These four films don’t just provide entertainment. For BYU faculty, their messages extend beyond the screen and into everyday life.
BYU’s International Cinema (IC) began in 1968 and has since grown to be the world’s largest and longest-running university film program of its kind. The IC screens films from all over the world, right from the heart of BYU’s campus. In a 2026 Education Week lecture series titled “Films of Faith and Hope,” the faculty behind the IC explored film and what it teaches about the world around us.
“Quietly Hopeful: From Irish Wells to Tokyo Toilets—Finding Hope in Four Contemporary Films”
Few people probably think of hope when picturing a public restroom. Marie-Laure Oscarson, IC assistant director, shared how films like Perfect Days reveal how hope can be found in everyday life.
Perfect Days tells the story of Hirayama, an ordinary man living in Japan. Hirayama works for The Tokyo Toilet, a company that maintains public restrooms in the city. Though he sticks to the same routine, he finds beauty in the little everyday things—like the sound that wakes him each morning as someone sweeps the street or his daily cup of coffee from the vending machine. Hirayama teaches viewers that any ordinary day can be a perfect day.
Oscarson encouraged attendees to look beyond the ordinary in their lives and find the beauty that each day brings. She echoed Psalm 118:24: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Similarly, she acknowledged the hopeful influence film has on the viewer and invited all to look for hope not just throughout their lives but also in the films they view.
“Inspiration from the North: Scandinavian Cinema Inspiring Faith, Hope, and Occasional Hygge”
Film has the ability to connect audiences throughout the world. Chip Oscarson, dean of the College of Humanities, said that community is the reason why the College continues to invest in IC after several decades of operation. As viewers intentionally view films from various cultures, they learn to see and engage with the world in new ways.
Oscarson (Interdisciplinary Humanities, Scandinavian Studies) illustrated the concept of community through films such as Babette’s Feast, a Danish film. Babette is a French refugee who arrives in a Danish village and asks to work as a cook for the late pastor’s family in exchange for a place to stay. She works for the family for many years until one day she wins the lottery. Rather than using the money to return to her former life in France, Babette prepares an authentic French feast for the late pastor’s congregation on what would have been his 100th birthday. Over the years, the pastorless congregation had grown distant from one other, but Babette’s feast brought the community back together.
Films like these “open up the capacity for Christlike love,” said Oscarson. Viewing films that introduce other cultures and ways to see the world can bring people closer together. As he has viewed films with the intent of developing charity, he said he has come to better understand others, and he invited the attendees to do the same.
“How Film Expresses Hope, Faith, and Yearning for the Divine”
Carl Sederholm, IC codirector, looked into the deeper questions, or “yearnings of the soul,” that films ask. Sederholm (Horror, Popular Culture, Literature and Film) acknowledged that behind every film are “sons and daughters of God” who are experiencing life alongside the viewer. Through film, viewers can glimpse the experience of another and what their yearnings in life might be.
One of the films Sederholm discussed was the Japanese film Ikiru. Ikiru follows the story of Kanji, a man who isdiagnosed with cancer. When he realizes his time is limited, his priorities shift. He begins to wonder how he can create the most meaning out of the rest of his life and eventually finds that “serving others brings more meaning to life than anything else,” said Sederholm.
He pointed out that when viewers seek to understand the yearnings of others through film, they may find that they have more in common with others than they think. Many may share the same questions, like Kanji’s desire to know the meaning of life. Asking deep questions helps viewers see how they relate to those around them and find the answers to their own yearnings.
“The Spirit of Music in Masterpieces of Global Cinema”
Though viewers may not notice it in every scene, music plays a central part in film. IC Codirector Gregory Stallings (Spanish, Second Language Acquisition) discussed the power of music within cinema. The documentary Buena Vista Social Club, for example, is about an artist who went to Cuba to assemble a band out of retired musicians. The film tells the story of the band as they start out performing in the streets of Havana and eventually sell out Carnegie Hall in New York City.
The documentary demonstrates that music can extend across time and through culture. Though most of the musicians were elderly, it was as if no time had passed when they hit the stage again. And though their traditional Cuban songs were sung in Spanish, their audiences were touched regardless of the language of the lyrics. Stallings said that “music has that power to connect us and to see the Godlike nature of our brothers and sisters, especially when they are different from ourselves.”
Stallings encouraged attendees to seek films that teach about the world, whether through their storylines or their soundtracks. He expressed the need to hear from each culture, quoting Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who said, “The loss of even one voice diminishes every other singer in this great mortal choir of ours. There is room for those who speak different languages, celebrate diverse cultures, and live in a host of locations. . . . In short, there is a place for everyone.”
View upcoming IC screenings for the Fall 2026 semester on the International Cinema website.