World Cultures

World Cultures

Modern Cities and Technologies --- Africa --- The Caribbean Area --- Asia --- India --- China

Modern Cities and Technologies

The best of MavNeil / Lehrer (Explaining Globalization) 無字幕，英文發音 (44 min.) 070.4/G562/G562/W052118V	Explaining globalization is a simple collection of interviews and pseudo- debates about globalization. It is well made, however, don't expect too much. The interviewees are very insightful and they do make strong points, but there isn't enough time to really "explain" anything. For example, Hernando De Soto's interview does not even begin to scratch the surface on the issue of property rights in developing and former communist countries, which he considers crucial for their economic development. One gets a better picture by reading his book, "The Mystery of Capital," without out spending as much money.
Glowing in the Dark (Mattew Versteeg & Pearl Casetey) (Blue Plate Production: 1997) MV 070.1 V565 VRe	About the history of neon lights in cities. Video Visits brings the world into your home, in glorious color, with narration and music. Experience the beauty and grandeur of the world's greatest cities and countries and learn about their people, culture, and history. Entertaining and education, each program in the Video Travel Library is perfect for travelers and would-be travelers of all ages.
Emerging Powers EV900014M01	This is a series of 4 videos of 50 minutes each: China, Brazil, Mexico and India. Done by The Wall Street Journal, these tapes have an obvious market/financial bias, but they are a good introduction to these countries. Students like them since they are interested in money, but the no subtitles cause a problem since they have trouble understanding some of the accents. (Dr. Marguerite Connor).
Emerging Powers-China (4-1) 無字幕,英文發音 VRE/709/020MO1	With 1.2 billion citizens on the brink of transformation to a capitalist society. Communist China is the fastest growing economy in the world. By some estimates, it will surpass the U.S. to become the biggest economy on earth early in the 21^st century. But can repressive China, land of Mao and the agrarian commune, really leapfrog into the modern industrial world?
Emerging Powers--India (4-2) 無字幕,英文發音 VRE/709/020MO1	The second largest country in the world, India has a large industrial base, nuclear energy, and a government determined to enact market reforms. But after 40 years of socialism, protectionism and bureaucracy, can this nation of 900 million people march to the beat of the free market drummer?
Emerging Powers-Mexico (4-3) 無字幕,英文發音 VRE/709/020MO1	With vast resources, a new generation of U.S. trained managers and a large, young population, Mexico was Wall Street's darling of the emerging markets. But a series of crises led to brutal economic collapse. Will Mexico ever regain the world's confidence?
Emerging Powers-Brazil (4-4) 無字幕,英文發音 VRE/709/020MO1	In many ways, Brazil is already an economic power. It has the largest economy in Latin America, is the world's largest producer of orange juice, has the world's largest iron ore mine, and is the world's fastest-growing computer market. But with a long history of inflation and corruption, will the perennial "country of the future" finally live up to its potential?

Back to top

Africa

Hotel Rwanda (Terry George) (color, 122 min) (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, 2006) 791.43 G347h DVDe W051475V	As his country descends into madness, five-star-hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina(Cheadle) sets out to save his family. But when he sees that the world will not intervene in the massacre of minority Tutsis, he finds the courage to open his hotel to over 1,200 refugees. Now, with a rabid militia at the gates, he has only his wits and words to help keep them alive another hour...another day...
Liberia: An Uncivil War (Jonathan Stack) 　　 DVD eng/ 070.1 S775	"Liberia, a nation burdened by its past. America, a nation with no memory at all." In Liberia, the summer of 2003 was pure insanity. A rebel army attempts to overthrow a government run by an indicted war criminal. Two armies engage in the final battle of a decade long civil war. Hundreds of innocent civilians die from mortar shells launched from afar and thousands more suffer hunger while the soldiers, mostly teenagers, keep the capital city under siege. The nation prays that America, the world's sole superpower, will put an end to the violence. Conceived in Washington in the early 1800s, its constitution written at Harvard, its founding fathers freed slaves who returned to Africa, Liberia is the one country in the world worthy of the title, Made in America. By the year 2000, Liberia, once considered the gem of Africa, was ranked last in the world for quality of life.
Monday's Girls (Ngozi Onwurah) 　 DVD eng/ 070.1 O58	Monday's Girls explores the conflict between modern individualism and traditional communities in today's Africa through the eyes of two young Waikiriki women from the Niger delta. Although both come from leading families in the same large island town, Florence looks at the iria women's initiation ceremony as an honor, while Azikiwe, who has lived in the city for ten years, sees it as an indignity. Ngozi Onwurah, director of such feminist classics as Coffee Coloured Children and Body Beautiful, herself an Anglo-Nigerian, turns a wry but sympathetic eye on the cross-cultural confusions.
Witches in Exile (Allison Berg) DVD eng/ 070.1 B493	In Ghana, women accused of witchcraft are torn from their families and banished to isolated "witch villages." This film follows accused witches through their daily struggle to survive in the Kukuo Witches Camp in Northern Ghana. As government agencies attempt to abolish this age-old tradition, these women find themselves caught between their society's deeply rooted beliefs and its drive toward modernization. WITCHES IN EXILE captures a country at a dramatic and emotional crossroads.
Ezra (Newton I. Aduaka) DVD eng/791.43 Ad191	Ezra is the first film to give an African perspective on the disturbing phenomenon of abducting child soldiers into the continent's recent civil wars. Ezra is structured around the week-long questioning of a 16 year old boy, Ezra, before a version of the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, created in Sierra Leone in 2002 in the wake of its decade long civil war. This hearing is then inter-cut with chronological flashbacks to pivotal moments during Ezra's ten years in the rebel faction which made him who he is.

