Some Foreign Film Recommendations

In light of Bong Joon-ho's newest film, Parasite, receiving near universal acclaim and being awarded Best Picture at the Academy Awards, I thought I'd capitalize a little bit with my 4th blog post and give some recommendations for my own personal favorite foreign films of recent years which I think should get more recognition than they do among general audiences. I believe that engaging in foreign cinema is a wonderful avenue to achieving higher cultural awareness, as well as a deeper appreciation for the art form, and so here's a little list of a few films that have inspired me over the years and really opened my eyes to the possibilities of storytelling. I do want to say first though, that my goal isn't to sound pretentious with any of this, that's the last thing I'd wish to do, all I want is just to share some of my personal favorite films and maybe provide you guys with some of your own new unique experiences if you choose to seek any of them out for yourselves. So yeah, have fun!

"Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films." - Bong Joon-ho

Du Levande, "You, the Living" (2007) (Swedish)
-Written and directed by Roy Andersson

Cidade de Deus, "City of God"  (2002) (Brazilian)
-Directed by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund, written by Braulio Mantovani

"Mommy" (2014) (French-Canadian)
-Written and directed by Xavier Dolan

"Amour" (2012) (French)
-Written and directed by Michael Haneke

Vals Im Bashir, "Waltz with Bashir" (2008) (Israeli)
-Written and directed by Ari Folman

Der Untergang, "Downfall" (2004) (German)
-Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, written by Bernd Eichinger

Akmareul boatda, "I Saw the Devil" (2010) (South Korean)
-Directed by Kim Jee-woon, written by Park Hoon-jung

Jagten, "The Hunt" (2012) (Danish)
-Directed by Thomas Vinterberg, written by Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm

Forushande, "The Salesman" (2016) (Persian)
-Written and directed by Asghar Farhadi

Y Tu Mama Tambien, "And Your Mom Too" (2001) (Mexican)
-Directed by Alfonso Cuaron, written by Alfonso and Carlos Cuaron