Lights, Camera, Language Film Series: First Language

Films can help us grapple with complex social and scientific phenomena. The Lights, Camera, Language series, co-hosted by the Language Diversity Ambassadors and the NC State University Libraries, explores modern films and documentaries that take a close look at concepts related to language. The series will cover a wide range of topics, from dialects and accents to the way we understand the world to social scientific research and beyond..
This semester the series will hone in on the relationships between language and culture. First Language is a 2014 film that takes a close look at the precarious positioning of the Cherokee language. In the film, members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee discuss their relationship with their language, its near-disappearance and the subsequent extraordinary steps they’ve taken to save it. This film discusses the cultural importance of languages and how we can work to preserve them.