The Caribbean Area

Caribbean Music and Dance

(Color, 25 mins)

781.62 M379 1997

Folk music and dance from Honduras, Grenada, Jamaica and Haiti.

Asia

Mysteries of Egypt (埃及秘辛)

(DVD, Color, 60mins., 1999, English no subtitles, National Geographic)

932 G761 Ve

傳奇名演員奧瑪雪瑞夫於片中飾演一位通曉古埃及文明的祖父，他以迷人的述說故事方式，引領孫女探索文明傑作－金字塔、神廟、圖坦王陵及其陪葬的珍寶…本片由國家地理卓越的攝影師群，透過令人屏息的IMAX拍攝手法，讓您親體在八層樓高電影螢幕上放映影片的精細與完美！片尾並附上30分鐘的特別節目，真實記錄「埃及秘辛」的製作過程，深入了解現代電影工作者最艱難的挑戰！

The Conscience of Nhem En (Steven Okazaki)

DVD eng/791.43/O41/

An intimate look at Cambodia 30 years after the end of the Khmer Rouge's reign.

かもめ食堂

Kamome Diner

海鷗食堂

DVD jan/791.43 8854

芬蘭的首都赫爾辛基是個風光如畫的臨海城市，當中有一所由日本女性開設的日式食堂「海鷗食堂」。店主兼廚師是一位中年日本女子幸江，她以簡單美味的日本傳統食品「飯團」作為餐廳的招牌菜。這家奇特的店吸引了不少路人進來一探究竟，可卻總是沒人願意坐下來吃點東西。店主沙榭希望以最簡單但卻最讓人感到溫暖的傳統手卷留住客人的心，只可惜事與願違，海鷗食堂經常空空如也。一天，同樣來自日本的小綠和正子在食堂出現，為原本平靜的日子帶來陣陣漣漪。年齡及性格皆不相同的三名日本女性，努力經營這充滿人情味的海鷗食堂，是否能融化芬蘭人呢？

India

Born Into Brothels (Zana Briski)

(color, 83 min) (THINKFilm LLC., 2005)

070.1 B859 DVDe W051473V

Atribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, Born into Brothels is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in Calcutta’s red light district, where their mothers work as prostitutes. Spurred by the kids’ fascination with her camera, Zana Briski, a New York-based photographer living in the brothels and documenting life there, decides to teach them photography. As they begin to look at and record their world through new eyes, the kids, who society refused to recognize, awaken for the first time to their own talents and sense of worth. Filmmakers Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski capture the way in which beauty can be found in even the seemingly bleakest and most hopeless of places, and how art and education can empower children to transform their lives.

India: Land of Spirit and Mystique (Video Visits)

(Far East Collection) (Color, 55 mins)

915 In39 1995

Your tour of India begins in the holy city of Varanasi, where pilgrims bathe in the healing waters of the River Ganges. Travel to Agra and visit the famed Taj Mahl, built by Shah Jahan as a memorial to his beloved wife. Glide into the past along the canals and lakes of Srinagar and enjoy a stunning sunset on Dal Lake. Meander through the Pink City of Jaipur, passing camels and elephants on your way to the Palace of the Winds, then continue on to Udaipur, city of palaces and maharajahs. Journey to Maharashtra and enter the ancient caves of Ellora and Ajanta, decorated with frescoes and sculptures. Take in the grandeur of New Delhi before concluding your visit in Bombay, India's economic hub.

China

Forbidden City

900 D611f Ve

(about Beijing,China) Peer into a magnificent city of secrets where the Chinese imperial class lived, concealed from the people they governed. Explore one of the world's most extravagant palaces, the Forbidden City of Beijing, through a rare look at its reputed 9,999 rooms and 240 acres of palaces, schools, temples, and theaters.

Mysteries of Asia - Secrets of The Great Wall

DVD 797.8 4467

萬里長城, 始自中國秦始皇, 至明朝修砌而成, 是人類最偉大的建築物之一. 今日的萬里長城東起黃海岸的山海關, 西迄戈壁沙漠的嘉裕關, 翻越難以攀登的高山, 橫越遼闊的沙漠, 彷彿一條蜿蜒橫越中國的長脊椎骨, 全長4000哩, 在易遭敵軍突破防線的重要山路上, 設有鞏固的城堡與瞭望台, 以抵禦北方蠻族的入侵. Discovery Channel將帶領您去了解萬里長城興建的始末及流傳的傳說. 萬里長城可謂文明的中國與蠻族間的壁壘, 秦始皇在統一中國後, 為驅逐威脅已久的遊牧民族, 下令建築中國的第一道長城, 其後經歷漢唐元明的持續修砌, 成就了今日萬里長城的建築大業. 另外在本片中, 您將可飽覽孟姜女哭倒長城. 漢朝時中國與西方藉絲路貿易並交流文化. 唐朝公主下嫁番邦的婚姻外交. 成吉思汗與忽必略攻克長城防線入主中土. 及明朝末年吳三桂為陳圓圓大啓山海關, 從此進入大清統治等, 種種歷史軼事, 將一一呈現於您眼前.

Back to top

Video Catalogue
English Department, Fu Jen University