Watching a foreign language film is a fantastic way to improve your language skills and immerse yourself in a different cultural perspective. But with so many films to choose from, where do you start?<\/p>\n
In the second of two blogs, our language teachers recommend a great movie for learners of their languages to watch. So grab your popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the film!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On his wedding anniversary, Yusef and his daughter, Yasmine, set out in the West Bank to buy his wife a gift. Between the soldiers, segregated roads and checkpoints, how easy would it be to go shopping?<\/p>\n
The film premiered at the Festival du Court Metrage de Clermont-Ferrand 2020 (Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival) and won the Audience Award for Best Film. It went on to have its North American premiere at Cleveland International Film Festival, where it won the Jury Award for Best Live Action Short. In 2021, the film also won the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film.<\/p>\n
Watch the trailer<\/a><\/p>\n How to watch the film: Available on Netflix.<\/p>\n (Khalil Estaytieh)<\/p>\n This beautiful and feel-good movie tells the story of Leonardo, a blind teenager searching for independence. His everyday life, the relationship with his best friend, Giovana, and the way he sees the world changes completely with the arrival of Gabriel.<\/p>\n This movie is great for learners of Portuguese regardless of the level they are. It's well-paced and not too full of slang. Try watching this movie in Portuguese with English subtitles to learn new vocabulary and improve your intonation and listening skills.<\/p>\n Watch the trailer<\/a><\/p>\n How to watch the film: DVD available from the University of Bath Library, Level 2, or online on Amazon Prime.<\/p>\n (Ana Bertolossi)<\/p>\n \u2018The Great Passage\u2019 is a 2013 Japanese drama film directed by Y\u016bya Ishii. It is based on the best-selling novel by Shion Miura.<\/p>\n Majime is employed in the sales department of a publishing company and has proved to be unsuccessful in his role and a very awkward co-worker. He is then talent-spotted to be a dictionary editor and thus the journey to create a new and unique dictionary begins with Majime working with a team.<\/p>\n Through watching this film, you will understand the Japanese title of this film \u821f\u3092\u7de8\u3080 (translation: \u2018to weave\u2019 a boat) and also the Japanese title of the fictional dictionary \u5927\u6d77\u6e21 (translation: to voyage on the ocean).<\/p>\n The premise of this film is that words exist because people want to express their feelings. Thanks to the internet, humans are able to find the answers to so much, but this film makes us reflect on the importance of language.<\/p>\n If you are a dictionary editor, how do you explain the concept of \u2018being in love\u2019?<\/p>\n Watch the trailer<\/a><\/p>\n How to watch the film: Buy from Amazon Japanese Prime<\/a>.<\/p>\n (Satoko Suzui)<\/p>\n \u2018Willkommen bei den Hartmanns\u2019 is set in Munich in 2016. Germany has welcomed over one million migrants, escaping economic hardship and war. Against this backdrop, writer and director Simon Verhoeven created this critically acclaimed, very funny, politically-charged satire and box office hit.<\/p>\n Chaos and disruption ensue when a young Nigerian refugee joins the Hartmann family. As director Verhoeven noted, although the film is first and foremost a comedy, he hoped it might reduce tension surrounding the refugee crisis in Germany. And that perhaps, like the Hartmann family, the country as a whole will resolve its problems and find peace.<\/p>\n Watch the trailer<\/a><\/p>\n How to watch the film: Rent or watch on Prime Video.<\/p>\n (Moira Govan)<\/p>\n \u2018American Dreams in China\u2019 is a 2013 comedy drama directed by Peter Chan. The fictional story is loosely based on the founding and history of New Oriental English, one of the biggest English language training institutions in China.<\/p>\n Three young men meet at a prestigious university in Beijing in the 1980s against the background of the craze of Chinese studying abroad. All have American dreams but are treated by fate differently and they end up running a language school together, encountering various ups and downs over a period of 30 years.<\/p>\n The school stands out because of its unique teaching style, and it helps a lot of youngsters to realise their dreams of studying abroad. The narrow understanding of success in the film has been criticised by some. Friendship and love is another important theme of the film.<\/p>\n Watch the trailer<\/a><\/p>\n (Ying Gao)<\/p>\n Set in Cornwall, this film sees struggling fisherman Martin Ward (played by Edward Rowe) come into conflict with the Leigh family, out-of-towners who have bought his family home in a picturesque Cornish fishing village.<\/p>\n The tensions in the film are offset by wry comic moments, and the social observation in the film is very sharp.<\/p>\n The style in which the film is made make it unique in many ways. Director Mark Jenkin filmed on a silent camera and dubbed the actors\u2019 voices in post, giving the film a strange other-worldly and timeless feel. He also hand processed the film, which took considerable time, and this gives the film a grainy and scratchy texture that makes it feel ageless.<\/p>\n There is a very British feel to this film, but the themes are universal: rich and poor; community versus market forces; tradition versus modernity. Keep an eye on this brilliant and innovative director!