FILM EDUCATION - NOW AND FOR EVER

By Graham Young on September 5, 2008 9:03 PM | Permalink

IN MY last note, I talked of Film Education - so what is it, and, more importantly, what can it do for you?

If you are a teacher or a pupil at school, or are a parent with a child who is, you should be aware that it's an invaluable resource to bridge the link between film and education.

Hence the title: Film Education. It does what it says on the box of reels.

The organisation is actually a charity supported by the feature film industry, including all major distributors and cinema operators.

As I've reported previously in the Birmingham Mail, it distributes FREE educational resources to schools, runs FREE screenings and events and provides subsidised training and conferences for teachers.

Sounds to good to be true? Well, the truth is, it is... as you'll see below!

And that's because when people love film, they do so with a lifelong, unconditional passion that's unmatched in any other industry.

To understand this point, take a mere single minute of your own time to realise just what an extraordinary amount of work goes in to making each and every movie, no matter how good or bad the end result according to varying degrees of talent, persistence, luck and, sometimes, money.

One of Film Education's key activities is organising what's called National Schools Film Week.

This is the biggest event of its kind in the world and part of it happens right here in Birmingham where, in my own time, I've given masterclasses every year about the film world to eager, bright-eyed youngsters who've sensibly accepted the golden chance to swap their classrooms for the cinema.

After each screening it's amazing to note how, in just 45 minutes, you can begin to see children visibly growing in confidence as they learn to engage with such an exciting subject - skills that will benefit them once they return to the classroom.

Last year, Film Education took 300,000 children to see 1,500 films in 530 locations throughout the UK!

Increasing numbers of teachers everywhere are realising that film is a unique medium that can deliver complex information to a young audience in a meaningful and accessible way.

The focus of National Schools Film Week in 2008 is Discovering Cultures, a theme relevant to both primary and secondary school children and one that encompasses some hard-hitting issues.

NSFW has programmed a range of current and forthcoming films to address issues such as the environment, social and racial injustice, bullying, politics and − more broadly − the world young people currently inhabit, as shown from a variety of different perspectives.

This year's English dates for screenings and masterclasses are from October 20-24.

The Primary School schedule includes screenings of Igor, The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Golden Compass, Kung Fu Panda, WALL-E, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Dr Seuss' Horton Hears A Who!

Older students will be attending screenings of: The Kite Runner, Persepolis, Happy-Go-Lucky, Juno, Son of Rambow, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.

Imagine swapping lessons to watch any of these? But there's more...

A number of filmmakers will be holding masterclasses with children, including double BAFTA-winning director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland), Stephen Frears (High Fidelity, Dirty Pretty Things)
and Abi Morgan (Brick Lane).

Oscar-winning filmmaker and Film Education Patron Lord Attenborough says: "National Schools Film Week offers a wonderful range of international films which capture the imagination of young children across the UK.

"The films are a way of introducing serious and important issues to children through creative means."

For more information about what Film Education can do for you - and what your ensuing film education can do for you in turn - visit the website www.nsfw.org and choose whether you want to look at the Primary Schools programme or the Secondary Schools programme.

If you are a teacher who is keen to make a booking, telephone 020 7439 4880.

Gurinder Chadha, the former BBC WM reporter turned director of Bend It Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is a leading supporter of National Schools Film Week and Film Education.

"I very much want Britain to have a film culture and it has got to start with schools," she says.

"I went to Saturday morning pictures myself, I used to love watching movies in the cinema. I watched Bollywood movies as well as the Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music and big movies on the screen.

"My dad used to love watching Bollywood movies, which is why he used to take me to the cinema, and I think that having that sense of a cinema culture is the best chance the British cinema industry has.

"In terms of developing that sense of wonder and that very emotional relationship with the big screen I think it's very important to encourage more filmmakers to take part and have more of a relationship between what's behind the camera as well as in front of the camera with the audience."

So there we have it. Film Education is a charity which can help children to see the world in a new, creative light, so don't let your child / pupils miss out.

Organisations proud to support National Schools Film Week and which realise the unlimited value of film include the following:

Amnesty International UK, Anglia TV, BAFTA, BATOD, Birkbeck College, BFM, Child Education, Christian Aid UK, Cinemagic, Czech Centre, DOLBY, DTS Europe, Ellesmere Port Education Improvement Partnership, Empire Magazine, First Light Movies, First News, Goethe Institute, Hungarian Cultural Centre, Institut Français, John Innes Centre and Institute of Food Research, Junior Education, London Gifted & Talented, MDS, The National Autistic Society, National Literacy Trust, National Screen Services, Nerve Centre, NDCS, Nottingham Trent University, Nursery Education, PACT, Picture Production Company, RNIB, RNID, Romanian Cultural Centre, Royal Anthrological Society, Scholastic Ltd., Science Museum, Skillset, Serpentine Gallery, Staffordshire University, Tate Britain, Three Monkeys, Times Education Supplement, West Midlands Gifted and Talented Partnership.