How Into Film Clubs can help foster a love of film in young people

Our Into Film Club of the Month for October 2019 is King Edward VI School in Lichfield, Staffordshire. Club leader Abi Giles tells us all about the friendly environment of her film club and how it has helped to encourage discussion, analysis and debate.

How you became an Into Film Club Leader?

I am a teacher of Religious Studies and lead teacher for Gifted and Talented (monitoring the progress and talents of the highest achievers within school). The film club was already running before I joined the school; the school librarian started the club 7 years ago. I decided to keep this going when I took over the lead for Gifted and Talented, as I think film really helps to stretch and challenge able pupils, in addition to encouraging discussion, analysis and debates centering on the genre and topics of films we watch.

Is the film club popular club at school?

It has always been a popular club; the kids really enjoy our Wednesday afternoons when we meet for film club! It is such a great opportunity for pupils to discuss films, spend time together and express their own views on the films we watch. The club is a friendly environment for pupils in our school to get to know others with similar interests from different year groups.

What do you enjoy about running an Into Film club?

I really enjoy discussing the films we watch with the pupils in our club. I enjoy hearing their thoughts and reading their reviews. It is such a brilliant opportunity for us to get together after a busy day at school and explore the different topics and themes film has to offer.

Have you seen any positive changes in your club members?

I think that the pupils already had an interest in film hence why they joined the club, but I feel that their review writing has improved greatly, in addition to their confidence to discuss films we watch and analyse them. It is so great to see so many pupils with a real genuine interest and passion for film. Taking time for them to put on paper their own opinions and generating a thoughtful and informative response is something so important, and I feel pupils have really developed this side of coming to film club.

Have you used Into Film resources to help with your teaching?

Yes, I frequently use the discussion questions created by Into Film in order to talk through the films we watch in our group. I have also used many Into Film materials to run skills sessions alongside watching different films. For example, we did some work on the different stories from the Land, Air and Sea after watching Dunkirk, and we completed some STEM based activities after watching Hidden Figures.

Have you been able to use film to help with your teaching?

I always use extracts from various films in my RE teaching. This has defiantly helped to explain key ideas or concepts to my classes. For example, I use The Matrix to help teach Year 12 A level students about Plato's 'Allegory of the Cave'.

A few of your members have won Review of the Week. Do you have any tips for leaders whose members haven't won yet?

I always encourage pupils to do some further research into the background of some of the films/directors we have watched, in order to add more depth to their film reviews. I think it's important for the pupils to also be honest about their opinions on the film, but to then add some examples and justification as to why they think this way.

What one piece of advice would you give to new Into Film Club leaders?

To run a session on review writing so that pupils have ideas on how to structure and plan their reviews. It's great to look at some examples and discuss the strengths and points to improve for each. I would also suggest to pick a wide selection of films to order and watch. I think it's really interesting to look at a selection of genres and then discuss this with the pupils too.

Which films have gone down well at your Into Film Club?