FOREIGN FILMS IN CAPE GIRARDEAU

Next week, moviegoers in Cape Girardeau can choose between "Les Nuit de la Plein Lune," "Que He Hecho Yo Para Merecer Esto!?" or "Kabale und Leibe." Along with "The Brady Bunch Movie," of course.

The French, Spanish-language and German foreign films are presented by Southeast Missouri State University in a series that began in 1991 with only French films. Spanish and German movies were added last year.

Begun and maintained as an instructional aid for foreign language students, the series now is attended by as many community and faculty or staff members as students.

Between 20 and 25 films are shown per semester -- 10 French and a lesser number of Spanish-language and German. The French films draw an average of 30 to 40 people, the Spanish-language films average 25 attendees and about 15 people usually view the German movies.

"We have to accept that the numbers are small since we're in the educational business," said Dieter Jedan, chairman of the Department of Foreign Languages.

A few of the films are "educational" per se -- movies made from well-known books -- but the foreign film series is almost subversively educational for students and community members alike.

"They realize every culture has a right to exist, and that there are more ways than their own way," says Jedan, who grew up in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Though almost all the films are subtitled, foreign language professors view them as excellent teaching tools. "The beginning language students are struggling...but for the advanced students it's already a pleasure," Jedan says.

Says Richard Kump, an assistant professor of German, "We try to get ones with English subtitles. Sometimes the German is over the heads of the students."

At the very least, "They might not be intimidated by going to a foreign film anymore," says Daniel MacLeay, an associate professor of French.

MacLeay is in charge of the French film series. Lynne Margolies, an assistant professor of Spanish, directs the Spanish-language series, and Kump oversees the German series.

The professors usually assign the students to write reports about the movies. The surrealistic flavor of many Spanish-language films isn't lost on American students, Margolies says. "Students here are fairly sophisticated. They catch on and understand if something's fantasy or real."

All the films in the series have been purchased by the university and are available to be checked out by students, a plus for Southeast's large group of nontraditional students.

The films are only one example of the increasingly global approach educators are taking at Southeast, Jedan said:

-- Foreign language television shows are available in every one of the university's dormitories.

-- The number of students majoring in a foreign language has more than doubled from the 20 majors when Jedan arrived at the university two years ago.

-- And more students are going abroad to study. Foreign language students from Southeast are taking trips to Mexico and Germany this year.

"I think the films may have played a part in that," Jedan says.

Pointing to the Japanese and German companies located here, the professor says Cape Girardeau is much more international than most people think.

The professors doubted the German films would find an audience but have, and now film series in yet other languages -- such as Japanese -- are being contemplated.

The university also is considering a plan to show a series of foreign films in a coffee house atmosphere at the University Center.

The French movies are shown at 7 p.m. most Tuesdays in Room 300 of the Art Building. Spanish films are screened at the same time in the same building on designated Wednesdays. The German films are shown at 7 p.m. on designated Wednesdays in Room 113 of the Graul Language Arts Building.

Schedules are available from the foreign language department or at the screenings. Weekly schedules appear in the Arts & Leisure calendar.