Cinemas closed their doors. Nevertheless, watching films is still possible with OTT's help (Over The Top content platforms). The effort to watch a movie has decreased considerably throughout recent decades – especially to watch foreign films.
According to Dr Ieuan Franklin's 'BBC2 and World Cinema', less than a century ago, on 14 August 1938, BBC broadcasted the first foreign-language film "The Student of Prague, the 1935 sound remake of the German silent classic". During that time, the television was the key source to access the World of Cinema for the British audience, but now it is the internet. The global accessibility of films is continually increasing. Since the arrival of online digital platforms, it is easier to access a range of movies that people can view at their homes' comfort.
The statistics for 'Language of films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland in 2019' shows that 392 films entirely in English and 368 foreign films were released. People speaking multiple languages in London are growing with education and the ever-growing diverse culture. For instance, according to www.multilingualcapital.com, "Twenty-two per cent (22%) of Londoners reported a main language other than English, well above the national average." As diversity increases, so do the want for representation and acknowledging each other's cultural identity. Therefore, many people resort to watching films made in their mother language or language of interest.
After interviewing, a bilingual student, Joanne, she told of her experience, watching Malayalam films in London across the past decade:
"During the late 2000s, we watched some movies on channels like Asianet. We also used to buy DVDs for both Malayalam and English films, which we sometimes still watch."
Back in the day, the DVD was a popular method of watching films; however, only a limited number of foreign films were imported and sold to niche markets.
"In 2015, we went to the cinemas quite often as many movies we liked were released. I think we went around once every month or two. It is a lot easier now because we can watch them whenever we want through platforms like Netflix and Prime Video."
Film lovers across the world are finding it is readily attainable to watch films made around the globe. Parasite caught headlines in 2020 for being the first foreign film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. One of the main reasons for many people appreciating the film worldwide was because it explored a universal idea of class, present everywhere and therefore spoke to a broader audience. Possibly another foreign movie in the future could achieve what Parasite could. We can only wait and see.
