Hollywood is not the centre

If cinema can take us anywhere in the world, why do we choose to go to the same places?

Since streaming platforms have become the central mode of consuming movies, it’s become almost impossible to escape the algorithms telling us what to watch and what to watch next, and next, and next. The serendipity of picking up whatever movie’s available on the shelf at a video store has become a thing of the past as we find ourselves swallowed up by an unchanging pool of films based on what we’ve previously watched or what other users have apparently enjoyed.

In her book Reel to Real, bell hooks wrote that movies are the “perfect vehicle” for “border crossing”. Although this was a criticism of audiences using film to observe human differences without actually engaging with them, it’s valuable in recognising that cinema is fundamental to our knowledge of the world.

Hollywood and other major industries in the west have convinced us that if we’re looking for the best in cinema, we need not look any further than them. From the Oscars and Golden Globes to the BAFTAs, the UK and US have created a cyclical system of putting their own stories on a pedestal and then rewarding them for getting to that position.

I’d be lying if I said I’ve never been excited by some of the movies that get award season buzz. But it’s disappointing (and frustrating) that, apart from the few exceptions, movies originating beyond the west are more often than not side-lined to a single “international” or “foreign” category. As if five films can showcase the achievements of all cinema outside North America.

I’m reminded of a letter that Martin Scorsese — who’s quite the champion of what’s become known as “world cinema” — wrote to an editor of the New York Times:

I also like movies that tell a story, but is the American way the only way of telling stories? […] When the world is fragmenting into groups of intolerance, ignorance and hatred, film is a powerful tool to knowledge and understanding.

At the beginning of this year, I snatched up a promotion for the streaming service called Mubi, which prides itself on being not only a movie distributor but also a curator and cinema lover. With this small shift away from relying almost exclusively on Netflix for visual media, my movie-watching has changed entirely.

Experiencing stories from countries like Chad, Iran, and Sudan has not only challenged the limited perspectives that Hollywood offers but also highlighted the fact that every country has stories to tell.

Let’s celebrate them.

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