For 2019 I’m going to do something slightly different than a pure number or type of film challenge. Using Letterboxd.com for the last year has been a joy, and seeing the stats come together (and get added as you use more features of the service) is terrific. One that’s always interesting is the map of the world, showing countries from which you’ve watched films:

A lot of green, but a lot of grey too. You can see the full interactive map at the bottom of this page.

So I have several elements to the challenges this year:

1 – Identify at least one film by every country on the map from which I have never seen a film

2 – Watch a film from every country on the map that I have not seen one from previously

3 – Identify a film from every country whether on the map or not

4 – Watch a film from every country I have not seen one from previously

5 – #52FilmsByWomen

I’ve already started some of this work. I grabbed the full list of every country from the HTML of IMDb’s advanced search page, and there are 262 in total. I then went through the map and tried to identify every country available on this map. There are 160 that appear to be highlightable.

Finally I noted which ones were in green (meaning I have seen at least one from that country – 50 in total. So there are 110 countries that I need to source a film from.

I don’t think this is possible to do in one year. There are countries and films that seem like they will be incredibly difficult (or expensive) to source to the UK. So the primary goal is to identify at least one film from each country.

The secondary goal is then to source a film and watch it. Aiming for a green map by the challenge completion, which is likely to be after 2019.

The third and fourth goals are the same but for countries not on the map. In some places this should be achievable (El Salvador or the Faroe Islands for instance). Some are going to be harder – there are only two films listed for Palau!

My last goal is something I only found out about on new year’s day – #52FilmsByWomen. Started by the organisation Women in Film Los Angeles it is a challenge to watch at least one film by a female director each week of the year. I managed this unknowingly last year, hitting 52. But given the total I watched that number should be higher. I’m expecting to watch fewer films this year so as a percentage of the total it should look better. I thoroughly enjoyed the films by women that I saw, and going through the back catalogues for major directors like Ava Duvernay and Katheryn Bigelow was a great way to find stories I otherwise wouldn’t see, but still enjoyed.

I’ve started a list of films that are on or are coming to services I use so that I can more easily identify them.

2019 should be the year I watch many international films and many films by women. The aim for the international films is to find films that feature or speak to the country itself in some way, although the core of the challenge is any film that is set in or made by that country. The aim for #52FilmsByWomen is to find creators I wouldn’t otherwise see, especially if that introduces me to further films they’ve made that I enjoy.