The SAC has an overarching plan to broaden the knowledge of Visual Anthropology which is an academic subfield of Anthropology that uses audio-visual media, such as photographs, films and new media as a tool to disseminate anthropological studies and the studies of the related fields, as well as a tool to make the voices of people from different backgrounds heard.
Every SAC Film screening program is an attempt of the SAC to establish a learning platform to study the cultural dimensions through cinema. In general, people tend to view cinema as entertainment, but for anthropologists, cinema is the “cultural recorder” that gives us insight and understanding of the various cultures. As peoples’ way of life is projected on screen, it gives us a window to reflect on ourselves and to grasp a better understanding of Thai society, similar to how an anthropologist researches different cultures in far-off lands to understand “them” and look at “us” with better recognition. The SAC Film screenings are not only programs that screen films from different countries, but are also forums for discussion among scholars, filmmakers and the audience to exchange their perspectives and insights together. For the past years, the SAC has brought films from different countries, especially ASEAN countries, to expand our views and examine different cultures within context for the Thai public in hope that these events will create a culture of “learning through cinema,” where audiences watch and exchange insights from the film.