The This is England short films festival is returning to celebrate British films in Rouen. The expanded version runs from 16 to 24 November. Short films are a brilliant way to introduce British culture to language learners, and special schools screenings and teaching packs are provided to spread the message.
Many of this year’s films explore friendship, particularly at the pivotal moment of adolescence. Others examine society from immigration detention centres to doit and mouth disease, rural desertification and the nuclear industry.
As well as the short films, the festival celebrates some classic British feature films from Howard’s End to the stylish 60s heist movie The Italian Job, the Banksy street-art documentary Exit through the Giftshop and perennial favourites Wallace and Gromit.
The festival’s education team has been hard at work producing teaching materials for classes.
This year's collège screenings allow work on child labour, education for girls and the environment (see the selection page for details):
Sam and the plant next door, documentary
Heatwave, animation
Talk to Leon, fiction
Cheer, documentary
Ashmina, fiction
Life in miniature, documentary
Muzzle, fiction
Quiet carriage, fiction
Ashmina is the first part in a planned feature about the real lives of five girls and women in different parts of the world. Ashmina, 13, lives in Nepal and scrapes a living from re-packing the paragliders tourists use to see her beautiful country.
Both the collège and lycée selections include a documentary about Sam, growing up in the shadow of a nuclear plant in England and dreaming of becoming a marine biologist.
The lycée selection also includes:
Brexicuted, animation
This Is the Winter, fiction
I’m Dead, D fiction
Old Friends, fiction,
Talk to Leon, fiction
Solar Plexus, animation
Brexicuted, a satirical animation presentin comments recorded the day following the Brexit referendum is a great way to tackle the subject in class. Here's a taster:
Copyright(s) :
This is England
Tag(s) : "Banksy" "Brexit" "British culture" "child labour" "environment" "festival" "film" "Rouen" "short films" "street art" "teaching materials"