54th BFI London Film Festival Education Programme

The Festival Programme offers exciting screenings for families and an education programme including a festival tour and a fantastic selection of workshops, events and talks to cater for all tastes and ages 

In addition to the 7 family-friendly screenings at the 54th BFI London Film Festival, the education programme for schools and colleges will include 14 FREE film screenings and a wide ranging events programme for learners and film fans of all ages.

Family fun 

Families and film-lovers of all ages can enjoy this year’s family films programme, including the Family Gala screening of AFRICA UNITED. Having its European premiere at the festival, AFRICA UNITED is an extraordinary story of three Rwandan children who walk 3000 miles to the World Cup in South Africa. Other family-friendly films from around the world include: Disney’s first Russian production THE BOOK OF MASTERS; I AM KALAM from India; and, THE MAGIC TREE from Poland – a magical, fast paced fairytale.  

 Children can also enjoy a special shorts programme devoted to youngsters - ANIMATED SHORTS FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES - where they can view films from around the world followed by a discussion about the process behind animated and live action films. On the same day, families are invited to the FESTIVAL ANIMATION FUN WORKSHOP at BFI Southbank on Saturday 23 October. In partnership with BFI Education, this is a free drop in event for children to try their hand at line drawn animation, model making or shadow puppets.

Younger audiences 

The festival is delighted to welcome back for a second year THE FILM FESTIVAL PROJECT, in partnership with Filmclub. This project offers 7-11 year-olds in London primary schools  the chance to explore what goes on behind the scenes of a film festival and gives them the opportunity to put on their very own festival in school before the end of term, with advice and support from the LFF education team.

Secondary schools and higher education students 

Two events for older students have an Olympic theme this year. FILM NATION: SHORTS, in partnership with Panasonic, is a national competition inviting 14-25 year-olds to make and vote for films celebrating the London 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with the winning films being screened at official venues during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. MAKE A FILM IN A DAY, in partnership with First Light, offers 14-16 year olds students the chance to make a short film in day, themed around the Olympic and Paralympic Games.  

Other workshops include CREATE AN AD OR A SHORT FILM FROM A-Z, aimed at 16-22 year olds, in partnership with MOFILM & Windows 7. With advice from filmmakers and marketing professionals, students will create their very own ad or short film in one day which will then premiere on screen at the end of the day. For 15-25 year-olds there is FUTURE FILM DAY, in partnership with BFI Future Film, is an exciting chance to experience the festival in 3 parts for free, including FILM INDUSTRY NETWORKING FOR BEGINNERS.

Secondary school pupils can also enjoy free screenings of 11 festival titles including the shorts programme SHORT, SWEET, BRITISH for ages 15+, including the latest British live action short films. All screenings are followed by in-depth discussions with the filmmakers. In addition to free screenings in London, the festival is delighted to hold the FESTIVAL EDUCATION ON TOUR, in partnership with National School’s Film Week. Touring the country with a stimulating programme of exclusive film previews and expert introductions, this initiative brings the festival to primary and secondary children all over the UK.  

Career building events 

Budding directors, animators and writers are catered for with two special workshops in the programme. AN INTRODUCTION TO FILM DIRECTING, a FILM NATION: SHORTS event in partnership with 104 Films, offers 20-25 year-olds two workshops to improve their directing and creative performance skills, and NARRATIVE COLLAGE WITH ARTIST FILMMAKER LEWIS KLAHR offers 18-20 year olds a unique chance to explore the animation process with a specialist class hosted by experimental filmmaker Lewis Klahr. For those interested in film journalism, WORDS ON FILM: EXPLORING FILM JOURNALISM IN PRINT & ONLINE offers the opportunity for young writers to meet journalists from Empire, Sight & Sound and other leading industry titles to pick up tips on how to get started. SIGHT & SOUND YOUNG JOURNALIST COMPETITION offers one young person aged 16-24 an expert training session with Nick James, editor of Sight & Sound, and  the chance to put their new skills to the test and interview a film director at this year’s festival.

Teachers too 

Broadening the education programme’s reach to include teachers as well as students, CREATING FILMS WITH ARCHIVE FOOTAGE, in partnership with First Light and BFI Education is for professionals who make films with young people. This includes talks by speakers from the BFI and First Light and a screening of the newly restored FESTIVAL from the BFI National Archive.

Programme advisor for Young Audiences, Justin Johnson, comments: 

“This year’s Festival showcases some of the very best cinema from around the world and we are thrilled to be screening such a diverse and varied number of films to our family audience. We are delighted to screen this year’s Family Gala AFRICA UNITED which will receive its European Premiere, as well as films from Poland, India, Finland and Denmark. In addition to these screenings we are delighted to host FESTIVAL ANIMATION FUN WORKSHOP for children to explore the wonderful world of animation and a chance to see a number of short animated films in ANIMATED SHORTS FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES. Directors and actors will be present at a number of the screenings during the festival to meet the audience and answer their questions – so there really is something for everyone.”

Education manager Corinna Downing, comments:  

"The Festival is delighted to present an Education programme in 2010 offering a huge range of inspiring activities for education audiences across the board. The core of the programme remains the Festival's commitment to offering an exciting selection of Festival titles to schools in free morning screenings, and this year the programme includes dramas, documentaries and shorts from the UK, India, Iran, Mexico, Ethiopia and Poland. For audiences age 15+ we offer a range of talks and also filmmaking workshops with our partners MOFILM, Windows 7 and Film Nation: Shorts. We welcome primary schools to join the second year of the Film Festival Project in partnership with FILMCLUB and deliver their own film festivals in school! In partnership with BFI Education, we also offer special animation workshops for families and networking events for young people during the half term break."