Abstract

RICHARD, Enrique. Minamata (2020): from humanistic photography to congenital defects due to methyl mercury in the subject of human embryology. Rev Med Cine [online]. 2023, vol.19, n.4, pp.331-344.  Epub Mar 08, 2024. ISSN 1885-5210.  https://dx.doi.org/10.14201/rmc.31176.

Minamata by Andrew Levitas is an important film to understand how environmental pollution can have a great influence on human health. It shows how pollution affects communities, how communities are reluctant to accept the responsibility of the responsible company, and how the community and the media can work together to address these issues and take action to prevent and treat these problems. In the university teaching of Health Sciences, it constitutes an important pedagogical resource to illustrate and raise awareness about the toxicological problems of methyl mercury in human health and especially during pregnancy, promoting the development of various congenital defects. Viewing the film, on the other hand, stimulates critical, divergent, analytical, reflective, emotional thinking and significant learning, while allowing the integration of knowledge of the subjects they are studying and general culture in an immersive experience. Likewise, it allows to integrate the art of the film and the photography of W. Eugene Smith as an educational transversal that contributes to the heritage of the student's general culture.

Keywords : Minamata; methyl mercury; toxicology; birth defects; humanistic photography; critical thinking.

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