The French resort city of Cannes is famous for its sun-drenched Mediterranean beaches, its upscale boutiques and, of course, the world’s most prestigious film festival.
For two weeks every spring, Cannes becomes the center of the movie universe as roughly 40,000 film buffs and professionals from more than 140 countries gather for screenings, industry events and movie star-gazing.
This year, amid the cinema auteurs and red-carpet celebrities, a different group of festivalgoers joined the Cannes crowd: 12 George Washington University professional psychology students.
They were enrolled in Global Perspectives in Psychodynamics and Cinema, a short-term study abroad class co-led by Katherine Marshall Woods, a professor of clinical psychology in the Professional Psychology Program at the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS), with Professor of Clinical Psychology Sarah Hedlund.
A media psychologist and licensed clinical psychologist, Marshall Woods translated her own cinema studies from an on-campus classroom to a Côte d’Azur clinic, immersing students in the art, business and psychology of filmmaking on its most famous stage.
“The best learning is theory coupled with experience,” Marshall Woods said. “The class introduces media psychology to clinical psychology students, helping them use the theoretical underpinnings of psychology that they adopt within our professional psychology program and apply it to media works and understanding cinema.”
In one week at Cannes, the students watched as many as 12 screenings, attended presentations by filmmakers and mental health professionals, gave performances of their own and even participated in creating a short film documenting their experiences.
Along the way, they began seeing cinema through a psychological lens. Guided by Marshall Woods—who has worked with movie professionals and collaborated with film festivals in the U.S. and abroad—the students were introduced to the varied roles psychologists play in filmmaking to help shape stories on both sides of the camera.
“Attending the Cannes Film Festival is a dream in and of itself, but what drew me to this experience was the chance to engage with film through a psychological framework,” said Macie Aronsky, a second-year PsyD student. “Cannes becomes all the more exciting as an academic journey.”
Psychology On Screen
Marshall Woods spearheads PsychMinded Media, a psychological media firm that works with actors, screenwriters, producers and directors to include psychology—and psychologists—in the movie-making process. “Filmmakers are not absent of [the influence of] psychology when they’re creating their work,” Marshall Woods explained. Incorporating media psychologists’ input—on everything from scripts to shots to marketing strategies—offers artists insight into “what effectively is happening with the audience, what’s effectively happening with actors and how these perspectives enhance their work. That is what media psychology is all about.”
Marshall Woods also hosts the award-winning “Best Psychology in Film” television show and podcast. Her newest book, Black Film Through a Psychodynamic Lens, examines 50 years of Black cinema through psychological and psychoanalytic perspectives. She has had book signings at numerous film festivals including Cannes, Sundance and Tribeca.
At GW, Marshall Woods created the Psychodynamic Film and Media Set, a lab that helps students explore the intersection of psychology and media through activities like script reviews, screenings and film festival attendance.
“Her work as a media psychologist is an application of our discipline that I did not know was possible,” said Geoffrey Hervey, a fourth-year professional psychology student. At Cannes, Hervey gained “a glimpse into what this facet of psychological work can look like, and I feel energized to make strides towards this as part of my profession.”
Parlez-vous anglais?
Before the students could figure out the festival world, they first had to find their footing in France. Most spoke little or no French, and every task—from locating bakeries to securing movie tickets—was a challenge in itself. “The film industry is its own world,” Marshall Woods said. “On top of it, [students] are also navigating France and navigating this new class. And they only have seven days to do it!”
Supported by the American Pavilion Cannes Intensive Program, an immersive project that aids students attending film festivals around the world, the class embraced the rhythms of Cannes. They heard from industry speakers including filmmaker Yana Billé-Chung; filmmaker and founder of Project Blackbird Alexandra Miles; psychiatrist, playwright and director Anca Vaida; Hallelujah Johnson and Simone James of InHale Studios; and fellow CCAS faculty member, Professor of Professional Psychology Alex Smith.
In between film sessions and seminars, the students held their own presentations. Hervey performed a drag show at an American Pavilion event while students worked with cinematographer Jai Johnson to capture footage for a short documentary that will serve as both a GW promotional film and a possible future film festival submission.
While the students found time to enjoy the French Riviera—including a daytrip to Monaco and pistachio chocolate chip cookies alongside the beach—they spent much of their week inside festival theaters. Their movie highlights included Butterfly Jam, a French drama directed by exiled Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balago; We Were Aliens, a celebrated Japanese-French animated feature; and a Harlem Renaissance documentary called Once Upon a Time in Harlem.
To Marshall Woods’ surprise, the class gave every movie a thumbs-up—even a gothic horror-thriller called Victorian Psycho, which they described as a mix of Jane Eyre and American Psycho. “Even [students] who didn’t like horror liked it—although they said they had their eyes closed through half of it,” she laughed.
Marshall Woods hopes the experience taught students how to watch movies differently, not simply following a plot but analyzing how each element—from the script and score to the lighting, editing and color—is designed to shape viewers’ emotional responses. “To me, watching movies as a psychologist means always going beyond what is presented at face value,” Aronsky said. “What is the purpose of this gesture, this blink, of dimming the lights at this moment?”
Indeed, Marshall Woods thinks her students left Cannes with more than sand and sun on their minds. By the end of the trip, she believes they gained an appreciation for the film industry and the role they can play in it as psychologists—as well as making memories they’ll carry with them long after the course’s ending credits rolled.
“These experiential moments will stay with them for a lifetime,” Marshall Woods said.