out more than 800 films a year, Bollywood is growing phenomenally, with a global audience including a vast proportion of the UK.
Particularly in the UK, Bollywood has found its way onto Channel 4, which frequently airs world cinema and has a Shah Rukh Khan season in the pipeline. Popular movies such as Bride and Prejudice and Slumdog Millionaire draw upon the Bollywood characteristics: forbidden romances, breathtaking choreography, and an array of colour coupled with enchanting soundtracks.
Of course, other countries are as much a part of World Cinema as India. Pictures such as Volver (Spain), La Vie En Rose (France) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Taiwan) to name but a few, have found tremendous success in the UK.
The importance of World Cinema is clear from the prestige of the film festivals abroad such as Cannes and from the exclusivity of “Best Foreign Language Film” at the Academy Awards.So whether you know it or not, world cinema is very much a part of our film watching experience and has permeated into popular culture. Expansive and increasingly available, world cinema gives a fresh perspective to our Hollywood-saturated viewing experiences.