Accented Cinema

1 Pages 291 Words

“The components of an accented style include the films visual style, narrative structure, character and character development, subject matter, theme, and plot, feeling of exile; the filmmaker’s biographical and sociocultural location; and the film’s mode of production, distribution, exhibition, and reception.” (Naficy p. 21) This quote as well as the rest of the article can be compared to the film calendar. Despite heavy accents and varied languages Calendar still displays emotions through tone, facial expressions and body language. Dialect is a distinct barrier for culture but the universal language of visual aspects shines through to convey some sort of understanding. Scenery and landscape tended to play a large role in the film. The visual language of film breaks most barriers of culture and the feeling of culture and distancing of differences is obvious.
In An Accented Cinema, Naficy offers an overview of the filmmaking of postcolonial, Third World, and other individuals living in the West. How their personal experiences of exile translate into cinema is an important part of Naficy’s article. Although the experience of exile varies greatly from one person to the next, accented films themselves show similarities, from their emphasis on political agency to their concern with identity and transgression of identity. The author discusses these topics while considering the specific histories of individuals and groups that produce different experiences, institutions, and modes of cultural production and consumption.
Comparing accented films to Hollywood films, Naficy calls them "accented." Their accent results from the displacement of the filmmakers, their alternative production modes, and their style. Accented cinema is an emerging genre, one that requires new sets of viewing skills on the part of audiences. Its importance continues to grow in terms variety, cultural diversity, and social impact....