A PERSONAL STATEMENT FROM JOANNE ASHE

In January of 2002, while attending the Palm Springs International Film Festival, I experienced an epiphany. After spending the week completely immersed in other cultures through film, I felt that I had traveled the world. Each film, itself a complete cultural learning package, presented a character or two who captivated my interest and evoked intense empathy. The films invited Hungarian orphans, tired Afghani workers struggling in Iran, sweet children living in Tehran, spunky Tokyo teenagers, savvy young Tibetan monks living in exile in India, a young boy in China and a group of coming-of-age French teenagers as welcome guests into my heart. Their stories opened my mind, and I realized how little information or insight most young Americans have about people from other nations. I imagined how students would benefit from seeing these movies, especially while learning the history, geography and culture of the country from which each film emerges.

Children seldom need to be coaxed into watching films, particularly if the story is good. Young students are visually attuned to cinematic images, and enthusiastically respond to stories that expand an awareness of their world and teach them about cultures different from their own. With this in mind, I decided to establish Journeys in Film and began to search for dynamic foreign films and the expert educators and specialists who could design a substantial, comprehensive international education curriculum around them.

As a first generation American, I was always aware of the differences and similarities between myself and other kids in my neighborhood. My parents, both Holocaust survivors, brought to the United States their Eastern European traditions and values, and I grew up crossing cultures daily. To understand my parents and their personal stories better, I read voraciously and visualized the land, the people, and the culture my parents came from. Eventually, films became an important source of my understanding about the vast diversity in our world. It was exciting for me to discover the world beyond my provincial hometown. I could reach out in my imagination and connect to countries so far beyond my own mental and physical boundaries, inspired by people so unlike me

I believe students will experience this sense of living in another world, however temporarily, when offered the opportunity to study films and cultures of other children living in societies beyond their own neighborhoods. My hope is that the impressions and lessons from the films selected by Journeys in Film will continue to echo in their hearts and minds for years to come, inspiring today's students to become cross-culturally competent, productive and compassionate adults.

I dedicate Journeys in Film to my brave parents, Maurice and Julia Strahl. They taught me that education is the greatest tool we have toward understanding and accepting people of all cultures and traditions so that no one should ever be persecuted for being different.

Sincerely,

Joanne Strahl Ashe
Founder and Interim Executive Director
Journeys in Film