Film synopsis production: the intercultural understanding of cinema on the scene

Abstract

This article aims at approaching the discussions and the scientific results of the research entitled “Film synopsis construction: the intercultural understanding of cinema on the scene”, which was based on the perspective of Language, Discourse and Cultures. We understand language, among other aspects, as a cultural product that allows the communicative and social interactions amongst speakers. Its reproduction cycle, in addition to materializing diverse discursive genres, happens due to them. Intending to study discursive genres, we focused on Bakhtin (1997, 2006) to relate the different spheres of human activity to the language, stimulating its study as a social practice. In this regard, we worked with film synopsis as an object of study, not only to understand its style, its (in)formal characteristics and its social function, but to comprehend the filmic production in English, observing its cultural aspects, to work on the writing practice, spreading the intercultural meaning of the cinema to new readers. The research took place at Bahia State University – campus II, through Collaborative Research (IBIAPINA, 2016), that occurred through Collaborative Research with the undergraduate students majoring in the English Language and Literatures. Our objective was to make use of the synopsis construction and the films exhibit to approach intercultural aspects of countries that have English as their first, second or foreign language, i.e., we saw the opportunity to promote more respect for English linguistic variations. This action, in addition to being a reading and intercultural comprehension chance of a world where the borders are shortening, shows the interest for its arranged discursive social practice – an Intercultural Film Festival showing the selected films and their synopsis.