<\/p>\n Watch the trailer<\/a><\/p>\n How to watch the film: Imdb.com<\/a><\/p>\n (Malcolm Skene)<\/p>\n \u2018The Secret in Their Eyes\u2019 (El secreto de sus ojos) is a 2009 Argentinian crime drama by Juan Jos\u00e9 Campanella. This film is about the pursuit by a retired policeman of a brutal rape and murder case that he investigated in the past.<\/p>\n Benjam\u00edn decides to write a novel about this unresolved case and visits his former superior, Irene, to discuss a draft of his book. What follows is an obsessive search for the truth, not only for the case, but for his unresolved emotions for Irene.<\/p>\n Watch the trailer<\/a><\/p>\n How to watch the film: DVD from the University of Bath Library, Level 2, or online on IMDb. Watch the original 2009 film, not the 2015 remake.<\/p>\n (Asun Solano)<\/p>\n \u2018La Belle \u00c9poque\u2019 is a 2019 romantic comedy-drama directed by Nicolas Bedos. The cast is impressive and includes Fanny Ardant, who is well known from Mika\u2019s video \u2018Elle me dit'.<\/p>\n After spending many years together, Victor and Marianne have grown apart and their marriage is in crisis. When Victor is offered the opportunity to \u2018travel back in time\u2019 and relive his first encounter with Marianne, he hires a sophisticated re-enactment company to help him do that.<\/p>\n Quirky and witty, \u2018La Belle \u00c9poque\u2019 is truly unique, but you can\u2019t help thinking of \u2018The Truman Show\u2019 with the aesthetic qualities of \u2018Am\u00e9lie\u2019.<\/p>\n Watch the trailer<\/a><\/p>\n How to watch the film: Online on Amazon Prime Video, Curzon, BFI Player.<\/p>\n (Anne-Catherine Mechler)<\/p>\n There are lots of ways to watch films in the language you\u2019re learning, and you can often choose the type of subtitles you prefer. Many streaming platforms offer this. If you add closed captions in the foreign language, this will help you make connections between what you hear and what you see!<\/p>\n Film festivals or independent cinemas are also a great way to catch international films, for example the Bath Film Festival<\/a> and The Little Theatre Cinema<\/a> in Bath.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Watching a foreign language film is a fantastic way to improve your language skills and immerse yourself in a different cultural perspective. But with so many films to choose from, where do you start? In the second of two blogs,...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1438,"featured_media":941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[59],"tags":[229,228],"class_list":["post-940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign-languages","tag-foreign-language-films","tag-independent-learning"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/12\/dog-watching-film.png","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":938,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2022\/12\/05\/language-film-club-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":940,"position":0},"title":"Language film club 1","author":"Kerry Vevers","date":"December 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Watching a foreign language film is a fantastic way to improve your language skills and immerse yourself in a different cultural perspective. But with so many films to choose from, where do you start? In the first of two blogs, our language teachers recommend a great movie for learners of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Foreign languages"","block_context":{"text":"Foreign languages","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/language-skills\/foreign-languages\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A dog wearing silly sunglasses sitting in a movie theatre holding a tub of popcorn and a drink.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/12\/dog-eating-popcorn.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/12\/dog-eating-popcorn.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/12\/dog-eating-popcorn.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/12\/dog-eating-popcorn.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":744,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2021\/12\/14\/5-great-reasons-to-learn-arabic\/","url_meta":{"origin":940,"position":1},"title":"5 great reasons to learn Arabic","author":"Kerry Vevers","date":"December 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"To mark World Arabic Language Day on 18 December, Teaching Fellow Khalil Estaytieh offers some insight into Arabic and why it's such a useful language to learn. 1. Arabic is the 5th most commonly spoken native language in the world Arabic is the official language of over 20 countries and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Foreign languages"","block_context":{"text":"Foreign languages","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/language-skills\/foreign-languages\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dictionary with the word 'Arabic' highlighted.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/12\/arabic.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/12\/arabic.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/12\/arabic.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/12\/arabic.