Press Release

Launch of A Framework for Film Education in Europe in Paris 19th June 2015

On 19th June, 50 delegates from all over Europe gathered at the Cinémathèque française in Paris to discuss the future of film education in Europe. The event marked the launch of A Framework for Film Education in Europe, which establishes a set of ambitions and outcomes for people learning about film that all educators can aspire to. The Framework was funded from the Film Literacy strand of the action on Audience Development, as part of the European Commission’s Creative Europe programme.

This is the first time such a Framework has been devised in Europe. It gathers together intelligence and practical experience from a wide range of institutions and education providers, from universities, to cinematheques, to national agencies, small NGOs, and industry funded bodies. In all, more than 25 partners were involved in the work, from Lithuania to Portugal, from Northern Ireland to Greece and Cyprus. Newly accessioned countries as well as the ‘big 6’ EC members participated. The participants in the project are constituted as the Film Literacy Advisory Group, and previously worked on the European film education survey Screening Literacy.

Mark Reid, Head of Education at BFI, and convenor of the group said “We chose to launch the Framework in Paris because in many ways France can claim to be the originator of cinema, and of cinema culture and education in its strongest form. We are delighted that the Cinémathèque française has agreed to host our event, and that Serge Toubiana, Director of the Cinémathèque, and Alain Bergala, eminent film thinker and educator, have agreed to speak”.

Serge Toubiana made a powerful claim for the power of cinema to move us, and for us to move cinema forward. For it to do so, he said, cinema must speak directly to children, and at an age when they will cherish its impact.

Ian Wall, ex Director of Film Education in the UK, was a mover behind the Framework project, and he presented an overview, claiming that the goal of film education should first of all to be to ‘develop a film sensibility’ in young people, where they understand and appreciate the ‘art of film’ above all.

Alain Bergala reminded us of the origins of film education in France, after the Second World War, as part of a programme using culture to bring about peace. The initiatives started by politician Jack Lang, as Culture Minister, then as Education Minister, serve as inspiration for the whole of Europe. Film Education will only take root for all children if it is presented to them through school first of all; but it can also change school, and children’s experiences there.

He recommended a method of ‘slow film education’, (alongside the movement of ‘slow cinema’) to counter the tendency of modern media to ‘scatter the attention’ of children and young people.

In addition, the programme for the day featured a round table with Xavier Lardoux, Director of Film at the CNC, and author in 2014 of the report ‘For a Film Education Policy in Europe’; Celine Ravenel, the current President of ECFA, the European Children’s Film Association; and Mark Reid, of BFI, who co-ordinated the research survey Screening Literacy, and the Framework for Film Education in Europe itself. Matteo Zacchetti, the deputy head of the Creative Europe MEDIA Unit was in the chair. Topics covered included the need for common catalogues of films for children accessible across Europe; of short film catalogues (one is being created by ECFA, funded by Creative Europe); he licensing and rights environments for film in Europe; and the level of funding for film literacy in Europe.

The afternoon featured presentations of three projects that exemplify the kinds of outcomes the Framework supports:

Nathalie Bourgeois from the Cinémathèque française spoke about le Cinema cent ans de jeunesse, a ground-breaking international film education programme that she has led for 20 years, screening a beautiful film from this year’s edition called ‘1,2,3 Soleil’, and made by 6 and 7 year old children, reminded us that even very young children can create powerful film stories. The film can be seen at: https://vimeo.com/131099742

Bernard McCloskey, Head of Education at Northern Ireland Screen, presented Moving Image Arts, Northern Ireland’s distinctive film education course for 14 – 19 year olds. This was the second presentation that reaffirmed the value of culture after conflict, and Bernard situated film education within the broader film industry ecology, shaped for the last few years in Northern Ireland by the huge success of Game of Thrones – maybe the biggest TV series in the world currently, and shot largely in Northern Ireland.

And finally, Nuria Aidelmann of Catalan film educators A Bao a Qu, and Ginte Zulyte of Meno Avilys in Lithuania, spoke about Moving Cinema, a programme funded by Creative Europe to create film-going opportunities for young people in Spain, Lithuania, and Portugal. This is a strong project, derived out of an absence of cultural cinema programmes for young people when they leave schoo, and which follows the logic of watching – in cinema and on demand – of discussing, and then of becoming young film programmers together.

NOTES for editors

Creative Europe is a funding programme running from 2014 – 2020. It is based on Regulation No 1295/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11/12/2013 concerning the implementation of a programme of support for the European cultural and creative sector. The MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe provides for activities aimed at ‘promoting film literacy and at increasing audiences' knowledge of, and interest in, European audiovisual works, including the audiovisual and cinematographic heritage, in particular among young audiences’;.; The Framework for Film Education in Europe was awarded funding under this action.

http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/creative-europe/

BFI is the UK’s lead agency for film. It prioritises opportunities for young people to watch and learn about film; for people to access their film heritage; and support for the UKs film industry. BFI Education focuses on innovation, advocacy, and research in film education. The Framework for Film Education in Europe can be read at: www.bfi.org.uk/screeningliteracy.

The Film Literacy Advisory Group, which authored the Framework for Film Education in Europe, comprises film educators, teacher trainers, academics, and employees of national agencies and NGOSs engaged in film education. It was constituted to put together the research survey Screening Literacy in 2012, which covered film education programmes across Europe. The work of the Film Literacy Advisory Group can be found at: http://filmliteracyadvisorygroup.wordpress.com

La Cinémathèque française, a voluntary association headed by Costa-Gavras, La Cinémathèque française, founded in 1936 by Henri Langlois, was installed for a long time in the Palais de Chaillot, and, since 2005, has occupied a magnificent building designed by architect Frank Gehry in eastern Paris.

La Cinémathèque française is a school and conservatoire for filmmaking, a home for cinema from across the globe, a library, and a film archive, all rolled into one. It has obtained new funding and can now continue its mission: to conserve and restore films; host students, cinephiles and researchers in a library and resource centre; programme screenings of the great classics but also retrospectives and homages to filmmakers, actors, producers and film technicians; exhibit the fabulous objects from its collection in its museum of cinema; and organise exhibitions to showcase the connections that cinema maintains with other arts.

For 20 years, La Cinémathèque française has coordinated a significant international film education programm « Le Cinéma Cent Ans de Jeunesse ».www.cinematheque.fr