Introductory reading to "world cinemas"

Hello colleagues, 

I am teaching a "world cinemas" course this fall semester and am looking for an accessible, engaging introductory reading. 

A bit of background: I teach in the general-education program of a "professionally oriented" university (Thomas Jefferson U. in Philadelphia, USA), meaning that there are no traditional "liberal arts" students in either the humanities or social sciences. My "world cinemas" course will feature films from France, Brazil, South Africa, and Japan -- and will be geared more towards themes/history/aesthetics than technical or cinematographic aspects.

The reading I am looking for would, ideally, speak to the importance of studying/enjoying cinema from a "global" (i.e., non-Hollywood) perspective. It doesn't need to be overly theoretical/scholarly or feature any meta-analysis.

Feel free to email me directly if you have any suggestions (samuel.weeks@jefferson.edu). 

Thanks very much, 

Samuel Weeks