The file of Birgit Kellner concerning East Germans played by Austrians reminded me about several films of Aki and Mika Kaurism=E4ki (e.g. "Helsinki Napoli All Night Long", "La= vie de boheme", "Rosso" etc.) where the main roles - irrespective of the nation= ality of the character - are constantly played by their favorite Finnish male actors. I myself have enjoyed a lot this kind of mixture (M= atti Pellonpaa pronouncing French as slowly and inexpressively as he uses to = speak Finnish or Kari Vaananen as an Italian criminal resembling a real Italia= n man only as long as it concerns the colour of his hair) because it seems to me that it works as a kind of "alienation effect", the conce= pt of nationality has lost its importance. This doesn't mean that "misrepresentation" of races or nationalities or = whatever would always work in this way. Mostly not, I guess, but it can = have advantages, too. Comments, other examples? Mari Maasilta University of Tampere Finland ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]