The Fall International Film Festival ended Thursday after featuring six culturally diverse films throughout the week.

“The Lunch Box” is an Indian romance film set in the city of Mumbai, India. Every day, an operation of 5,000 dabbawallas deliver fresh lunches cooked by housewives to be sent to their husbands in the city. An interesting romance begins when somehow, the dabbawallas make a mistake and Saajen, a widower, receives a lunch from a young neglected housewife, Ila. When Ila realizes her husband is not the one receiving the hot lunch, she sends a letter back the next day. The two begin exchanging letters every day in what turns into a hilarious and unconventional love story.

Jean Cole, senior psychology major, said she found the movie funny, but the humor was definitely different from American humor.

“That’s why I like coming to the International Film Festival: because you see different types of humor that you don’t get to see,” Cole said. “I feel like they were very blunt in the movie; very honest, blunt humor.”

“20 Feet From Stardom” details the rise and fall of the background singers that added so much soul to bands like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and David Bowie. The film has in-depth interviews with former background singers such as Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Darlene love, Tata Vega and rising vocal star Judith Hill. The film highlights the struggle of the young African-American women trying to rise up through the music industry in a time of civil strife.

Angela Jones, Marshall Artist Series marketing director, said she chose the movie because of its accolades and it sends a good message to students.

“I like when we have documentaries on the film festival schedule because I think it mixes it up a little bit,” Jones said. “The reason why I chose ‘20 Feet From Stardom’ is because it won at Sundance, and it won the Oscar for best documentary. I think the message of the film was really about being so close to stardom and having your stamp on something and not really getting recognized for it. I think the message students can take from it is to work hard, create an impact and put yourself out there.”

“Wadjda” is the first film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and the first Saudi film directed by a woman. It is the story of 10-year-old Wadjda, a young girl living in the conservative religious society of Saudi Arabia. Wadjda desperately wants a bike to race her friend Abdullah, a boy from her neighborhood. Throughout the movie, Wadjda saves money for her dream bike, even though everyone around her says a godly girl cannot ride a bike. The film is a reminder things are not equal for men and women within many societies around the world.

Sarah Nix, freshman international affairs major, explained why the film festival and “Wadjda,” were important to her.

“I thought the movie was very frustrating, you get to see the other side of a culture and the difficulties that confront them, and it’s really sad,” Nix said. “I do think the movie was more realistic than an American film because our films are for entertainment, and this film kind of says that we don’t always find happy endings.”

Jones said when she picks the movies, she picks ones which have won awards, have a lot of buzz and offer cultural variety.

“I try to do a French language film and Spanish language film to represent the major languages taught on campus,” Jones said. “I also look at the demographic breakdown of the student body. I want students to walk away from a film saying, ‘wow,’ whether they went to a movie for extra credit or not.”

The other movies presented at the festival were “The Great Beauty,” “Instructions Not Included” and “Like Father, Like Son.”

The International Film Festival occurs twice a year during the fall and spring semesters.

Anthony Davis can be contacted at [email protected].