The Magic of Movies
By Lupe Fisch
In the Spanish department at DTS, one of our core goals is to impart an accurate and authentic sense of some of the myriad cultures that make up the Spanish-speaking world. One of our most powerful tools for this at all levels of instruction is film. In our courses, the phrase “watching a movie” is not associated with a passive day in class, where both students and the teacher can check out a little. Rather, students are provided with previewing activities and post-viewing tasks to help them explore and learn deeply from the content, the perspective, and the voices portrayed in everything they see. From Coco in Spanish 2 during the unit of celebrations and festivals, to critically acclaimed films like Guillermo del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone, an allegorical ghost story that helps advanced students explore the experience and long-ranging consequences of the Spanish Civil War, students analyze, reflect on and connect to the films they study in class. Furthermore, they learn and practice the skill of film analysis, which looks at how visual and sound components connect the storytelling goals of any movie, and which will prepare them well for similar work most will do when they go to college.
Our partnership with the Seattle Latino Film Festival has also helped us bring a broader range of voices to our students. We are happy that after a pandemic-related hiatus, we will again be hosting a screening for the festival this year. The festival works with local independent schools to bring teen-appropriate films and documentaries to schools at no charge and this year we are joining Lakeside, the Bush School, and University Prep in this project. We will be screening a heartwarming documentary written and directed by a young director chronicling her family’s experience with hearing loss. We also have the great fortune of having the director herself, Charo Mato, come to the screening to introduce her film and take student questions. The educational screenings are open to students and their families only and are free. Our screening will take place at 6:30 on Monday, October 10th in room 214. Our Spanish 4 students will be hosting and organizing the event. We encourage you and your students to join us for this enriching cultural opportunity.