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":894,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2022\/10\/11\/learning-a-language-with-dyslexia-10-tips-to-unlock-the-barriers\/","url_meta":{"origin":940,"position":2},"title":"Learning a language with dyslexia - 10 tips to unlock the barriers","author":"Kerry Vevers","date":"October 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"To mark the recent Dyslexia Awareness Week, Languages Course Leader Carmen Schembri Wismayer offers some strategies to help students with dyslexia if they\u2019re learning a foreign language. You might be surprised to learn that, according to the British Dyslexia Association, 10% of the population are believed to have dyslexia. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Foreign languages"","block_context":{"text":"Foreign languages","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/language-skills\/foreign-languages\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sketch of a human brain with post-it notes above it spelling out the word 'dyslexia'. There are speech bubbles in the image saying 'hola!', 'hallo!', 'bonjour' and 'n\u01d0 h\u01ceo!'.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/10\/dyslexia.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/10\/dyslexia.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/10\/dyslexia.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/10\/dyslexia.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1063,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2023\/09\/20\/european-day-of-languages-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":940,"position":3},"title":"European Day of Languages 2023","author":"Daisy Zhu","date":"September 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"How much do you know about European languages? To mark European Day of Languages on 26 September, here are some interesting facts to test your knowledge. How many languages are there in Europe? It really depends on how we define language. As a popular adage puts it, \"a language is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Employability"","block_context":{"text":"Employability","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/employability\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The word 'Hello' written in a variety of different European languages.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/09\/EDL.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/09\/EDL.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/09\/EDL.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/09\/EDL.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":700,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2021\/09\/24\/european-day-of-languages\/","url_meta":{"origin":940,"position":4},"title":"European Day of Languages","author":"Kerry Vevers","date":"September 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"To mark the 20th anniversary of the European Day of Languages on 26 September, the Skills Centre's Head of Foreign Languages and Italian national, Isabella Stefanutti, shares some fun facts about European languages and why language-learning is a fantastic skill to develop.\u00a0 Can you read this? Aoccdrnig to a rceearsh\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Employability"","block_context":{"text":"Employability","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/employability\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"European Day of Languages logo representing the overlapping profiles of multicoloured heads taliking.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/09\/EDL_Logo1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/09\/EDL_Logo1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/09\/EDL_Logo1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2021\/09\/EDL_Logo1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1688,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2025\/09\/19\/false-friends-when-languages-play-tricks-on-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":940,"position":5},"title":"False Friends: When Languages Play Tricks on Us","author":"Daisy Zhu","date":"September 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the most entertaining (and sometimes embarrassing) aspects of learning another language is encountering false friends: words that look or sound familiar but carry different meanings. Every year on 26 September, we celebrate the European Day of Languages, a chance to reflect on the joys of multilingualism. This year,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Foreign languages"","block_context":{"text":"Foreign languages","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/language-skills\/foreign-languages\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"image with words \"European Day of Languages 26 Sepember\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/09\/European-Day-of-Languages-2025.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/09\/European-Day-of-Languages-2025.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/09\/European-Day-of-Languages-2025.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/09\/European-Day-of-Languages-2025.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1438"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Brazilian Portuguese: The Way He Looks (Hoje n\u00e3o quero voltar sozinho)<\/h2>\n
Japanese: The Great Passage (\u821f\u3092\u7de8\u3080, Fune o Amu)<\/h2>\n
German: Welcome to Germany (Willkommen bei den Hartmanns)<\/h2>\n
Chinese: American Dreams in China\u300a\u4e2d\u56fd\u5408\u4f19\u4eba\u300b<\/h2>\n
English: Bait<\/h2>\n
Spanish: The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos)<\/h2>\n
French: La Belle \u00c9poque<\/h2>\n