The ESN Movie Night aimed at introducing our Erasmus students to the Italian culture by watching movies
that show both the bright and the dark sides, tough times, and give them an overall sense of which values
and motives are the most representative of Italy. This week’s movie was “Benvenuti al Nord”, to show the
differences and compare the North and South of Italy.
Before the movie screening, we facilitated discussion via web-chat and tried to make the students share
their opinions, beliefs, and even prejudices they might have about the Italian culture. During the screening,
whenever the movie allowed us to do so, we gave insights about the culture or explained the meaning of
some peculiar expressions, historical, and fun facts, other than answering any question participants may
have. After the movie, we took some more time to reflect upon what we had just watched.
The overall feedback of the Erasmus students who took part in our movie night was positive: they seemed
enthusiastic and even proposed which movies we could watch together next. Despite the lockdown
situation, students had the chance to get to know each other a bit more, and that was a good starting point
to both create new bonds and appreciate the culture of the country that welcomed them for a while, which
is indeed the meaning of an Erasmus experience itself.
The students were deeply involved to find out more about a given cultural practice or just
making comments to the movie.